Reading about a concept is one thing. Hearing it executed at a high level is another thing entirely. The KS95 morning show in Minneapolis features Crisco, Dez, and Wes. The team recently delivered one of the cleanest examples of The Seinfeld Effect In Action you’ll find in radio. The topic was a traffic light. Specifically, whether the yellow light had shifted to a more orange hue over the years and, if so, who was responsible and why no one was discussing this.
This is not a topic. This is a springboard.
Here’s what happened, and more importantly, here’s why it worked.
The Seinfeld Effect In Action Starts By Knowing Your Cast
Before breaking down the segments, it helps to understand what Crisco, Dez, and Wes bring to the show individually, because the orange light story only works because of who these three people are in relation to each other.
Crisco is the instigator. He’s observational, passionate, and completely willing to commit to a premise that other people might quietly abandon. He notices things. He has opinions about those things. And critically, he performs those opinions with energy. He blurs the line between joking and caring deeply about this traffic light. That ambiguity is a feature, not a bug.
Dez is the audience surrogate. She’s the one who gives voice to what the listener is thinking: “This is crazy. You’re wrong. Who cares?” She’s not dismissive for the sake of dismissal. She’s authentically skeptical in a way that invites the listener to take a side. In the best morning show dynamics, there’s always someone who plays this role. Without it, the host is just yelling into a void.
Wes is the swing voter. He enters skeptical, engages with the evidence, and ultimately gets won over, which is an important arc, because the listener goes on that same journey. If even the skeptic eventually concedes the point, the premise has been validated by proxy.
This is essentially the same dynamic that drives every good Seinfeld episode. George wants something, Jerry is the skeptic who gets pulled in, Elaine is the voice of reason who gets drowned out, and Kramer escalates everything to an absurd but logical conclusion. Three people, three functions, one premise, maximum engagement.
The Segments
The story arc spread across multiple segments, but this is the essence of the story that shows off The Seinfeld Effect In Action:
