Being a devoted "Seinfeld" viewer since pretty much the beginning - I didn't see the original broadcast of the series' first episode, and missed those of only a few other ones - I have become so familiar with the show that I've been able to notice all sorts of things, most of which are admittedly insignificant. Here are some observations, which might get the wheels turning in your own head.
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I consider myself to be a pretty observant "Seinfeld" viewer. So it comes with some authority when I declare that in its long run I cannot recall a single reference, however subtle, to the Beatles. I'm very surprised about this, since they were one of the most significant pop culture phenomena in the time of Baby Boomers such as Jerry Seinfeld - and probably much of the show's writing staff. Throughout the course of its run, "Seinfeld" was virtually littered with references, both subtle and overt, to the Kennedys, but contained nothing about the Beatles. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. (E-mail me at pizzabagel@prodigy.net ) But if it's true, then in my opinion it was a big, hefty, stinking faux pas!
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Newman's first name was never revealed. In "The Package," even his business card reads simply "Newman." Maybe it really was Norman, the name which the farmer's daughter in "The Bottle Deposit" called him, as he fled her rifle-toting father. What really ticks me off is that they did give the full name of minor character FDR (Franklin Delano Romanowsky), who was introduced in the series' final season, and who appeared in only two episodes ("The Betrayal" and "The Wizard"). Go figure.
For all it's worth, Uncle Leo's last name was never revealed either. All we know is that he's a brother of Jerry's mom ("The Kiss Hello"). But since we don't know her maiden name we're in the dark about Leo's surname. In the aforementioned "The Package," he signed for Jerry's delivery as "Uncle Leo." So even he refers to himself as such. (So in a single episode its writer, Jennifer Crittenden, puts a little spotlight on the fact that we don't know the complete names of these two recurring characters, having some fun with it in the process.) And in another episode, "The Bookstore," Kramer - not realizing at first to whom Jerry is referring by just "Leo" - mentions to him that he forgot his first name, "Uncle."
Since his appearance was only a brief one - "The Bizarro Jerry" - we never learned the first name of Feldman, the Bizarro Kramer. If we only knew what the opposite of Cosmo is. (I do know this: The opposite of cosmos - defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "an orderly harmonious systematic universe" - is chaos, which is "a state of things in which chance is supreme.")
And one more: What was the first name of George's boss, Mr. Kruger? Admittedly, it's not a major omission.
Follow-up: In the February 13, 2005, issue of Parade Magazine, in Walter Scott's Personality Parade column, appeared this question from Marilyn Davidson of Burlington, Wisconsin: What's the first name of Newman, the postman on Seinfeld?" The answer: "Newman never had a first name," Seinfeld co-creator Larry David tells us. The rotund postman - played by Wayne Knight, 49 - was called "Norman" by a woman in an episode titled "The Bottle Deposit." But that was an error, left in because it was funny.
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I have to hand it to the real George Steinbrenner, who must have been a good sport all around to have allowed himself and his team and its leadership to be mocked for several years on "Seinfeld." Surely he couldn't have been as clueless as the show's Steinbrenner that he wasn't aware of all the digs. (Similarly, I suppose for the real J. Peterman - though to a somewhat lesser extent.) By no stretch of the imagination am I a fan of the Yankees, but I was blow-ow-own away!
A hearty "Boo" to ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, as the finale for "Seinfeld" approached, refused to allow certain special public events related to the last episode to take place. Could he have been offended somehow by his appearance in "The Non-Fat Yogurt" in 1993? Not enough residuals, perhaps? I forget his reasoning as to why he was opposed to the events, but if I, a life-long New Yorker, know His Rudy-ness it was likely a personal reason and not a practical one.
I will declare this much about "The Non-Fat Yogurt": It seems contrived, and I don't fully understand the logic of the episode, especially the turn of events which led to the outcome of the election. Something's missing. Something's missing, all right.
One more thing about "The Non-Fat Yogurt": I had read at the time shortly before it was to be broadcast that two versions of the episode were shot, in order to handle the election's outcome. Another website indicates that four versions were shot.
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I was surprised at the absence of some characters from "The Finale" episode - Mr. Lippman and Mr. Kruger, for example. And what about Elaine's father, who was seen in "The Jacket?" Wasn't he concerned about her fate?
On the other hand, I was equally amazed to see Keith Hernandez. Does that mean that his friendship with Kramer lasted all those years? And Mr. Wilhelm showed up, appearing alongside - of all people - Steinbrenner, even after getting himself fired from the Yankees in "The Millennium." Lastly, I was pleased to note the presence of Kramer's mom, Babs, in her only appearance besides "The Switch." She's there throughout the trial, but look for her after the judgment is read, putting her head on Uncle Leo's shoulder as he consoles her. Can we assume that the two have struck up some kind of relationship during the trial? Maybe he liked her demeanor. (One more thing: What happened to Aunt Stella - presumably Leo's wife - who was seen with him in "The Pen?")
Several more things about that episode: How dare bodega owner Marcelino accuse Jerry and his friends of participating in cockfighting, since he also was involved in that activity. And in editing that episode down for syndication, the scene of Jackie Chiles ranting about "guilty bystanders" was cut. Darn. When the series is eventually released on DVD - and I'm sure that it will be - we'll see that scene and everything else in all its glory ... including the penultimate episode "The Puerto Rican Day," I hope. (Don't get me started about that incident. That really sticks in my craw.)
To request an e-mail notification when a "Seinfeld" DVD is available for ordering - and to place a vote for its release, go to this page . Amazon supposedly will let the studio know how many customers are clamoring for its availability.
In "The Butter Shave," on her return trip from Europe with David Puddy, Elaine repeatedly refers to the passenger seated next to her as "Vegetable Lasagna." (Actually, it was Puddy who first referred to that fellow as such. And, for the record, the guy says that his name is Magnus.) For the life of me, I can't tell why she does this. It's not because of any scene which was edited out for syndication. I saw this episode several times during its original network run - and I'm pretty certain that NBC aired it at least four times - and I was bewildered by this as much then as I am now. I can only figure that the individual in question was eating vegetable lasagna on the flight, but that that scene was cut before the episode was ever broadcast. (For all it's worth, I believe that NBC also broadcast "The Maid" quite a few - possibly at least four - times.)
In "The Wizard," George's fiancée's parents, the Rosses, cross paths with Elaine in Monk's. She greets them, and they recognize her as one of George's friends. As far as I can recall, these parties never met each other in any past episode. So this begs the question: Did Susan introduce Elaine to her parents, or do the Rosses know Elaine because she attended Susan's funeral? (And if she was at the funeral, was she wearing an expression of restrained jubilation?)
In "The Serenity Now," George tries to get Elaine to purchase a computer from him, but she is reticent. Then in his sales pitch he mentions the fact that she could get porn. What strikes me is Elaine's response. Her momentary hesitation, before continuing her argument against the transaction, indicates to me that she was considering that to be a valid reason.
In "The Maid," Elaine apparently has the same respect for George's phone messages as she does for the shrill fax machine sounds which were sent to her answering machine. The third message which she picks up is one from the short, stocky one, and she immediately skips to the next one!
In "The Pothole," after a discarded sewing machine being dragged by Newman's truck sparks some paint thinner (which Kramer spilled on his stretch of adopted road) into a fireball, Newman cries out, "Oh, the humanity!" Those words were uttered by a news correspondent in a famous newsreel of the Hindenberg explosion. Writers Steve O'Donnell and Daniel O'Keefe included that reference to the 1937 disaster as yet another blimp went up in flames. Very clever. (O.K. Technically the Hindenberg was a zeppelin, not a blimp. So sue me.)
