New Twitter Account Takes On 'Modern' Seinfeld
The world has changed significantly since "Seinfeld" went off the air 14 years ago. But thanks to a new Twitter account, @SeinfeldToday, we're getting a taste of what traumas Jerry Seinfeld and the gang might wrestle with today.
Barely 24 hours old, @SeinfeldTodayalready had more than 60,000 followers, and it's racking up retweets with such potential plot points as "Elaine has a bad waiter at a nice restaurant. Her negative Yelp review goes viral, she gets banned. Kramer accidentally joins the Tea Party."
The man behind the account, comedian Jack Moore, the editor of BuzzFeed Sports, said he's surprised but thrilled by the reaction.
"I was online last night and saw some tweets from a friend that asked the question, what if 'Seinfeld' was still on the air?" said Moore.
A "Seinfeld" addict, Moore said he immediately created the account and started tweeting. The Twitter page gives credit to his friend and fellow comedian Josh Gondelman, who sent out the first tweets Sunday evening.
Moore claims he's seen every episode of "Seinfeld" five times.
Many of @SeinfeldToday's tweets focus on the Internet and technology. It's not difficult to imagine the problems Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer would have with Wi-Fi, social media and autocorrect.
@SeinfeldToday: "Elaine pretends to live in Brooklyn to date a cute, younger guy. Kramer becomes addicted to 5 Hour Energy. George's parents get Skype."
The growth of the account has been fueled by what Moore calls"an infinite number of plots." The account has been updated dozens of times since the launch, and although Moore says he's sticking with Twitter for now, he believes there could be opportunities to expand the concept.
"So much of comedy these days depends on the Internet, and I think Jerry Seinfeld (the character) would have a difficult time building an audience online," said Moore."And his struggles would form some very funny plot lines, in addition to his reactions to all the material he'd find on the Internet."
Thanks to syndication and the show's cult following, "Seinfeld" is still one of TV's most-talked-about shows. It will forever be known as the "show about nothing," but imagining those quirky characters in today's world would give them a lot to talk about.
Judging from the rapid growth of @SeinfeldToday, they would probably have an audience to share it with too.