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My Top 10 Favourite Seinfeld Episodes - Part 1 · Death by Multimedia

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This is thoughts from The Metal Cabin, where only one opinion
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matters and it's not yours. Good day there, and thanks for
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tuning in to thoughts from The Metal Cabin.
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And today's episode is a lengthy 1.
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And it's all about the TV series Seinfeld, which completed itself
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25 years ago just in May. So in May 1998, the final
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episode was aired on television, and over the past probably 12
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months, I've been going back and I've watched the whole series
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from the first episode to the last over that period of 12
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months. And I really enjoyed the
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process. And along the way, I not only
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rediscovered terrific episodes that I've always loved, I've
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discovered different pieces in other episodes that I'd
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completely forgotten about. So I thought at the time when I
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started doing it, you know, if I was to put into order each of
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the episodes, that would be a very long process.
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And I think from memory, 165 episodes or something like that.
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So I thought, no, I'm not going to do that.
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And then even if someone asked you, as someone has done to me
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in the past, what's your favorite every episode or list
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your top ten episodes in order? Once again, that's extremely
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difficult to do. What I have done is I've cut it
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down to my favorite 10 episodes and even that leaves out a
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number of notable episodes that most of you will probably think,
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how the hell could you not put that in your top 10?
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There are reasons why some of them missed out and there are
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reasons why other episodes got in that you may not have
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expected. So today's episode, I'm going to
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run you through my favorite 10 episodes and they won't be in
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order. I'm going to run through them in
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the airing order, and then we'll discuss each series as we go
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through as well and touch on some of those other episodes and
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just see if any of them are agreeable to what you think are
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your favorite episodes. So if that kind of thing amuses
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you and you'd like to reminisce on Seinfeld with me, then please
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stick with us till after the intro music as we start today's
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episode of my favorite top ten Seinfeld episodes right here on
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Thoughts from The Middle Cabin. Alrighty.
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Well, let's get started. And of course, we all know that
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Seinfeld is based around 4 characters.
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Jerry Seinfeld, obviously the only person with his real name
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in the show, who is alongside 3 terrific actors Jason Alexander,
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Julia Louis Dreyfus and Michael Richards.
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And we have George, Elaine and Kramer, and it's their antics
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over 9 series that is so wonderfully written and even
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acted, even though the running joke was that Jerry couldn't act
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when we got to the point where he and George were trying to get
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their pilot up for NBC. But so many other great
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characters as we run through all these things, who came at a time
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for sometimes it was for a series, sometimes it was for in
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and out for two or three series, all made appearances all the way
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through. And of course Susan Ross was one
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of those who was there in three different instances.
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But of course for one whole season there at one stage when
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she was engaged to be married to George, Mr. Willem and George
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Steinbrenner when George is working at the Yankees.
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Mr. Pitt, who was just fantastic when Elaine was working for him.
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And then, of course, Elaine then worked for Jay Peterman, who was
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another fantastic character. Elaine then then ended up going
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out with putty for what's felt like years but wasn't quite that
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long, just a character. Occasional characters like
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Mickey, who was Kramer's mate, who got into mischief with him
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at different times. And of course, Newman, who I
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must admit, through watching this all again over the last 12
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months, I gained a greater respect for his character and
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laughed probably more at him than I did anyone else on my
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rewatching of Seinfeld. And I never really thought about
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it before, but my goodness, so wonderfully acted and the
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character in himself is just so terrific.
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So as it turns out, surprisingly enough.
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Of course, none of my favorite 10 episodes come from series one
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of Seinfeld. There are five episodes,
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including the pilot, that became a part of season one, and
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there's nothing particularly brilliant about them.
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We become introduced to the characters, but they rather
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stayed. The audience reaction isn't as
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fantastic as it was later on. Each of the characters and the
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actors are trying to get into the role of the character, I
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think at the time. So when you look back and you
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watch those first five episodes, it's a it's a little bit of a
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waste of time. In fact, anyone who was going to
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do this, I would just say forget about season one and go straight
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into season 2. What was interesting that I do
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remember at the time is that in Australia the first series of
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Seinfeld was actually aired on channel, excuse me, Channel 9.