In "The Suicide," at the suggestion of a psychic, George cancels his vacation, and Kramer travels in his place. So the K-Man goes to the Cayman Islands. (And there the K-Man meets Elle Macpherson.)
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I suppose that Lee Garlington, who appeared in only the series' pilot, as a smart-alecky coffee shop waitress, can be considered to be the Pete Best of "Seinfeld." (Other runners-up: Phil Bruns as Morty Seinfeld in "The Stakeout," John Randolph as Frank Costanza in "The Handicap Spot," and Harris Shore as Mr. Lippman in "The Library." These roles were later played regularly by Barney Martin, Jerry Stiller, and Richard Fancy, respectively. Confusing the matter a bit is the fact that, in syndication, Stiller plays George's dad even in "The Handicap Spot." Let's hope that the DVD of the series has both versions of that episode when it is released.)
There was another notable casting change during the series' run - for the character of Lloyd Braun. In "The Non-Fat Yogurt," Braun was played by Peter Keleghan, but in both "The Gum" and "The Serenity Now," the part was filled by Matt McCoy.
Lastly, the parts of NBC executives Jay Crespi and Stu Chermak were played by Peter Blood and Kevin Page, respectively, in "The Pitch," "The Ticket," "The Virgin," "The Pilot," and "The Finale." But, for some reason, in "The Butter Shave," those characters were portrayed by Matthew Fonda and Chris Parnell - or vice versa.
Follow-up: Actually, the NBC executives who approach Kenny Bania near the end of "The Butter Shave" introduce themselves as Jay Chermak and Stu Crespi, not as Jay Crespi and Stu Chermak. Perhaps the names were switched intentionally because Peter Blood and Kevin Page were not available for this episode.
At one point in the series' pilot, George suggests to Jerry that he should go against his instincts, to do the opposite of what he thinks is correct. Ironically, he followed his own advice only after five years had elapsed - in "The Opposite," the season five finale episode - to great success.
The gang certainly proved the worthlessness of the honor system, as evidenced by George's admission in "The Finale" that he had cheated in "the contest." But that should not have come as a surprise to anyone.
Does Kramer have a short memory? In "The Finale," he encourages the rest of the gang not to worry about the verdict, saying that Jackie Chiles never loses. Granted, the incidents about the spilled hot coffee and the smoking-induced facial deformities never went to trial, but the case of the auto accident caused by Sue Ellen Mishkie was a loss for Jackie - even though that technically was the fault of Kramer's caddy's insistence that Mishkie put on a bra over her top.
In "The Diplomat's Club," it is revealed that Kramer once had a gambling problem - to which he alluded in "The Money" and "The Susie." But it's not a problem if, instead of having to pay one's gambling debt, one just calls the bet off, as Kramer did in "The Pony Remark." (He was going to redo his whole apartment in levels, like in ancient Egypt, and bet Jerry that he'd finish the project within a month. When he changed his mind about the planned decor, he also dropped the bet. How convenient.)
In "The Old Man," Kramer feeds Newman insults for him to direct at the proprietor of Bleecker Bob's Record Shop. To me, this is very reminiscent of a routine in the Abbott and Costello film "Buck Privates" in which Bud keeps goading Lou into listening to his radio with the volume turned way up - to the chagrin of their sergeant. It wouldn't surprise me if this was an intentional nod to that skit, since Jerry is supposedly a huge Abbott and Costello fan - so much so that he once hosted a tribute to that comedy duo in a special, "Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld." Also in "The Old Man" is a character named Sid Fields, the same name as the boys' landlord on "The Abbott and Costello Show."
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Would I be out of line if I were to declare that Joe, the greengrocer who banned Kramer and Jerry from his market in "The Mango," can be considered to be a "Fruit Nazi?" For further proof, note a sign in his establishment that reads "Prices Subject to Change According to Customer's Attitude." (In the Soup Nazi's shop is a sign that reads "We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone." For any reason, apparently.)
Also, the counter guy at Paisano's in "The Calzone" is something of a "Calzone Nazi." I can understand his beef with George - who appears to be stealing money from the tip cup, not just retrieving his unacknowledged tip - but he flies off the handle pretty quickly when Kramer indicates that his oven-cooked shirt and jacket are scorched, not to mention when Kramer tries to pay for his order with change.
It can be argued that Elaine's boyfriend-of-the week, Jack, in "The Junk Mail" - the guy who strutted around as the Wiz in TV commercials - had a Sven-jolly effect on her. She used that term to describe her psychiatrist boyfriend in "The Wallet."
I wonder if that guy from Greenpeace ("The Pilot") ever wrote to Elaine about the fate of Russell Dalrimple as he said he would. I assume that if he had the writers would have had the gang mention it, but they didn't.
What became of Kramer's cockfighting rooster, Little Jerry? ("The Little Jerry") Maybe he had it slaughtered, then he had the meat fermented to make chicken beer. ("The Muffin Tops") It was mentioned in "The Voice" in Kramer's conversation with Dean Jones of NYU that his chicken was missing, and that Kramer and his intern were determined to find it.
Kramer must have had some pretty good self-control in "The Chaperone" when he accompanied Miss Rhode Island to the Miss America contest in Atlantic City, home to several casinos. In a later episode in the same season, "The Diplomat's Club," it is revealed that he has a gambling problem, a fact that he also admits to Jerry's parents in "The Money."
That habit of eating one's candy and cookies with utensils, which was originally inspired by Mr. Pitt, caught on big-time - but it apparently faded fast. Even George, who seemed to be convinced of its logic, never continued the practice beyond "The Pledge Drive." It's a shame, since he might have impressed the well-to-do parents of his fiancée, Susan.
I figure that if Kramer had given it more thought he might have said that he'd like to have golf-club hands, not shoe-horn hands. ("The Barber") (Jerry, on the other hand - pardon the pun - would have preferred it if his girlfriend-of-the-week Gillian in "The Bizarro Jerry" had hooks instead of her "man-hands." As he indicates to Elaine, they're "kinda cool looking.")
It's a shame that Elaine's suggestion to Dinkins campaign advisor Lloyd Braun about having New York's citizens wear name tags didn't catch on. ("The Non-Fat Yogurt") Nevertheless, it would have been several months too late to help Jerry in his situation in which he couldn't remember his girlfriend's name. ("The Junior Mint")
I'm very surprised that we never saw Ricky, the television-and-Elaine-obsessed mannequin designer, after his appearances in "The Cigar Store Indian" and "The Pie" in the 1993-1994 season. I wonder what that character must have thought about Elaine after her very revealing and very humiliating trial. If only he had testified in her defense. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
In "The Betrayal," George proudly states that he didn't go to the bathroom the entire time of his trip with Jerry and Elaine to India for the wedding of Sue Ellen Mishkie and back. Can we safely assume that he meant just "Number Two" and not "Number One?" Presumably not, because his comment about "sweating it off" seems to indicate that he was referring to "Number One." If that's the case, then that might have been a very good thing for George, because, as Jerry indicated to Kramer in "The Parking Garage," holding it in builds character, something of which George is in short supply.
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In "The Wife," Larry, the manager of Monk's, sternly warns Jerry that no "outside" syrups, jams, or condiments are allowed in his establishment, threatening confiscation if that rule is violated. Firstly, why did the fellow get so bent out of shape over Jerry - actually his girlfriend, Merrill - bringing maple syrup into the coffee shop? Secondly, why didn't Jerry make an issue over this situation - as he did in "The Kiss Hello" when he refused to greet his fellow tenants with a kiss, and in "The Face Painter" when he drew the line on excessive thank-yous? Not to mention yet a third episode, "The Stock Tip," in which he confronts the proprietor of a dry cleaners about his shrunken shirt, and gets the guy to admit that he shrunk it.
