Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show when it was on in first-run episodes (hard to believe it was over 21 years ago since the last new one). But I finally pulled my dvd's out and started rewatching and I noticed I rarely laughed, even on episodes I hadn't seen before. Was this something that could only be enjoyed in the 90's?
Perhaps it's just the general unlikability of the characters. Jerry is petty and picky, Kramer is needy and clingy, George is pretty much the same way and Elaine is flat-out cunt. And all of the guys have a non-stop parade of woman that are waaaaaay out of their league, with jerry breaking up with one every week over the smallest, perceived faults. And when he can't find any with one woman, he says she's "too good".
Perhaps it's the actors themselves, aka "The Seinfailures". Each of the main 4 (minus Jerry) had their own failed sitcom attempt (in the case of Jason Alexander, two of them). Julia finally broke the curse in the late 2000's, but Michael Richards racist rant didn't help any.
And then there's the infamous final episode. Instead of the show being sent off in style, it was a long-ass clip show with a punch-in-the-gut ending. We knew they were unlikeable, but who in the fuck laughs at someone in distress, and what backwards town imprisons people for it?
I'm also annoyed that Jerry is very nearly a billionaire, but would rather buy tons of classic cars he will rarely if ever drive instead of, you know, doing things for charity.
Seinfeld is better than Friends, but it should be noted that practically anything that NBC put on their Thursday night line-up in the 80's and 90's was an instant hit (Jerry even parodied that in one episode). All the while, one truly superior sitcom -- Newsradio -- was constantly getting bounced around the schedule and landed on virtually every day but Thursday and was in constant threat of cancellation due to low ratings because of its erratic schedule. And Maura, Khandi, Joe, Phil, Andy and Stephen have all had successful projects outside of Newsradio.