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And it was quite late at night and it didn't get picked up by
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anyone. No one really spoke about the
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show at all and Channel 9 dropped it like a hot potato.
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But then Channel 10 came along and they bought the rights.
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And amazingly for them, once season 2 started and it got,
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they got stuck into it. Everything seemed to work and of
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course it was a massive hit for Channel 10.
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And you can only imagine that the people who dropped it on
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Channel 9 were regretting that for the next 8 years.
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So season 2 comes in and immediately it feels better and
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there are more exciting episodes.
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The first memorable episode I guess is Season 2, episode 2,
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which is the pony remark. It's the first episode where the
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series really gets going, where all the characters are involved
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and they actually act like the characters they ended up being.
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So you sort of started to see that really come through.
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Then Season 2, episode 3, which was the jacket, which really is
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I think a terrific episode. That's when Elaine's father
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comes to town and he says he wants to have dinner with Elaine
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and Elaine cons Jerry into coming along, who cons George
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into coming along. And for some reason, during the
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whole episode, George has been singing a song from Man of La
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Mancha all the way through. And of course, in the long run,
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Elaine's father is singing it in the lift as he leaves.
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It's where Jerry buys the suede jacket.
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And of course he loves this jacket and he can't turn it
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inside out because it's got the pink and purple lining inside.
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But then it snows. And of course he's not allowed
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to turn inside out because the line's farther away.
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Let him. And so the jacket gets ruined.
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And of course, Kramer takes that jacket, as he had taken Jerry's
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other jacket earlier. So all of those things started
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to occur in Season 2. And then we come to the episode
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that is the first of my terrific episodes in, well, my top ten
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episodes. And it is Season 2, episode 11,
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and it's titled The Chinese Restaurant.
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All right, Four. Seinfeld, Four.
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I'll be 5-10 minutes. Let's go someplace else.
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I am too hungry. We might as well just stay here.
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We haven't got that much time. If we're gonna make the movie,
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gonna call Tatiana. So there's lots of stuff that I
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like about this episode, which makes it for me one of the top
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ten episodes. I think one of the interesting
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things is that Cromer doesn't actually appear in the episode,
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and it wasn't until I watched it again.
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But I realized this and when I was starting to think about, I
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think Kramer doesn't appear, and it must be.
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I haven't really checked through it, but it must be the only
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episode that he didn't appear in.
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But perhaps there was another one, I'm not sure.
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So that's interesting. Now it's known as a bottle
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episode because it all takes place in the one room, on the
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one set in the one room. And of course, in this case,
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it's the the foyer of the Chinese restaurant.
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And it's interesting because like, George is trying to call
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his girlfriend to let her know where he is.
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Of course, this is all before mobile phone, so he's got to use
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a pay phone that's on the wall. Then of course, every time he
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tries to use the phone, there's someone on the phone and they
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won't get off for him. And of course that drives his
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aggravation through the whole episode.
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And you think in this day and age that that can't occur.
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That doesn't happen. Kids watching this episode be
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saying, what are they talking about?
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You just message them, you just and it's done.
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And so you can't do that. I do love how they come in as
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well and they walk straight to the front and ask for a table.
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So of course you know how many 4/4 for Seinfeld, that'd be 5-10
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minute. And how many?
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How often do you walk into restaurants without actually
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booking at any time? Especially if you're doing what
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they're doing, which is going to see Plan 9 from Outer Space.
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Yeah, you haven't seen Plan on from meta Space.
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You must get it. It's on one of the streaming
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platforms. You must watch it.
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One of the greatest films of all time.
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Of course, it is categorized as the worst film of all time, but
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it's a great fun to watch. But by moment they were going to
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see this movie. They had half an hour to get
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there or so before it starts on the big screen.
