Jerry Seinfeld, the artist : What’s his deal?

Mel Brooks once said, "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die." Humor's never sounded so pure. Mel Brooks seems to be saying that what's funny is what's most extreme while truthful in the resultant unexpected pain of a circumstance. While it makes sense that many modern television sitcoms often follow through on their comedic impulses until the end of each episode (Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock), TV Land has certainly had its fair share of pansies. Until the 1990s, sitcoms were often based on one-problem premises for predefined characters, many one-liners, and a lesson learned at the end of each episode. "Aaaawwww." Any tragedy or pain that came from these shows was as a result of hard events we related to in our own lives (going out on a first date, getting fired from our job, the awkward family vacation, etc.). These were life-situation comedies, and the humor came from the little cuts in our finger that might interrupt how we wanted to pursue our larger life purposes as humans, plus three-minute commercial breaks and canned laughter. The ending of each show was like a band aid, and soon enough our leading characters' boo-boos were all cleared up by next week's episode. It makes me want to puke. As displayed in his standup, his television show, his animated movie, and his writing, I think Jerry Seinfeld did also.