Dave Lawrence
Supporting Actor
Classic...modern classic...subjective terms that seem to ultimately do nothing but get people arguing, especially on this board. 
For me, I think both Lucille Ball and Jerry Seinfeld are very talented performers. And since they both tended to avoid topical humor, their work has a certain timeless appeal.
That said, I think for both of them, their best work was in conjunction with another person. Lucy was never as good without Desi Arnaz making sure she had good writers and strong scripts. She could still give good performances later on, but it's hard for even the funniest people to be funny when the writing isn't there. Similarly, Jerry's show was at its best in the early years when Larry David was overseeing things. Once he left, the last few seasons were somewhat lacking.
And they both should have stayed away from feature films after having TV success (see Mame and Bee Movie).
As for being comedic geniuses, I wouldn't annoint either one with that title. Very talented and funny? Yes. But I find Jackie Gleason, Gracie Allen, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett funnier. And before them, there were the film comics of the really early days, esp. the teams of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello and the Three Stooges.
But again...it's all subjective.
[Full disclosure...I do own the DVDs for I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. I'd gladly own Seinfeld, but the one drawback that keeps me from loving that show enough to own it is not Jerry, but Michael Richards. I always felt he was the weak link of that cast. And his "wacky" entrance each episode was like "Dyn-O-Mite" on Good Times. You knew it was coming but hoped they would get it out of the way early on so you could enjoy the rest of the show. Plus Pat Harrington did the over-the-top silly-entrance wacky bit better years earlier on One Day at a Time.]
Topic? Oh yeah...how about those holiday season Blu-rays?
For me, I think both Lucille Ball and Jerry Seinfeld are very talented performers. And since they both tended to avoid topical humor, their work has a certain timeless appeal.
That said, I think for both of them, their best work was in conjunction with another person. Lucy was never as good without Desi Arnaz making sure she had good writers and strong scripts. She could still give good performances later on, but it's hard for even the funniest people to be funny when the writing isn't there. Similarly, Jerry's show was at its best in the early years when Larry David was overseeing things. Once he left, the last few seasons were somewhat lacking.
And they both should have stayed away from feature films after having TV success (see Mame and Bee Movie).
As for being comedic geniuses, I wouldn't annoint either one with that title. Very talented and funny? Yes. But I find Jackie Gleason, Gracie Allen, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett funnier. And before them, there were the film comics of the really early days, esp. the teams of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello and the Three Stooges.
But again...it's all subjective.
[Full disclosure...I do own the DVDs for I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. I'd gladly own Seinfeld, but the one drawback that keeps me from loving that show enough to own it is not Jerry, but Michael Richards. I always felt he was the weak link of that cast. And his "wacky" entrance each episode was like "Dyn-O-Mite" on Good Times. You knew it was coming but hoped they would get it out of the way early on so you could enjoy the rest of the show. Plus Pat Harrington did the over-the-top silly-entrance wacky bit better years earlier on One Day at a Time.]
Topic? Oh yeah...how about those holiday season Blu-rays?
I've just honestly never been able to get into Seinfeld. Any time I've tried to watch even a clip of it (I was shown some clips earlier this year in a college class actually!) it just doesn't catch my attention. Of course I'll admit I'm biased towards the older shows any way, so that probably has a lot to do with it.
