Re: Not P but DFW: Seinfeld’s retirement

[Mike Jing]

Yes, he was retiring from the TV show, reportedly declining an offer of
$110 million from NBC for one more season. Thanks for the reply, Robert and
Mark.


On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 2:16 AM Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:

> I’m sorry, maybe I agree with you about the italicization — I think I was
> confused about what you were asking. I think “Seinfeld” in “Seinfeld’s
> retirement” refers to the individual, not the show. A thing can be retired,
> but it would be an odd usage to refer to a thing’s retirement. Seinfeld was
> retiring from NBC, arguably, if not from the rest of his career. In other
> words, I’m saying the first usage should not be italicized, but the
> sentence is referring to the show’s end and the implications for NBC. Does
> that help?
>
> On Jan 31, 2026, at 9:12 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> If that's the case, does that mean the name was not italicized here due to
> oversight during the editorial process? I feel it's dangerous to
> second-guess the original text unless something is obviously wrong. The
> text makes perfect sense as is, at least so it seems to me. It's not
> uncommon at all to refer to a well-known person by last name alone, and he
> had effectively retired after the TV show. Moreover, referring to the
> conclusion of the TV show as "retirement" seems at least a bit odd to me.
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 12:35 PM Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think I agree with your proofreader. The last episode aired in May of
>> 1998.
>>
>> Sent from an iPhone; pls xcse typos.
>>
>> > On Jan 29, 2026, at 4:58 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > The following excerpt is from David Foster Wallace's *Big Red Son*:
>> >
>> > (Harold Hecuba and Dick Filth, by the way, have heard Max hold forth
>> many
>> > times before and are now outside the circle of discourse—D.F. in the
>> > bathroom for what seems like a peculiarly long time, H.H. on the couch
>> with
>> > the actresses hashing out the implications of Seinfeld’s retirement for
>> > NBC’s ’98 lineup.)
>> >
>> > Alone and in a place of conspicuous honor on a wood-finish shelf above
>> the
>> > suite’s minibar is an actual AVN Awards statuette. The trophy resembles
>> an
>> > Oscar/Emmy/Clio except that the figurine’s arms are up and out (making
>> it
>> > also look a bit like Richard Nixon at the climax of the ’68 GOP
>> > convention), and something slightly blurry about the casting gives it a
>> > sort of cubic-zirconium aspect. Whether the statuette is heavy and solid
>> > vs. hollow and Little Leaguish remains unknown—there is no invitation to
>> > touch or heft it. One of the B-girls on the couch is now either
>> laughing or
>> > weeping into her hands at something Harold Hecuba has said; her bare
>> > shoulders heave. It would be totally fantastic if the *Seinfeld* rerun
>> on
>> > the huge TV were the episode about everybody trying to refrain from
>> > masturbating, but it isn’t.
>> >
>> > The name "Seinfeld" appears twice in this passage. My understanding is
>> that
>> > the first instance (unitalicized) refers to the actor and comedian,
>> while
>> > the second (italicized) refers to the long-running TV show. However,
>> some
>> > proofreader insists that the first one refers to the show as well,
>> reason
>> > being (a) Jerry Seinfeld the comedian didn't actually retire after doing
>> > the TV show, (b) his full name is not given here, (c) the word
>> "retirement"
>> > actually refers to the non-continuation of the TV show. Of course, I
>> don't
>> > think that's correct at all, and I need some confirmation from native
>> > speakers in order to convince my editor, who hasn't yet changed that
>> part
>> > back to my original translation.
>> >
>> > Not sure if attachments would get through on the list, but I included a
>> > screenshot of the relevant page as well.
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>
>