Neither Jerry [Seinfeld] nor Larry [David] had any situation comedy writing experience…. When they would pitch a story to me, I didn’t have the background or experience to say, “You can’t do that story.” I just didn’t have enough experience in scripted television to say no. I think that was a big factor in the show’s success.
—Rick Ludwin, from “Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV”
Seinfeld succeeded the way it did in spite of the fact that it wasn’t supposed to, but precisely because it wasn’t supposed to. So did Monet, Debussy, and a hundred authors (insert your favorite name here).
I suppose in this case, it’s not the sentence that’s beautiful, but the idea it contains.
Last week: Christopher Jones and art as a flawed object.
Next week: Ursula K. Le Guin on pushing until completeness.
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