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One not only big screen. So of course Jerry wants to stay
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and just get the table a night. Elaine wants to go to somewhere
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else because she's just too hungry.
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And George, of course, is still trying on the phone to get to
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his girlfriend. Tatiana is the woman who he was
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going out with in this episode. Jerry, of course, was supposed
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to be eating dinner with his uncle, but he blew him off to go
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and see this movie. And yes, as I said, Elaine is
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starving and the wait to be seated, he's just absolutely
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killing her. One of the funny bits in this
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episode again, is when she says this and Jerry says, I'll tell
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you what, you walk in there, you take it a bit of food off one of
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the people's table they're watching and you eat it in front
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of them and you walk away. There's 50 bucks in it for you.
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And so of course, she goes in there and stares and tries to
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con them into giving her food. And she'd go Hars in the 50
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bucks. And they're all say, oh, old
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people, what do you say? What is it when she ran away?
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And of course George can't get through to his girlfriend.
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You lose a message on a phone to say to call the restaurant.
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And when she calls the restaurant, of course the guy,
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the Maida D sort of says Cartwright, Cartwright.
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And of course it's not Cartwright, it's Costanza.
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And George goes up and says, did you get a phone call from a
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girlfriend? Yes, I said Cartwright and no
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one answered. My name's Casanza.
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Yes, I say Cartwright, you're not here.
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I tell you you're not here. And of course George loses it
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completely. So this goes off the whole
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episode. And the the whole joke, of
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course, is that it's every time they ask.
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It's still 5-10 minutes. Other people walk, get called
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through to tables. Other people walk through the
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front door and go straight to a table.
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Of course, one of his regulars turns up, he's having a joke and
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whatever. And he says, ah, you want to
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come and find you a table? And of course they're still
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there, waiting until we get to the end of the episode.
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And at the end of the episode, we get to the point where George
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decides he's just going home. He's he's depressed.
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Jerry decides he's going to miss the movie, so he's going to go
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have dinner with his uncle, and Elaine is going to Sky Burger
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and she's going to scarf down the biggest burger she can get.
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They'll walk out and of course, straight away Seinfeld 4.
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So there's a lot going on in the episode and the whole way
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through. I just think it's done so well
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because to be able to film an episode that goes for almost
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half an hour in in the one scene with pretty much just those
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three or four people in the scene, even though there's a lot
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of people in the background and whatever, and they're being used
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in that way. But there's only four people who
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are driving this episode. I've always really enjoyed it,
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and because it was so early in the series for me, this was
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where everything began to take a turn.
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This is where things got so much better and we learned so much
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more about the characters, the angst that George has, his anger
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at, the fact that human beings shouldn't be treated this way,
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that, you know, if someone wants to use the phone, someone should
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give it up for him straight away.
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Whereas we all know that if George was on the phone, he
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wouldn't be giving it up for anyone and Elaine just expecting
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everyone to drop everything so she could get her table and get
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her hunger sold. It just speaks volumes of the
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characters so very early on. So there you go, The Chinese
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Restaurant Season 2, episode 11, my first of my top ten favorite
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ever Seinfeld episodes. You're.
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Not. Why don't you 2 just go to the
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movies by yourself? I'm not in the mood.
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Me either. I'm going to Sky Burger.
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So you're not going. You don't need us.
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I can't go to a bad movie by myself.
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What, am I going to make sarcastic remarks to strangers?
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I guess I'll just go to my uncle's.
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Should we tell them we're leaving?
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What for? Let's just get out of here.
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Seinfeld. So we move into season three,
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and as it turns out, there are three episodes in season three
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that make my top ten, which is the equal of another series yet
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to come through. And there are other episodes in
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season three that are probably pretty close to making that top
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ten as well. If I really thought about it, I
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guess the first really good episode of season three is
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episode 3, which is titled The Pen.
