No blogger should be expected to produce timely posts all the time, so I decided to pen this one for such a drought. Certain episodes of Seinfeld get all the praise, the radar of popular culture often misses the biggest bleeps on the screen.
I haven’t seen sunlight since Thursday and a stormy weekend drowned my prospects, so here’s my list, without the Soup Nazi, the Contest, or Keith Hernandez spitting on Kramer.
“The Airport”
My gateway episode to the show. A Cheers fan through and through, I was a late comer to Seinfeld. Then I saw this one, and never looked back. Two airports, tales of first class and coach, Kramer seeking out rent money from an old roommate, George heckling a murderer.
Try not to laugh when Kramer pops out of the baggage claim carousel.
“The Caddy”
George gets ahead by leaving his car at work, so his superiors believe he’s putting in extra hours. Elaine nemesis Sue Ellen Mischke debuts by wearing a bra for a top, leading into Jerry and Kramer wrecking George's car, then a fun O.J. trial parody.
The best Frank Costanza line ever comes in the voice mail: “Jerry, this is Frank Constanza. Mr. Steinbrenner is here, George is dead. Call me back.”
“The Jimmy”
Bill likes this episode a lot. Bill might have to watch it tonight. If you’ve seen it, you know why Bill shifted into the third person.
Mel Torme serenades Kramer at a benefit for the mentally handicapped. That alone sells this one. Tim Whatley’s adults-only dental office - and Jerry’s belief that Whatley and his assistant undertook some libidinous pursuits while he was out from the gas - is the icing on this cupcake.
“The Old Man”
This gets better all the time. Our heroes adopt seniors and all run into problems with theirs. Kramer and Newman try to get rich quick by selling old records. Jerry’s old man causes trouble for everyone. Great George line: “I want to cover my bald head in oil and rub it all over your body.” Or something like that. All the more reason to watch it now.
“The Gum”
Lloyd Braun returns, Kramer does everything to convince Braun he isn't crazy, Jerry dons glasses of increasing thickness and the John Voight car meets its fiery end. George’s hunt for a $20 bill with lipstick on Andrew Jackson leads him into an Henry VIII costume. Just a few friends sitting around, having a chew.
Runner-up: Tempted as I was to include “The Fatigues” because of Eddie from the J. Peterman mail room and Frank Costanza’s Korean War flashbacks, a lame mentoring subplot spoils this post-Larry David effort.
“The Couch” almost made the cut, but one scene makes that episode – Poppy voiding himself on Jerry’s couch . For a top five, I wanted well-rounded episodes.
That’s the great thing about this show – after time away, it’s easy to forget two or three strong stories weave together in a 22-minute show. Ten years after one of the worse send-offs in television history - no program this creative should have bowed out with a glorified clip show - it remains remarkably undated.
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