4 Eerie Ways Mulaney Is Just Like Seinfeld
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New Fox series Mulaney debuted on Sunday, and there's a reason we've said you'll like it if you loved Seinfeld: it has a lot of similarities to the seminal sitcom. Yes, John Mulaney shares a lot of cute, nebbish-guy comedian traits with Jerry Seinfeld, but there are a few ways the two series are so similar you may wonder if you just watched a reboot of the NBC classic. Just how close are they? Let us count the ways.
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John's stand-up bookends the show.
John Mulaney is the star of the show, his name really is John Mulaney, and he's a stand-up comedian turned TV star. Sound familiar?
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Not only are Jerry and John similar as characters, but John's stand-up comedy bits are highlighted in each episode, just like they were on Seinfeld.
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John's apartment is a lot like this apartment . . .
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Greige-colored walls, a door that keeps getting busted into by an annoying friend? It might as well be the same set.
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Jane is a lot like Elaine.
Nasim Pedrad's character Jane is a lot like Elaine — single, neurotic, and hilarious. One of her dating dramas is a subplot of the pilot episode, and she's John's only significant female friend. She and John are also platonic, but you're already wondering about their sexual tension in the first episode.
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Everything I just said about Jane applies to Seinfeld's Elaine, who was played by the incomparable comedienne Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Pedrad is also famous for her comedy — she's a former Saturday Night Live cast member.
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The series opens with John trying to work in TV . . .
In the pilot, John tries to get a job writing for TV host Lou (Martin Short), while he toils at his stand-up career on the side.
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Just like Jerry did.
Remember when Jerry and George pitched their show about nothing to NBC? They also go through a series of disappointments, mirroring John's burgeoning TV career. We'll have to keep watching to see if Mulaney follows in Seinfeld's footsteps, which is not a bad thing at all.