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Now I dug a bit deeper now after my last episode, and it turns
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out that there were two episodes that Kramer didn't turn up in,
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and the first one was the Chinese Restaurant and the
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second one is this one. So as it turns out, there's two
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of my top ten episodes that Kramer never appeared in, so I
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don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but the
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pen was fantastic. As you'll remember, Jerry and
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Elaine go down to Florida to stay with Jerry's parents.
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And of course, Jack Klumpus arrives on the scene with his
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astronaut pen, which Jerry's admires.
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And Jack says dig it, dig it, yeah, take the pen.
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And of course, that gets into all sorts of trouble because he
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takes the pen and then everybody knows he's got the pen and Jack
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is really pissed off about not having it.
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And of course, by the end of the episode he has to give it back.
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The most memorable part of the episode, of course, is that
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Elaine sleeps on the fold their bed.
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She has the bar in the back. She's in pain and can't move.
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So she takes a lot of painkillers.
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And then we go to the lodge that night and of course we have her
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most famous, what do we call it, Inspiration, where she says
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she's meeting Stella. And of course she goes, Oh my
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goodness. And it's just one of the that's
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one of the funniest moments in all of Seinfeld when she goes
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and says that and the way she acts that night is just
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fantastic. So that's a really good episode,
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the pen. And then we go to season three,
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Episode 5, and this is the library.
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So surely you all remember Jerry learns that he has a library
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fine from 1971 for the book Tropic of Cancer, and he gets
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hunted down by Lieutenant Bookman, who is the library
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investigation officer. And of course, that's also where
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George suspects that the homeless man at the steps of the
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library is Mr. Heyman, physical education teacher from his high
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school, who used to give him an atomic wedgie.
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Oh, and it's just fantastic. And of course, as we know, you
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know, Jerry eventually has to pay the fine.
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And and Lieutenant Bookman is, you know, he's not taken with
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Jerry at all. You know, he's just think, so
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you think you can get away with anything that you think you're
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good enough that you can get away with keeping a book for 20
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odd years. So that was a terrific episode
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with lots of other stuff going on as well.
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But the next episode that reaches my top ten comes of 1
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after that and it is season three episode 6 and it is
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entitled The Parking Garage. Where's the car?
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I thought it was here. You don't know where we bought?
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This is great. I thought it was green 22.
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I remember orange. I thought it was orange.
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I didn't pay attention. Oh, this is just what I knew.
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I'm sure it's right around here. Yeah, yeah, it looks familiar.
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I remember the elevator. There's elevators all over.
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Everything looks the same. But like rats and some
19:14
experiment, it's over there. I know where it is.
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It's black, right? Well, it's dark brown, So a
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parking lot, You write it down. How fun is that?
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There it is. No, no, that's a Toyota.
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I thought it was. Did we come in over there?
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So yes, Season three, Episode 6, the parking garage.
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And I'm sure that you will remember this one again.
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It's not quite a bottle episode, but it all takes place in this
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parking garage and we've all. The great thing about Seinfeld
19:52
sometimes is they just have the storylines that we have all
19:55
lived through. And one of those is parking your
19:58
car in a parking garage at a mall or you know, shopping
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center in Australia, of course. And then forgetting where you
20:05
parked it and then having to try and retrace your steps to find
20:09
where you've parked your car, which is exactly what happens in
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this episode. Kramer goes to purchase an air
20:14
conditioner and of course they come back into the parking
20:17
garage and they've completely forgotten where the car is
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parked. So lots of different things
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going on in here. Obviously Kramer then puts his
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air conditioner down and he says I've got to go back and find the
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car, which of course they do fine.
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But then he's got to remember where he put the air
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conditioner. Fantastic.
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Well done, Kramer. Elaine buys a goldfish and the
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whole time she's carrying around this goldfish in this plastic
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bag worrying about whether it will die before they get home.
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And how, you know, should they do they open the bags, lead area
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or put holes in the bag? And And then, of course, it
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doesn't look very good. And Elaine runs around to try
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and get people to stop their cars, to get into the car, to go
20:58
and find their car, which no one will do.