Two more points: George is pretty lucky in "The Heart Attack" that the management at Monk's didn't catch him when he brought in an "outside" cucumber for his salad, and Elaine is fortunate that they didn't notice her with an "outside" bottle of liquor in "The Betrayal."
In "The Cafe," while peering through binoculars out his apartment window at Babu Bhatt's Dream Cafe, Jerry pulls his shirt collar up over his face and remarks to Elaine, "Bazooka Joe." While most Baby Boomers probably understood his intent, it's not Bazooka Joe who wore his shirt collar that way, but Joe's friend Mort. (Similar to Jerry's dad's name, Morty.) Joe was the one with the eyepatch - like the kind Kramer sported in "The Scofflaw." (I fully admit that I didn't remember the character's name. I had to look it up on the Topps page devoted to Bazooka Joe and his gang.)
In "The Slicer," when Elaine's radio is blasting there are shouts for her to turn down the volume from her neighbor - the same one into whose apartment Kramer stumbles earlier in the episode. ("That's a lot of potatoes!" "Get the hell outta here!") After giving her a few seconds to comply he short-circuits her electricity, apparently using the same technique as Kramer did earlier. But here's the capper. As her lights go out you can hear her neighbor cry out "Oh, mama!" in true Kramer style.
In his closing monologue of "Male Unbonding," Jerry indicates that the way he deals with friends who are no longer really friends is by hosting pretend talk shows with them as his guests. That's what Kramer did in "The Merv Griffin Show," but for a different reason - he found the set from that old talk show discarded in a dumpster.
In "The Doorman," the doorman of Mr. Pitt's building pronounces Elaine's surname Benes as "ben-ESS" - either unknowingly or intentionally. (I'd like to believe that it was the latter.) For the record, it's "BEN-ess," you jackass! ("The Package")
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Does George's mother really look like Shirley Booth of TV's "Hazel" fame, as he indicates to a woman in "The Subway?"
For that matter, does Kramer look very much like his mother? In "The Nose Job," Kramer tries to retrieve the jacket of Albert Pepper by pretending to be Professor Peter Van Nostrand, the fiancé of Pepper's daughter Wanda. When he and Elaine, who is passing herself off as Wanda, meet the landlord of the building where Albert Pepper lives, that fellow comments that one of Pepper's former female admirers, Babs Kramer, "looked a lot like you, Professor. Could have been your mother."
I wonder if Jimmy (of "The Jimmy") ever gets the jimmy-legs - a term which was mentioned in "The Money" in reference to Kramer's girlfriend-of-the-week.
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I can see it now: George has a girl - or a boy - and names the child "Seven." ("The Seven") Kramer, too, fathers an offspring, and names it "Isosceles." ("The Handicap Spot") Elaine doesn't want to have children - or maybe she does. ("The Soul Mate") As far as Jerry slipping one past the goalie, those records are permanently sealed. ("The Chinese Woman")
In "The Junk Mail," Elaine gets into an argument with David Puddy, who mocks her attempt at reconciliation after dumping him for a fellow who portrayed the Wiz in TV ads for the electronics retailer of the same name. Sarcastically, he asks her, "What if we're out somewhere and you see the Maytag repairman?" Only a few weeks earlier, in the first two episodes of the season, George briefly had a job at Play Now. His boss in that company, Mr. Thomassoulo, was played by actor Gordon Jump who, for several years around that time, was seen in television and print ads as "Ol' Lonely," the Maytag repairman. I sent a letter to New York Daily News columnist David Bianculli about this being an example of what he has described as an "Extra," an inside joke on a TV show, but he never printed it in any of his columns on Extras.
For the record, Jesse White, the actor who preceded Gordon Jump as the Maytag repairman - Was he the original? - appeared in at least one episode, "The Cadillac," as a member of the condo board.
For Jerry's information, mutton comes from sheep. ("The Wink")
In the show's next-to-last season - 1996-1997 - there were episodes entitled "The Little Kicks," "The Little Jerry," and "The Bizarro Jerry." No "The Bizarro Kicks," though.
I believe that George's line "Flame on!" to Jerry in "The Bizarro Jerry" was a subtle comic-book reference, since it's the rallying cry of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four.
Mr. Pitt hired Elaine as his personal assistant after seeing her leaving her failed interview at Doubleday - and envisioning her as the second coming of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. ("The Chaperone") But what exactly was his position at that company? Except for his initial appearance, he appears to be working from home - on what, I have no clue. And in "The Gymnast," Pitt, responsible for something totally unrelated to publishing - a merger of two companies - sends Elaine to represent him at the big meeting.
Susie - the name by which Elaine's co-worker Peggy mistakenly refers to her in "The Susie" - is the name of lawyer Jackie Chiles' receptionist. ("Susie, call Dr. Bison ...")
Having been a college math major, I couldn't resist the following problem:
In "The Wizard," to Morty Seinfeld's suggestion of a 12.4% tip for an unknown bill, Jerry calculates a tip of $4.366666. I assume that the joke is that if it were an infinitely-long calculator display the result would be an endlessly repeating decimal.
| Doing the arithmetic, | 4 + |
36.
6
100 |
= | 4 + |
36 2/3
100 |
= | 4 + |
110
300 |
= |
1310
300 |
= |
131
30 |
. |
| So we have a bill of |
131
30 |
/ | .124 | = |
131
30 |
/ |
124
1000 |
= |
131000
3720 |
= |
3275
93 |
= | 35.21505376+, somewhere between 35.21 and 35.22. |
(Yes, I suppose that I could have cut to the chase by simply stating that 4.366666 / .124 = 35.21504839+, with the same basic outcome. But I liked the assumption that the tip was a repeating decimal. So sue me.)
A 12.4% tip on $35.21 is $4.36604+; a 12.4% tip on $35.22 is $4.36728+. Neither of these amounts is $4.366666.
I was torn about whether to place this item on the "Mistakes" page, but the whole thing is really nitpicky on my part, I admit. It certainly can't be considered a blooper; it's more like carelessness on the part of the writer (Steve Lookner). So with that in mind, maybe we can assume that Jerry got ripped off, too. That the tip calculator - I mean organizer - which he purchased for his father, even though it was labeled "Wizard," was more like a "Willard," the knock-off brand which Saccamano, Sr. got in abundance for Kramer.
Since the plots of "Seinfeld" are usually comedies of errors, it's often the case that one character or another finds himself in a difficult situation as a result of his own machinations. However, only a handful strike me as being prime examples of the old adage "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it."
Of course, there's a Framingham, Massachusetts. The state also has towns named Ashburnham, Bellingham, Chatham, Dedham, Eastham, Hingham, Oakham, Petersham, Raynham, Stoneham, Tyringham, Waltham, Wareham, Wenham, Wilbraham, and Wrentham. (And - oh, yeah - my favorite: Belchertown.) But - big surprise - there's no Latham, Massachusetts.
There is, however, a Latham, New York. (More to follow.)
An accountant named Proffitt ("The Sniffing Accountant") is like a library investigator named Bookman or an ice cream man named Cone ("The Library").
For the record, there was a pitcher named Eric Hillman, who played for the Mets from 1992-94.
Notice Elaine wearing her Baltimore Orioles cap at the ballgame in "The Chaperone" - the same one which got her ejected from Yankee Stadium in "The Letter."
A minor point, but chimpanzees are not monkeys ("The Face Painter"), no matter what Kramer says.
