WASHINGTON — President Obama estimates that he spends between three and five hours per day considering what "Seinfeld" would be like if it was still on television in the current day.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Times, the president (who insisted we call him "Barry") admitted that he's "totally consumed" by the idea of imagining what hysterical turns the lives of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer would have taken, had the show never been cancelled by NBC in 1998 due to low ratings. w wContinue reading the main story

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you," President Obama said, his characteristic gravitas offset by a mouthful of Junior Mints. "There have been entire meetings with the Joint Chiefs of Staff where I've been completely distracted by picturing, say, a modern episode of "Seinfeld" where Kramer's iPhone gets stolen, so he uses the Find My iPhone app, and it leads him on an epic wild-goose chase through New York City," Mr. Obama said with a chuckle.

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At times, a lack of common interest in the show has hindered diplomatic relations. Mr. Obama recounted a time when, meeting with Vladimir Putin during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in November, the Russian President said that he had never seen a single episode of the sitcom.

"He told me, 'Our culture does not appreciate the frivolous nature of shows like that,'" Mr. Obama said. "And I'm just like, 'C'mon dude, don't knock it before you've seen it.' I had the box set sent to him. No response. We haven't spoken since."



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