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George, of course, is worried because he has to get back to
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his parents home by about 6:15 because he's taking them out for
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their anniversary. And of course, yeah, that's not
21:12
going to happen. And Jerry, of course,
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desperately needs to go to the toilet and he's walking around
21:20
and he's got no way of getting to the toilet.
21:24
So there's the four stories there, as they're all still
21:27
trying to find this car wherever Kramer had parked it.
21:32
So it was fantastic because as we go through, Elaine becomes
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more frantic about a goldfish. Kramer becomes as illogical as
21:42
ever in trying to retrace his steps and work out exactly where
21:45
this car was and then where the air conditioner was and all that
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kind of stuff. It's it's watching Elaine trying
21:55
to beg people to get into if she can get in the car, so they'll
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drive her around to try and find the car.
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And eventually, of course, Jerry gives in to his instincts and
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after being badgered by Cramer, just say just go and urinate
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over in the corner. Everything's fine.
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And of course, as soon as he does, he gets caught and he gets
22:16
taken to the security office, where he eventually has to pay a
22:21
fine for urine, a public urination.
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And of course, eventually he is joined by George, who has done
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exactly the same thing. I think there was one bit too.
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There is one bit, obviously, where George asks a woman to
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give them a lift to drive around the garage.
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And of course she kicks them out almost a minute, because George
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immediately makes very disparaging remarks about L Ron
22:51
Hubbard, not realizing of course, but of course she's a
22:55
Scientologist, so of course, she said straight away, off you go,
22:58
they're gone. But as it turns out, they're
23:01
dropped off right by the car. But of course Kramer has the
23:05
keys, and he is still somewhere lost in the garage trying to
23:09
find the air conditioner, so they're still standing there.
23:13
Eventually he finds them. Elaine's goldfish is dead.
23:17
George is well past any chance of being able to get to his
23:20
parents to take them out for their wedding anniversary, but
23:23
at least at least Jerry has urinated, so that's OK.
23:27
And then of course, the end of the episode to mark it and top
23:30
it off perfectly, The car won't start.
23:35
So a really terrifically written episode again, and it's
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honestly, it's just using things out of real life that you and I
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have all probably been through or heard of our friends or
23:47
family having been through, and you just put them all together
23:50
in one episode and that's what you get.
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And that's why, for me, this episode is the top is in my top
23:57
ten because it's so real to life.
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It really is a microcosm of our own lives and what as no doubt
24:06
in the world, parts have happened or we imagine could
24:09
always happen to us. And every time I go to a parking
24:12
garage, I definitely know that I'm always checking what color,
24:16
what level, all that kind of stuff to make sure that I
24:18
remember it so I don't have to wander around with the goldfish
24:22
wondering if it's going to live or die.
24:27
That could be a problem. Where's your little bag?
24:31
All right, let's get it up. So as we move along in season
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three, there's another couple of episodes that I thought were
25:05
really good at this point in time.
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You've got episode 9, which was entitled The Nose Job, and I'm
25:12
sure that you all remember that George's girlfriend had a
25:16
slightly elongated nose that he said, oh, I love everything
25:23
about her, but maybe her nose is too big.
25:25
And of course, that was when they were all sitting there
25:28
together in Jerry's apartment. And of course Kramer just said,
25:32
yeah, you look beautiful, you just need a nose job, which of
25:36
course she then does goes and gets and it comes here botched.
25:39
And George loves herself. And of course, you know, then of
25:41
course he breaks up with her as George would always do.
25:44
And then eventually, of course, it comes good.
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All the swelling went down and she's ends up being beautiful
25:48
and she's dating Kramer at the end of the episode.
25:51
So once again, George is stuffed up and somehow Kramer comes out
25:54
golden. Episode 11 is called the
25:57
alternate Side. Now you may remember this one
25:59
too. This is when George took on the
26:01
role of moving all the cars on the Main Street so that they
26:05
didn't get booked. And of course he came in and he
26:08
was going crazy, unable to do it.