As Kramer corrected Elaine in "The Conversion," the plural of "fungus" is not "funguses" but "fungi." That being the case, is the plural of "hipster doofus," a term which Elaine used to describe Kramer on several occasions, "hipster doofi," not "hipster doofuses?" Or possibly, as with the terms "Attorney General," "mother-in-law," and "passerby," whose plurals are "Attorneys General," "mothers-in-law," and "passersby," respectively, the plural of "hipster doofus" is "hipsters doofus." Maybe the point is moot, in that there is and always will be only one hipster doofus, the K-Man himself.
Elaine's dating of a poor guy in "The Strongbox" wasn't exactly her first experience of that kind. In "The Race," her boyfriend-of-the-week, Ned (the Communist) - although he isn't wretchedly poor like Glenn, the dumpster-diving welfare recipient - certainly goes out of his way to eschew wealth.
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Maybe I'm just inexperienced, but no ATM which I've ever seen has allowed its customers to enter alphabetic codes. So why is it such a common thing for everybody in "The Secret Code?" Jerry indicates that his code is "Jor-El," and George's is "Bosco." Kramer, too, in trying to guess George's code, mentions that numbers are out because George is a word man. And another thing: I have never used an ATM at which codes of more than four digits were allowed.
Follow-up: Well, I'll be darned! It turns out that I'm not very observant after all. I received from a correspondent, Jenn, an enlightening note in which she indicates "I know that the ATMs that I use have the letters on the numbers like on a telephone, and maybe they only use the first four of the five letters of the word ... like 1-800-MATTRESS," but they're there. The next time I went to my bank to use an ATM I paid more attention to the keypad. Sure enough, as she pointed out, it contained alphabetic characters with the numeric ones, just like on telephone buttons, having A/B/C with 2, D/E/F with 3, etc. In addition, the "1" key contained the usually absent Q and Z. The bottom line is you can enter an alphabetic code on such ATM keypads. Bear in mind that even though "FILM" maps to 3456, so do "FILN" and "FILO." However, "FILK" - and "FILJ" and "FILL" - maps to 3455. (Interestingly, "The Pool Guy," the episode in which Kramer's new telephone number, 555-3455 or 555-FILK, is one digit off from Movie Phone, 555-FILM, is the one which directly followed "The Secret Code.")
At the end of "The Foundation," it's mentioned by Wyck Thayer, chairman of the Susan Ross Foundation, that Susan's doll collection has an estimated value of $2.6 million. Presumably that includes the one which looks like George's mother. ("The Doll")
It's a good thing that the "Estelle Costanza" doll never got together with Mr. Marbles, Kramer's doll which freaks out the apartment-switching Jerry in "The Chicken Roaster."
In "The Soul Mate," to Jerry's subtle inquiry to George whether he killed Susan, he exclaims, "No, I did not!" But why should we take this statement at face value? After all, his track record on truth-telling is far from unblemished. Well, I believe that if he had killed her he would have revealed this in the face of death as he did by coming clean to cheating in the "contest" in "The Finale."
There were episodes entitled "The Fusilli Jerry" and "The Little Jerry" (not to mention "The Bizarro Jerry"). Bearing this in mind, I wonder what kind of pasta Kramer would use in order to create a miniature sculpture of Little Jerry, his cock-fighting rooster. One variety is called "creste di galli," which is Italian for "cockscombs." On the other hand, "penne" is Italian for "quills" - from the Latin for "feathers."
It's mentioned in "The Money" that George has an aunt that died at seven, Aunt Baby. (She had internal problems.) I've never watched HBO's "The Sopranos," but I'm aware of a character on that show with a similar monicker - Uncle Junior.
Answer: To have sex with the hen ("The Rye"), and not to lay eggs ("The Little Jerry").
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Sometime in either late 2001 or early 2002, it was publicized that, because of the then-recent anthrax scares, the upcoming rerun of "The Invitations" would not be presented. If I'm correct, that episode has not been shown each time it was due up in the "rotation" - so to speak - since that time. (As I write this, it's December 20, 2002.) I would think that the lack of sensitivity of that episode to the anthrax mailings - an extremely flimsy connection in the first place, in my opinion - should have passed by now, but it seems to have been withdrawn from broadcast for the foreseeable future. If it's any consolation, "The Puerto Rican Day" was shown on October 28, 2002, possibly the first time it had aired since its only network showing, despite a promise from Jerry that it would remain in the can thenceforth.
Here are some other episodes with possibly controversial content for the terrorism-averse:
I'm not placing this item on the "Mistakes" page, but something seems to be fishy with the walls around the door to Jerry's apartment. The wall against which Jerry's refrigerator is placed forms an angle with the wall in which the door lies. (For a glimpse of what I'm getting at, see "Minutiae: A Stamp of Approval".) However, every view of Jerry's door from the outside of his apartment shows no trace of the other wall. There is a straight wall for the length of the corridor, clearly noted in the chase scene of Jerry and Newman in "The Soul Mate," and in "The Serenity Now." How was this "trick" accomplished?
In "The Abstinence," the suddenly-imbecilic Elaine, doing a crossword puzzle, asks her boyfriend-of the week for some assistance: "Hey, Ben. I need a four-letter word. Winnie the blank." When he responds "Pooh," she repeats the word incredulously and with some amusement, but ultimately fills it into the spaces in the puzzle. In my opinion, writer Steve Koren missed an opportunity. He should have had Elaine continue by stating that "poo" is only three letters long.
Some nerve! In "The Strike," Frank Costanza, never having met George's boss, Mr. Kruger, includes him in the Festivus celebration by airing a traditional - albeit second-hand - grievance about him: "You, Kruger. My son tells me your company stinks! ... Kruger, you couldn't smooth a silk sheet if you had a hot date with a babe ..." I wonder if Kruger got his chance to tell all the ways George had disappointed him in the short time he had been in his employ.
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Since Elaine's latest beau in "The Junk Mail," Jack, was the pitchman for the Wiz, why did he wear regal garb - including a crown - rather than a wizard's outfit?
Since Elaine discovers in "The Burning" that her on-again-off-again boyfriend David Puddy is religious from his preference for Christian-rock radio, I'm surprised that she didn't follow up with an inquiry about his stand on the abortion issue, which led her to break-up with her boyfriend-of-the-week, Carl, in "The Couch."
Discussing Gillian, the girl with whom Elaine has fixed him up in "The Bizarro Jerry," Jerry indicates that he is repulsed by her "man-hands," but mentions that it would be "kinda cool looking" if she were to have hooks instead. Well, he proved himself right. In "The Bris" - in reference to the attractiveness of a pig-man - he comments that no matter what the deformity you'll find some group of perverts attracted to it.
In "The Little Kicks," when Kramer's movie-bootlegging buddy, Brody, says that he has a cramp, Kramer indicates that it's because he ate an entire bag of candy. Jerry adds that maybe if Brody hadn't licked his fingers before he reached in the bag he and Kramer would have eaten some. One could make a logical case that Brody might also be a chip double-dipper - like George was shown to be by his girlfriend's brother, Timmy, in "The Implant."
In "The Statue," when Jerry thinks he sees in Rava's apartment the statue which he gave to George, he phones Kramer to determine whether or not it is still in his own apartment. Kramer apparently doesn't recognize to whom he's speaking, because Jerry says to him, "It's Jerry ... Jerry ... from next door." I can't help thinking that this reminds me of how Feldman announces himself to his neighbor Kevin in "The Bizarro Jerry": "Feldman ... from across the hall."
In "The Statue," George indicates that his accidental destruction of his parents' statue was the single most damaging experience in his life, aside from seeing his father naked. Can we safely assume that at that time his father didn't have large breasts as he did in "The Doorman?"
Maybe George should have approached Mr. Lippman to market pudding-skin singles ("The Blood") in his muffin-top shop.
