Jerry Seinfield dragged by Always Sunny creator after blaming ‘PC crap’ for lack of good comedy
(R-L) Jerry Seinfeld, homeless It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia character Cricket, and Rob McElhenney (Getty/Fox)
Jerry Seinfeld, who arguably hasn’t been culturally relevant since about 1998, came to the attention of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney this week, after he blamed “the extreme left (and) PC (politically correct) crap” for the “death” of TV comedy.
The 70-year-old comedian was responsible for long-running sitcom Seinfeld, which launched in 1989. He went on to claim that many of the jokes in the series wouldn’t be allowed to be broadcast if they aired today.
He made similar comments in 2015, when he complained that people no longer find his joke about “gay French kings” amusing because of political correctness.
His latest statements, which he made in an interview with The New Yorker, were met with ridicule by many people: including the creator of very non-PC, boundary-pushing sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Rob McElhenney.
Always Sunny, as it’s affectionately known by fans, first aired in 2005 and its 16th season premiered in June last year. There are at least two more seasons left to go: the series has been repeatedly renewed. In contrast, Seinfeld ran for just nine seasons.
The show follows a group of some of the worst, most sociopathic, appalling, narcissistic sociopaths in the history of television – Charlie (Charlie Day), Mac (Rob McElhenney), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and Frank (Danny DeVito), otherwise known as “The Gang” – who run a dive bar called Paddy’s Pub.
In The New Yorker interview, one example Jerry Seinfeld gave of a joke that he doesn’t think would be allowed in the year of our lord 2024 was: “Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway’, “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has a well-known character called Matthew “Rickety Cricket” Mara: a defrocked priest who has been made homeless by the selfish actions of some of “The Gang”.
In response to Seinfeld’s: “YOU CAN’T MAKE FUN OF HOMELESS PEOPLE ANY MORE, BECAUSE OF WOKE” comment, Rob McElhenney simply shared a photo of Rickety Cricket, with the caption “probably.”
Unsurprisingly, the pithy tweet went viral: at the time of writing its been viewed over four million times.
Some of the replies were absolutely *chef’s kiss*, with one person writing: “It’s always the comedians like Seinfeld and that goatboy guy and Roseanne that have nothing going on who are whining about cancel culture.”
Another added: “So funny to see people like him say “You can’t make a show like that today.” as if Always Sunny hasn’t been doing this s**t for like 15 years and is still just funny as ever. If you punch up and not down people tend not to get mad at the jokes.”
Some self-avowed members of the “PC woke brigade” even took time out of their busy schedules* to commend Always Sunny for pushing the limits of what’s acceptable: “Anyone whinging their comedy isn’t popular now because they’ve been limited by ‘pc woke brigade’ hasn’t seen Always Sunny. I’m pretty woke myself & I LOVE your show, it’s outrageous & disgusting & goes against all my principles & I love it!”
We love a good clapback, and this has to be one of the best we’ve seen recently. Bravo, Rob McElhenney, you deserve a nice warm glass of Fight Milk to celebrate this win.
*Trying to ban the phrase “Merry Christmas” and forcing everyone in the world to go vegan.
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