How 'Seinfeld' Fans Are Celebrating Festivus for the Rest of Us Ahead of Christmas
12/23/2021 11:08 pm EST
'Twitter is just year-round Festivus'
Dan O'Keefe, who went on to write for Veep and Silicon Valley, has talked about the origins of the holiday countless times. In 2005, he even published The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America's Favorite Made-up Holiday, a memoir about the origins of the holiday. Some of the traditions in the episode were made-up, including the Festivus pole, which O'Keefe credited Seinfeld writer Jeff Schaffer with creating.
'Seinfeld at its best'
While on The Daily Beast's Fever Dreams podcast earlier this month, O'Keefe said the one "real" Festivus tradition that made it to the episode was the Airing of the Grievances. "It was just a very formalized setting for yelling at us," O'Keefe recalled. "Yeah, growing up, myself and my two brothers were in a form of child abuse that yet wasn't recognized as such by the state of New York, induced to perform seasonal rituals."
Watching 'The Strike' on Festivus
O'Keefe tried to put the memories of the real Festivus behind him, but when his colleagues heard about it, the real Jerry Seinfeld thought it was hilarious and wanted it for the show. "I tried to dissuade them as convincingly as I could, saying, 'I have the greatest love and respect for the show. I don't think you want to do that to it. It's done nothing to deserve that.' But they said, 'Look, it can go in your episode or someone else's.' So I figure, f— it, if this has to be smeared onto the world, that I might as well be the hand doing the smearing."
A fan built their own Festivus pole
Festivus has long outgrown just an O'Keefe family holiday. There's even a whole website dedicated to it, FestivusWeb.com, which includes all the rules to celebrating.
Drinking coffee from a Human Fund mug
"The Strike" and all episodes of Seinfeld are now available to stream on Netflix.
Jason Alexander celebrates!
Jason Alexander marked the holiday this year. "Get out the poles and grievances. Happy Festivus, y'all," he tweeted.
Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.
-
6 Canceled ABC Shows We Want to Return
-
'Epic Gameshow' Canceled
-
Mariska Hargitay Explains Why Benson and Stabler Didn't Kiss During 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 24
-
'Sight Unseen': Jarod Joseph Talks 'Important Episode' for Matt and the Aftermath with Him and Tess (Exclusive)
-
Vanessa Lachey Officially Bids Farewell to 'NCIS: Hawai'i' After Cancellation