According to Liar-George in "The Apartment," his wife is an entomologist. Sounds good to me. After all, in "The Marine Biologist" he is forced by Jerry to pretend that he is - of course - a marine biologist.
Oh, yeah. How could I forget? In "The Fusilli Jerry," Kramer - AKA "The Assman" - passes himself off to a security guard in a parking lot as a proctologist.
In "The Note," George explains how the knee of his pants got ripped after he chased some children who called him a "Mary" for the way he jumped over a puddle of water. He demonstrates this to the rest of the gang with a graceful swish of his arms. Elaine, possibly feigning ignorance, imitates the motion and asks him, "What's this?" I'll tell you what it is - it's effeminate. It just is. ("The Finale")
In "The Finale," George takes it to be a good omen that the name of the judge who is presiding over the gang's trial is named Vandelay. But he makes no mention whatsoever of the judge's first name, Arthur - as in Art.
What if Jerry's elderly relative from "The Pony Remark" had married his stand-up comic nemesis Kenny (before she had died, of course)? She would have been Manya Bania.
It just hit me: Elaine's co-workers called her "Nip" in "The Pick" because of the picture of her on her exposed-nipple Christmas card. However, she could have earned that nickname in a totally different way - by the way she was "schnapped" by Jerry in "The Betrayal." Miniature liquor bottles - like the ones which she consumed - are also known as "nips."
For all it's worth, in "The Old Man," when Sid Fields' son, Tim, questions Jerry about why his friends - Kramer and Newman - took Sid's records, Jerry is so caught off guard that he doesn't mention that the old man had given him permission to take the records. What's more, he doesn't relate Mr. Fields' angry comment "I'm sure as hell not going to give it [the collection of records] to my family."
I wonder if Jerry, knowing that George's father has big breasts - real hooters - would consider him to be like a creature out of Greek mythology, like part man, part horrible beast. ("The Doorman" "The Bizarro Jerry")
In "The Bris," when Stan and Myra ask Jerry and Elaine to be the godparents of their son Steven, Elaine's face lights up and she gives an exuberant "Wow!" Fortunately, since she was holding the baby at the time, she didn't give her usual "Get out!" with the forceful chest shove.
I wonder if Donna Chang ("The Chinese Woman") ever used the "Chinese food" trick that George's mother employed in "The Junk Mail" to cut short her telephone conversation with George.
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For the uninitiated, the Commando 8 ("The Glasses") is a 12,000-BTU air conditioner; the Commando 450 ("The Shower Head") is a powerful high-flow shower head which is used only in the circus ... for elephants.
Neither of those items are to be confused with the Cougar 9000 - the Rolls Royce of wheelchairs ("The Handicap Spot"). Rated number one by Hospital Supply and Prosthetic Magazine, it has an inductive joystick, dynamic braking, and flip-up arms. It's so fully-loaded, you'd be almost glad to be handicapped.
And, just for completeness, the Rollamech 1000 ("The Big Salad") is a mechanical pencil. It's pretty expensive.
Jerry's impenetrable door lock is the Clapco D-29 ("The Robbery"). It has only one design flaw. The door must be closed.
SP2000 is the model number of Kramer's meat slicer. ("The Slicer")
TR-6 is the model number of the "Elaine" mannequin. ("The Pie")
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In "The Bizarro Jerry," a burnt-out Kramer mooches a drink from Jerry. It appears that the bottle of liquor is that of Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch. Was Jerry all out of Hennigan's?
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In "The Pothole," Kramer tries to help George find the Phil Rizzuto keychain which he lost, by getting him to recall what he did throughout the day. Here's a snippet of dialogue:
| Kramer: | C'mon, retrace your steps. What did you do today? | |
| George: | I got up. I was supposed to go to work. I came here instead. |
After that exchange, I can't help thinking: There's a show. That's a show. (George to NBC president Russell Dalrimple in "The Pitch," and Russell to Elaine in "The Pilot")
(On a different note: I wonder if George broad-jumped over the pothole like a "Mary." ("The Note"))
In "The Slicer," when Jerry discovers red spots all over his neck, Kramer uses a similar tack to try to determine their origin:
| Kramer: | Well, what have you been doing? | |
| Jerry: | Nothing. I got up, ran some errands. I went down to Sara's office and apologized. |
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In "The Robbery," Jerry gives several last-minute instructions to Elaine, who is apartment-sitting for him. Regarding sexual activity, he informs her that it is strictly prohibited. He adds, "But if you absolutely must, do us all a big favor. Do it in the tub." This doesn't elicit any response from Elaine. Apparently, it must be after this time that she realizes that sex in a tub doesn't work, as she indicates to a waitress at Monk's in "The English Patient."
(Original broadcast dates: "The Robbery" - June 7, 1990, "The English Patient" - March 13, 1997)
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Since Ray, the college student who Elaine got to clean Jerry's apartment in "The Statue," did such a thorough job, maybe she should have gotten him to do the same for her apartment. He probably would have found the grape she said in "The Stock Tip" that she lost.
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In "The Statue," as Ray brings Jerry and Elaine their tea he remarks, "Ah, sweet elixir. Its fragrant nectar a soothing balm for the soul." Jerry sniffs his tea suspiciously - and rightly so, because as Jackie Chiles commented in "The Maestro," "No one can tell what a balm's gonna do. They're unpredictable."
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At the end of "The Revenge," George, who is mulling over his options for a new career after he quit his job in real estate, mentions that he could be a professor because he likes history - specifically, the Civil War. Elaine remarks, "Well, to teach something you really have to know a lot about it. I think you need a degree." Indeed, and since he doesn't even consider himself to be a buff about the Civil War ("The Boyfriend"), as Keith Hernandez is said to be, it doesn't seem likely that tenureship is in the offing.
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I wonder if the coffee table which Kramer made out of a car windshield in "The Truth" - and which was destroyed in that episode - made it into his coffee-table book about coffee tables ("The Cigar Store Indian" "The Fire" "The Opposite") which was later optioned for a movie by a big Hollywood so-and-so ("The Wizard"). Also, since the book supposedly was full of pictures of celebrities' coffee tables, it should have included Keith Hernandez's coffee table made from three-inch-thick marble which Kramer helped Keith move ("The Boyfriend").
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In "The Pitch," when Kramer trades his radar detector for Newman's motorcycle helmet, it is revealed that Newman had a girlfriend - who had a motorcycle. Newman indicates that "she was pretty wild." Could it be that he was referring to Margaret, who would date Jerry two years later in "The Big Salad"? In that episode, Jerry learns that Margaret went out with Newman a few times a couple of years before, and that she stopped seeing him because he ended their relationship. Supposedly, according to Newman, she wasn't his type. She just didn't do it for him.
(Original broadcast dates: "The Pitch" - September 16, 1992, "The Big Salad" - September 22, 1994)
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It is revealed in "The Fatigues" that Frank Costanza was a cook in the Korean War. I wonder if he ever crossed paths with Elaine's dad, who mentions to Jerry and George in "The Jacket" that he, too, served in that conflict.
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In "The Face Painter," the zookeeper indicates to Kramer that Barry, the chimpanzee with whom the K-Man had an altercation, is so upset that he has curtailed his autoerotic activities. So at least temporarily the chimp is master of his domain.
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Double-dipping a chip - dipping the chip, taking a bite of it, then dipping the chip again - is like putting your whole mouth right in the dip, according to Timmy, brother of George's girlfriend-of-the week, Betsy, in "The Implant." And eating peanut butter out of the jar with one's disgusting index fingers, as George did in "The Wallet," accomplishes the same thing without a chip or other food item.
