Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld’s show about nothing debuted inauspiciously in July 1989 with a single episode that hardly anyone watched actually, 15 million people tuned in, a massive number by today’s standards, but paltry at the time. NBC didn’t elect to go to series with the show. An NBC exec supported a pickup, and NBC ordered a four-episode first season. Though we’re used to limited-run seasons now ( Loki) It’s hard to imagine such a short TV season back in the day, but by 1991, Seinfeld became must-see TV, with fans dissecting every episode, every joke. And that continued for years, with Seinfeld ultimately running for nine seasons before calling it quits in 1998. To mark Seinfeld’s imminent arrival on Netflix, Fatherly is here with our thoughts on the 13 essential episodes of Seinfeld. Please note, we’re including both some of the best episodes, but also a few essential ones, too. That’s why the pilot and the finale, the former of which is fine and the latter of which is meh, are on the list. They’re not all the best, but those ones you must see. Giddy-up! “The Contest”įor our money, this is the single funniest of all Seinfeld episodes. It starts simply with Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer at the diner. Jerry asks George, “What’s wrong?” George, as only George can, explains, “My mother caught me.” Yes, caught him doing THAT. She had a Glamour magazine sitting around and, well, you know the rest. The rest of the episode follows our favorite quartet as they bet on themselves not doing THAT. Yada, Yada: Estelle Harris makes her first appearance as George’s mom, Estelle. The iconic line, “Master of my domain” originated in this episode. Series creator Larry David won an Emmy for writing “The Contest.” Also in the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode “Shaq,” Shaquille O’Neal plays a fictionalized version of himself who is obsessed with this episode. The proprietor of the hot new soup kitchen is so prickly that customers refer to him as The Soup Nazi. Anyone who doesn’t simply order their soup and properly pay is admonished, refused soup or banished. Yada, Yada: Jerry and Newman actually get along for a few seconds, which is the Seinfeld equivalent of the Eagles reuniting or the brothers from Oasis not yelling at each other.Īmusing B-stories include Elaine’s pursuit of an armoire and Jerry and George’s interactions with their respective girlfriends, all of which eventually intersects with the Soup Nazi storyline.Įlaine refuses to play by the rules, infuriating the Soup Nazi, and George almost makes it through, at least until a lack of bread proves to be his undoing. “No soup for you!” is the episode’s classic line. Jerry, George, and Elaine head out to a Chinese restaurant without a reservation. After all, it’ll just be 5 or 10 minutes, right? That’s the whole premise. (Many people watched this as kids and just didn’t get it, until they watched it again years later.) The writers remember this as their first real “watercooler” moment-everyone was claiming to be “master of my domain” the next day, and the expression, like so many from Seinfeld, endures to this day.Yada, Yada: The episode is a rarity in that it unfolds on a single set and in real-time. ( Friends producers would later call “no fair!” when they wanted to show an empty condom wrapper and were denied.) Granted, the magic of “The Contest” is that it never uses the word “masturbation” it’s the euphemisms that make it hilarious. When NBC didn’t, they knew they had earned the chance to do anything they wanted. This fourth-season episode also marks one of the few times the writers were worried the network would interfere with their plans. storyline is exceptional, quintessential ’90s New York. This is Seinfeld‘s specialty, making the unspeakable speakable … and funny. They also take a taboo topic and give us a way to talk about it: Those who have held out claim to be “master of my domain” (or, alternatively, “queen of the castle”). This has everything a classic Seinfeld has: Through their contest to see who can go the longest without masturbating, the four characters make the mundane absurd. It’s the rare time when all four characters share one overarching storyline (though each is on his or her own unique journey through it, as ever).
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