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I’ve always thought Seinfeld was a great TV show, but the last time I watched it seriously was back in college (mid/late ’90s).

Now, Candice and I are going through all the episodes in order (we’re just about done season five). It’s giving me a new appreciation for the show. And not just because the show itself is so good, but because it stayed so good. How many shows out there have started out well, gotten better, and then maintained a quality nine-year run of 20+ shows per season? Seriously, there hasn’t been an episode that I thought was dull or average.

I spent a chunk of time tonight going through “top TV” best-of lists to see if anything would change my mind, and nothing did. Sure, lots of other shows are worthy of the comparison – but I maintain Seinfeld is tops.

While reading those lists, by the way, I read one reviewer’s comment (which I love) about Seinfeld:

Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David created a show “about nothing” — a post-modern sitcom that emphasized that its characters would abide by unofficial “no hugging, no learning” rules. There was never “a very special episode” of Seinfeld, where the producers would force some heavy-handed theme or issue on its audience. The show was about four self-absorbed, superficial thirty-somethings who lived in New York. And freed from all the typical expectations of what a sitcom should be about, the show delivered episode after episode of great comedy about little, stupid everyday things like people who talk too softly, long waits at restaurants, parking problems, dry cleaners who shrink clothes, bad dates, pants that make swooshing noises, rude salespeople, annoying relatives, and hundreds of other mundane things. Mix in the comedic talents of Seinfeld, Michael Richards, Julia Louise-Dreyfuss, and Jason Alexander, and Seinfeld delivered nine seasons of original, unconventional, and memorable comedy.

Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong in the comments.