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Why would Elaine, in "The Pool Guy," want to see a movie about a broad noodle, or whose title is named for a broad noodle, that is, "Chow Fun"? In that episode, she misdials the Movie Phone number, 555-FILM, and connects with Kramer at 555-FILK (or 555-FILJ or 555-FILL), but he is not able to tell her what time that film starts. In "The Virgin," to Kramer's query "What's a chow fun?" George replies that it's a broad noodle.
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In "The Smelly Car," Elaine indicates to Jerry that she can think of at least six known offensive odors that she would rather smell than the stink in Jerry's car. In fact, she says, she loves horse manure. So she has something in common with George, who remarks to a Monk's waitress in "The Soup" that horse manure's not that bad, and that he doesn't even mind the word "manure." (It's "newer," which is good, and it has a "ma" in front of it.)
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Considering the number of midgets, er, little people in the scene near the end of "The Stand-In" in which Mickey is confronted about his heightening, there must have been quite a few child actors on "All My Children" who required stand-ins. Another possibility is that some of the little people were actors themselves, who also required stand-ins.
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Just curious: In "The Limo," if Donald O'Brien is such a respected figure in the Aryan Union - as well as being the leader of the midwestern regional chapter of that group, he's supposedly their most charismatic spokesman - why does he need passes to the big neo-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden?
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Presumably, if Jerry had used the services of accountant Barry Proffitt ("The Sniffing Accountant") two years earlier, instead of relying on George's girlfriend Patrice ("The Truth"), he might not have lost his tax papers. Or possibly Proffitt, who did turn out to be a drug user, might have split to South America with Jerry's papers.
(Original broadcast dates: "The Truth" - September 25, 1991, "The Sniffing Accountant" - October 7, 1993)
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In "The Barber," regarding the plausibility of Edward Scissorhands, Enzo questions, "Did you ever think about what you're going to do on the toilet?" Assuming that the character was able to use the toilet, I just hope that he wouldn't "pull a Poppie," that is, fail to wash his "hands" after using the toilet. ("The Pie")
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Throughout "Male Unbonding," George is seen wearing a v-neck sweater. I guess that even he - not just Jason Hanke in "The Apology" - realized that his rather bulbous head would struggle to find its way through a normal-size sweater neck hole.
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In "The Mom & Pop Store," George is talked into purchasing a Chrysler Le Baron by a used-car salesman. You should have stuck with your original choice, an '89 Volvo, "Le George." ("The Dealership")
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In "The Muffin Tops," Kramer tries to convince Jerry that shaving his body will cause the hair to come in thicker and fuller and darker, that it's not just an old wives' tale. So why is it that when Elaine's swimmer boyfriend in "The Little Jerry" stops shaving his head his hair not only doesn't come in thicker and fuller but, in fact, he learns that he's going bald?
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Why did the Rosses stay together after it was revealed in "The Cheever Letters" that Mr. Ross had had an affair with John Cheever? Is it possible that Mrs. Ross was "in to it" - that is, a menage a trois with another man? ("The Switch" "The Label Maker") And one more thing: What became of Susan's brother, Ricky, who was seen only once, in "The Cheever Letters?"
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Near the end of "The Junior Mint," knowing only that his girlfriend's name rhymes with a female body part, Jerry blurts out a few more guesses, including "Gipple" - presumably because it rhymes with "nipple." However, as he indicated only three months earlier in "The Pick," he is aware that both sexes - not just females - possess nipples. As he and Kramer lift their shirts to display their chests, he points out to the distraught Elaine, "What? So what? It's a nipple. A little round circular protuberance. What's the big deal? See, everybody's got them. See, I got them."
For the record, assuming that George's guess of "Aretha" is meant to rhyme with "urethra," that body part, too, is not exclusive to the female gender.
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Also in "The Junior Mint," when Elaine announces that Roy's prognosis is negative, Jerry wants to come clean about accidentally dropping the Junior Mint into Roy's peritoneal cavity. But Kramer, fearing being charged with murder if Roy doesn't pull through, is emphatic that he and Jerry remain silent about the incident. However, two and a half years later, in "The Postponement," Kramer indicates that - hypothetically - if Jerry were to kill somebody he would definitely turn him in. (His rationale: If Jerry had killed somebody, who's to say he wouldn't be next?)
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The way it appears to me, it was Susan smacking her hand on the bubble boy's plastic enclosure which caused it to puncture and deflate, and not anything which George did, no matter what the angry mob said.
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It seems a little far-fetched that Jerry and Sharon Leonard, the NYU journalism student, could have missed each other in the coffee shop. ("The Outing") You'd think that they would have told each other what they looked like and what they'd be wearing. Still, you have to like the way the story played itself out.
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With the holiday season rapidly approaching, I was wondering about Festivus. Is it a one-day holiday like Christmas, or does it span several days like Hannukah? Also, does it fall on the same day every year, or is it a moveable feast?
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In "The Strike," when Elaine goes to the "Horse Track Betting" parlor, the bookie at the window comments to her, "You make a lot of man friends. You know who's a man? Charlie here, he's a man. You know who else? Me. I'm a man." And Charlie, too, mumbles, "I'm a man." I can't help but recall the same declaration ("I'm a man!") in "The Serenity Now" by Mr. Lippman's son Adam at his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, only to have his hopes dashed by - who else? - Elaine.
And do you remember who else proclaimed that he's a man? Of course it was Georgie-Boy who, in "The Engagement," proudly announces to Jerry, "I'm a man. Jerry, I'm a man. And do you know why? It's because of that talk we had. You were my inspiration. Do you believe it? You. That lunch was the defining moment of my life."
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I'm hesitant to consider them mistakes, preferring instead to suspend belief - to some extent - for the sake of entertainment, but some specifics of a scene in "The Dealership" are more than a little far-fetched. I'll accept the hokey premise that George sets up a "candy lineup" in order to prove that the mechanic was not eating a Fifth Avenue bar, as the fellow claimed. (Was it a setup by George? Who knows, and, furthermore, who cares?) Somehow I can even overlook the fact that, even though he was desperately hungry, he didn't eat any of the candy in the lineup.
But two questions continue to nag me: First, from whom did George get the money to purchase the candy? He did keep the "worthless" dollar bill that Jerry had given him, but it certainly was not enough to purchase ten full-size Twix bars. And Jerry's demeanor at that point would indicate that it's doubtful that he would have lent George any more money. Second, where did George buy the candy? (Recall that the vending machine was all out of Twix bars.) He was reluctant to stray very far from Jerry, in order to protect him from getting screwed by Puddy.
I offer this explanation: He went to the nearby mental institution, at which he quickly coaxed enough money from one of its patients. At that facility there was a cafeteria from which he bought the Twix bars, which he used to assemble the candy lineup.
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According to Jerry in "The Pitch," the reason why salsa is now the number one condiment in America is because people like to say "salsa." ("Excuse me, do you have salsa? We need more salsa. Where is the salsa? No salsa?") I wonder if everybody likes pesto - so says George in "The Busboy" - because people like to say "pesto." ("You walk into a restaurant, that's all you hear - pesto, pesto, pesto.")
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In "The Dinner Party," as Jerry and Elaine are waiting to pay for their items, a cinnamon babka cake and a black-and-white cookie, Jerry munches away at the cookie. Before they get to the cashier, Jerry finishes eating the cookie. Just wondering: Did he indicate to the cashier that they had purchased not just the babka but the cookie, as well?
