Strangely enough, viewers actually liked the eccentric relationship between Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, even better than the yawn-a-thon "I’m a PC" commercial that replaced them.

According to a study conducted by Video Measures (story), the TV spot featuring the comedian and Microsoft’s head honcho wasn’t all that bad despite complaints of its awkwardness (story). In fact, viewers liked the commercial so much, they’ve watched it 4.5 million times more than "I’m a PC." The commercial’s curious popularity stems through viral views, the act of sharing video clips by way of email, IMs, blogs, YouTube and other Internet-related means.

"Looking at each campaign’s first week-and-a-half in market, the Seinfeld/Gates ads drove more than 3.2 million viral video views, whereas “I’m a PC” saw barely half of that," reports the website. "After two weeks, Seinfeld/Gates was still collecting more than 700,000 views per day, while the "I’m a PC" clips had tapered off to less than 50,000 views per day."

Dubbed (by Jane) as "the Bill and Jerry Show," the commercial places the dynamic duo in a modern-day household packed with kids, weary parents and grandma rolling around in the background, vaguely referencing that the PC could be integrated anywhere. Although somewhat weird in nature (especially when watching Jerry clip his toenails off the side of the daughter’s bed), the commercial proved entertaining at best. However, Microsoft decided to replace the commercial altogether; some reports claim this was due from a lackluster response, other claim that it was Microsoft’s plan all along and in accordance to its contract with Seinfeld.

Replacing the Bill and Jerry show was the uber-boring "I’m a PC" spot, thus lacking the dynamic interactions seen between Bill and Jerry and the family. The ad is actually a counter-attack to Apple’s amusing "PC vs. Mac" but fails horribly in its presentation and annoying repetition. Video Measures’ story only confirms that the original Bill and Jerry commercial actually captured the attention of the consumer in the long run.

Bottom line: the Bill and Jerry show needs to return despite what critics say, and despite the complaints of online bloggers. Sure, it’s good to see Jerry Seinfeld back on the television again, but maybe if Microsoft integrated puppets into the Bill and Jerry show, perhaps critics and bloggers wouldn’t be so darned negative.