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The script of the pilot of "Jerry" must have been a complete hodge-podge, from what I can determine. The readings at the casting auditions contain lines - not actually verbatim, but close - from four episodes:
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With the pilot of "Jerry" having sat on the shelf for five years, one wonders whether the players of the George, Kramer, and Elaine characters were available for the series. Getting the go-ahead from NBC of a 13-episode commitment ("The Finale"), and hearing no mention made of recasting those parts, let's assume that they all were onboard. Then since they would have had a more-than-casual interest in the outcome of the gang's trial, it's a shame that none of them were shown making the trip to Latham, Massachusetts, as were many other characters.
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A correspondent, Carole Guyse, recently sent me a note regarding George's remark about the woman with whom Kramer set him up in "The Beard." ("She's bald! Bald-bald!") To Elaine's comment, "Well, maybe she got a haircut or something." he answers, "Let me tell you something. No one walks into a beauty parlor and says, 'Give me the Larry Fine.'" Ms. Guyse is perplexed - as I am - that if one of the Three Stooges had to be picked to describe this totally bald woman, why wasn't it Curly? Granted, Larry was at least bald on top, but he did have a wild mane of hair otherwise; Curly was completely bald. Another more accurate choice, she notes, would have been Kojak - again, because this character had a hairless pate.
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Jerry reminds us in "The Reverse Peephole" of the concept that the opposite of what George would do is the right thing to do, which was the focus of "The Opposite" episode four seasons earlier. When George puts down Jerry for preferring to walk around without a wallet, Jerry remarks, "You know, the very fact that you oppose this makes me think I'm onto something."
(Original broadcast dates: "The Opposite" - May 19, 1994, "The Reverse Peephole" - January 15, 1998)
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Note that the size of George's wallet in "The Boyfriend" is nowhere near that of his bulging billfold six years later in "The Reverse Peephole," in which Jerry refers to George's "good friend" as "morbidly obese." At the end of "The Boyfriend," a tall woman - George's admitted fantasy - enters Jerry's apartment, announcing that as she was walking behind George he dropped his wallet, and she displays it to him. In fact, it is so thin it appears to be practically empty.
The eight dollars to which I refer in the item's title is the paltry amount which is stolen from George in "The Subway" by the scam woman as he is handcuffed to a bed.
(Original broadcast dates: "The Subway" - January 8, 1992, "The Boyfriend" - February 12, 1992, "The Reverse Peephole" - January 15, 1998)
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In "The Boyfriend," when Elaine indicates to Jerry that on her date with Keith Hernandez he gave her a good-night kiss, Jerry interrogates her: "Well, what kind of a kiss? Was it a peck? Was it a kiss? Was it a long make-out thing?" To this she responds with feigned pensiveness, "Between a peck and a make-out." So, overall, she reveals nothing specific to him. Surprisingly, Jerry doesn't chide her for this lack of openness.
This scenario is vaguely reminiscent of one in "The Tape" in which Kramer asks Jerry, "How often do you cut your toe nails?" A no doubt less-than-forthcoming Jerry replies, "I would say every two-and-a-half to eight weeks." (Could you pin that down a little better?) Kramer, obviously satisfied with that answer, goes on to relate how recently, with his big toe, he cut the ankle of the woman with whom he was sleeping when he rolled over.
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For the record, "La puerta esta abierta" (fired busboy Antonio to George and Kramer in "The Busboy") is Spanish for "The door is open."
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"Rochelle Rochelle" went from film to video pretty quickly. Even if it was wrapping up its theatrical release at the time of "The Movie," which first aired on January 6, 1993, it was on a video-store shelf only a little more than three months later - in "The Smelly Car," which first aired on April 15, 1993.
A similar situation involves "Chunnel." It was in theaters in "The Pool Guy," which first aired on November 16, 1995. Not even three months later - in "The Cadillac," which first aired on February 8, 1996 - it was being shown on HBO.
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| At first, in "The Invitations," Jerry is in love with Jeannie Steinman, the woman who saved his life by pulling him out of the path of a speeding car, because she's just like him. | ||
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| Jerry: | No, no, this woman is different. She's incredible. She's just like me. She talks like me. She acts like me. She even ordered cereal at a restaurant. We even have the same initials. Wait a minute. I just realized what's going on. | |
| Kramer: | What? | |
| Jerry: | Now I know what I've been looking for all these years - myself! I've been waiting for me to come along, and now I've swept myself off my feet. | |
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| However, later in the episode, only after he gets engaged to this woman, he comes to the conclusion that he should actually be involved with someone who is his exact opposite. | ||
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| Jerry: | I think I may have made a big mistake. | |
| Kramer: | Oh, come on. | |
| Jerry: | All of a sudden it hit me. I realized what the problem is. I can't be with someone like me. I hate myself! If anything, I need to get the exact opposite of me. It's too much. It's too much. I can't take it. I can't take it! | |
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| If that's the case, then about four months later he would presumably meet his ideal match - Kevin, aka the Bizarro Jerry. | ||
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| Elaine: | So? Where were you? | |
| Jerry: | Uh, here I guess, and, uh, uh, I went out and picked up a paper. | |
| Elaine: | I had to ask Kevin to leave his office and come and pick me up. | |
| Jerry: | So? What are friends for? | |
| Elaine: | Yeah! And he is a friend, Jerry. He is reliable. He is considerate. He's like your exact opposite. | |
| Jerry: | So he's Bizarro Jerry. | |
(Original broadcast dates: "The Invitations" - May 16, 1996, "The Soul Mate" - September 26, 1996, "The Bizarro Jerry" - October 3, 1996)
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In "The Invitations," George tries several more tactics in order to break off his engagement with Susan, including asking her to sign a prenuptial agreement. To this suggestion, she scoffs, "You don't have any money. I make more money than you do. Yeah, give me the papers. I'll sign 'em." Just curious: What exactly does Susan do for a living in her second go-around with the series? She was fired from NBC three seasons earlier ("The Virgin") because George kissed her in front of some network executives at a meeting to discuss story ideas for "Jerry." It's no surprise that she landed another job after all that time, but it's not revealed what it is.
(Original broadcast dates: "The Virgin" - November 11, 1992, "The Invitations" - May 16, 1996)
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In "The Wait Out," Kramer, trying to prove to Jerry that he has "the body of a taut, pre-teen, Swedish boy," begins wearing jeans - tight ones which are obviously way too small for him. Jerry comments that they cause him to walk like Frankenstein, but Kramer reasons that they just have to be worked in a little bit. Not much later in the episode, Kramer, realizing that he can't take off the pants, gets Jerry to help him remove them, but they struggle without success. I wonder: Was Kramer not wearing underwear - no boxers, no Jockeys - under his jeans, as he did in "The Chinese Woman" to improve his fertility?
(Original broadcast dates: "The Chinese Woman" - October 13, 1994, "The Wait Out" - May 9, 1996)
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Several aspects of "The Sniffing Accountant" strike me as particularly odd.
When Jerry voices his suspicion of his accountant Barry Proffitt being a drug addict, Kramer remarks that he and Jerry went in on a CD together. First of all, why didn't they each purchase their own CD? Just a guess: Proffitt specified a minimum amount which Kramer didn't have, so the K-Man convinced Jerry to allow him to jump in with him. Secondly, presuming that they pooled their money, how would the interest on this financial vehicle be reported to the IRS? My guess here is that only Jerry would be shown as the owner of the CD. So the tax burden would fall exclusively on his shoulders. Not very fair, if you ask me.
In his next breath, Kramer indicates that Newman gave Jerry money, too, I assume also for investment purposes. The same questions as above apply here, but more unusual in this case is that arch-rivals Jerry and Newman would enter into such a joint venture with each other. I realize that it's a plot device which allows for Newman's involvement - Newman offers to mail Jerry's "termination of relationship" letter to Proffitt, but fails to do so - but it just seems so out-of-character to me.
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In "The Keys," as Elaine is going to get George's spare keys so he can give them to Kramer,
George starts rummaging through some papers in her apartment, at which point she scolds him and declares,
"I gotta get some new friends." About
(Original broadcast dates: "The Keys" - May 6, 1992, "The Bizarro Jerry" - October 3, 1996)
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| I just thought I'd take an opportunity to examine the unflattering descriptions of the Seinfeld Four by each other to the staff of the Paradise Twin Theater in "The Movie." | ||||
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| Kramer: | [to cashier in ticket booth] Could you do me a favor? If you see a guy that's five-foot-eleven, he's got, uh, a big head and flared nostrils, tell him his friend's going to be right back, okay? | (Jerry) | ||
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| George: | Um, excuse me. Have you see a guy with like a horse face, big teeth, and a, and a pointed nose? | (Jerry) | ||
| Cashier: | Flared nostrils? | |||
| George: | Yeah. | |||
| Cashier: | Nope, haven't seen him. | |||
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| Kramer: | Hey, did that guy show up? | |||
| Cashier: | The guy with the ... horse face ... and the big teeth? | |||
| Kramer: | No, the guy with the big head and the flared nostrils. | (Jerry) | ||
| Cashier: | Haven't seen him. There was a short guy with glasses. Looked like Humpty-Dumpty with a melon head, but he left. | (George) | ||
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| Usher: | Ticket, sir? | |||
| George: | Uh, I just went out. I went to look for my friend. | |||
| Usher: | Do you have your stub? | |||
| George: | My stub? | |||
| Usher: | Mmm-hmm. | |||
| George: | You don't remember me? | |||
| Usher: | It's a big city, sir. | |||
| George: | I went in with a pretty woman. You know, kinda short, big wall of hair, face like a frying pan. | (Elaine) | ||
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| Elaine: | I just went to get popcorn. Ugh. I just went to get popcorn, okay? And, and, and somebody took my seat, and my coat is in there. | |||
| Usher: | There's a seat in the front row. | |||
| Elaine: | No, no, I can't sit in the front row. | |||
| Usher: | Well, you're going to have to wait then. | |||
| Elaine: | I can't stand around here for two hours! | |||
| Usher: | I could let you see "Rochelle Rochelle." | |||
| Elaine: | Oh, thanks. Oh, hey, listen, by the way, have you seen a tall, lanky doofus with a, with a bird face and hair like the Bride of Frankenstein? | (Kramer) | ||
| Usher: | Haven't seen him. | |||
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In "The Raincoats," Elaine questions her boyfriend Aaron whether he felt uncomfortable spending the whole day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with two complete strangers (Jerry's parents) who were more than twice his age. Doing some research at IMDb.com I discovered the following:
In reality, using the actors' birthdates, Reinhold would have been no more than half the age of each of the other two from his birth until he was around 28 years old - the difference in age between him and the younger of the other two, Ms. Sheridan. In spring 1985, Martin would have been 62 and Sheridan would have been 56.
One more minor thing: At the coffee shop, when Elaine and Jerry are discussing Aaron's supposedly strange behavior of showing an interest in Jerry's parents, she asks, "But don't you think it's odd that a 35-year-old man is going to these lengths to see that someone else's parents are enjoying themselves?" As mentioned above, at the time the episode originally aired, Judge Reinhold was a bit shy of 37 years old.
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In "The Face Painter," which first aired on May 11, 1995, the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils are involved in some kind of NHL playoff series. Although both teams made the playoffs in the 1994-1995 season, they didn't face each other. Here's how each of them fared:
| Rangers vs. | Devils vs. | |
|---|---|---|
| Conference Quarterfinals | Quebec Nordiques - Rangers win series 4-2 | Boston Bruins - Devils win series 4-1 |
| Conference Semi-Finals | Philadelphia Flyers - Rangers lose series 0-4 | Pittsburgh Penguins - Devils win series 4-1 |
| Conference Finals | Philadelphia Flyers - Devils win series 4-2 | |
| Stanley Cup Finals | Detroit Red Wings - Devils win series 4-0 |
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In "The Race," when George sees a personal ad in The Daily Worker, a communist-oriented newspaper, which read, "Exciting, uninhibited woman seeks forward-thinking comrade, and appearance not important." he becomes overjoyed at the opportunity for someone with his features, and calls the woman. However, less than four months later, in "The Doodle," when Elaine relays to George that his girlfriend-of-the-week, Paula, likes him, and that she said that looks aren't important to her, he gets all upset that she thinks he's ugly.
(Original broadcast dates: "The Race" - December 15, 1994, "The Doodle" - April 6, 1995)
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Attempting to break off his relationship with his girlfriend Bonnie in "The Label Maker," George indicates to her that he would be willing to engage in a menage a trois with her. At that point, Bonnie's former roommate, Scott, enters her apartment. It's revealed that Bonnie and Scott have also talked about such an arrangement involving themselves, and look approvingly to the possibility of including George in a threesome sex-romp. The prospect of not only not being able to drive off Bonnie, but being involved sexually with Scott causes George to freak out - no surprise to us viewers. Just one thing: It's a little presumptuous of Bonnie to believe that George would want the third individual in the menage a trois to be a man, much less specifically Scott. However, the slow-witted bald one presumably doesn't even consider bringing up this point to her after her suggestion.
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I can't help but wondering which of these would hurt the most:
(Original broadcast dates: "The Gymnast" - November 3, 1994, "The Betrayal" - November 20, 1997, "The Puerto Rican Day" - May 7, 1998)
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Just curious: Why, in "The Masseuse," when the I.D.-less Kramer is required by the will-call agent to get confirmation from the person who left his ticket to the Giants game, does he call for Joel Rifkin? Certainly, Rifkin might be the owner of the extra ticket. (That fact is not clear from Elaine's statement, "You know, Joel and I have an extra ticket to the Giants game.") I realize, of course, that this sets up the P.A. announcer's call for Joel Rifkin to report to the stadium office. However, if Kramer expects to be identified, shouldn't he ask for Elaine? (I suppose that, even though it wasn't stated, Kramer might have been introduced to Rifkin prior to the game or even prior to the episode itself.)
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In two early episodes, it is revealed that there are problems with Jerry's shower.
In "The Robbery," in preparing Elaine to stay in his apartment for the weekend, Jerry informs her that the hot water takes a little while to come on. ("So, the best thing to do," he says, "is to turn it on, do all your shopping. You come back and take a shower.")
In "The Apartment," Jerry remarks to George that the water pressure is terrible in his building, which causes a weak shower spray. (It turns out that Elaine, who is keen on getting Jerry's apartment, is aware of this fact - probably from her apartment-sitting gig.)
(Original broadcast dates: "The Robbery" - June 7, 1990, "The Apartment" - April 4, 1991)
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I wonder if the electronic organizer that Kramer gave to Elaine in "The Marine Biologist" - the one which wouldn't stop beeping - might have been a Willard, the cheap knockoff of the Wizard electronic organizer that Bob Saccamano's father got in bulk for Jerry in "The Wizard."
One more thing: Kramer tells Elaine that he got the electronic organizer from the bank, for opening up a new account. Did the staff at the bank greet him with a "hello?" In "The Invitations," he had a big dispute with a bank which advertised that it was offering $100 to anyone whom they didn't greet with a "hello" - all he got was a "hey."
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I wonder if Diane DeCond, a fellow classmate of Jerry and George at Queens College ("The Marine Biologist"), ever referred to George as "The Little Bulldog" during their collegiate days. In "The Barber," that's what George tells the impressed Mr. Pensky - of "The Pensky File" - they used to call him then.
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