26:11
It's also the episode which has a fairly famous phrase from it.
26:15
It was the one where Woody Allen was making a movie and Kramer
26:19
had gone for a part and of course he'd gotten the part and
26:21
he had one line, which was these pretzels are making me thirsty.
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And so of course, throughout all the characters have to give
26:29
their impression of what they would say.
26:31
George's, of course, was very frustrated as he caused a scene,
26:36
caused an accident down there, and held up the filming of the
26:39
movie, and he wondered whether he should go down and apologize
26:42
to Woody. So anyway, there's those two
26:45
episodes that lead up into my third episode of my favorite all
26:50
time 10 sign for the episodes. And it is season three, episode
26:54
13, and it's called The Subway You.
26:58
Realize, of course, you're naked dressed.
27:04
I don't see any difference. You want to sit here?
27:07
That's difference. I got something against the
27:11
naked body. I got something against yours.
27:15
Got a couple deep knee beds. Maybe some squat thrusts.
27:18
Who's got time for squat thrusts?
27:20
All right, how about skipping breakfast?
27:23
I'm guessing you're not 1/2 grapefruit and black coffee bag.
27:25
I like a good breakfast. I understand.
27:28
I like a good breakfast. Long as you don't wind up
27:31
trapped in a room and bib overalls and pigtails being
27:34
counseled by Dick Gregory. I'm not ashamed of my body.
27:39
Exactly. That's your problem.
27:42
You should toke it up. Please, Mommy.
27:50
So there's a lot of people who disregard this episode as being
27:54
anything but just average. The thing I like about it most
27:59
is that we start the episode with all four together at the
28:03
coffee shop, and they're all going to go their separate ways
28:07
to four different ways, and they're all going to the subway
28:09
to do it. And I really like the fact that
28:11
they start the episode together. They talk about what they're
28:13
doing. They go down to the subway,
28:15
They've caught the train, and they get off at this particular
28:18
train station. And of course, they've all got
28:19
to go in there different ways to get on the next trains to go
28:22
wherever they're going. And there's the four terrific
28:25
stories that come about of it. Elaine, of course, is going to
28:29
the lesbian wedding. And she has the big present that
28:34
she's trying to hold on the train.
28:36
And I love the part where she talks to, well, this woman
28:40
actually says to her, starts talking to her on the train.
28:42
And of course, Elaine says I'm going to a wedding.
28:45
Yes. And she asks what does he do?
28:48
And Elaine says, no, it's a she. And she says, all right, OK,
28:53
she's doing all the work. And he's at home.
28:55
And she said, no, there's no hurry.
28:57
And of course, she says, 35 years I've been catching a
29:00
training in in New York and I've never spoken to anyone.
29:02
And the first person I've spoken to is the best man at a lesbian
29:05
wedding. So that was terrific.
29:08
And then of course, the delays on the train.
29:10
And she's on the train and all she's thinking to herself is
29:14
that there's something going on and imagining she's going to be
29:18
late. And she becomes claustrophobic
29:21
and all that kind of stuff. And of course, eventually never
29:24
makes the wedding because she was far too late with the days,
29:28
which Jerry says at the end. So you miss the wedding.
29:31
You'll see the bris, dear Kramer.
29:36
Of course he actually is going on the train to pay his fines
29:41
because of course he has 100 different parking fines and and
29:46
fines like that. So he's got to go to court.
29:47
So he's got to go to court, try and sort that out.
29:49
And he's on the train and he hears this big tip for a race,
29:53
which I think Pumpernickel was the name of the horse and his
29:56
mother was a mutter and his father was a mutter and all that
29:59
kind of stuff. So of course he goes to the off
30:02
track betting place and puts on the bet and of course
30:06
Pumpernickel gets up and wins at 30 to one or something.
30:08
So he gets his all his payout and he's all happy.
30:11
But of course he sees some man looking at him, looking at him
30:15
strangely in the off track betting.
30:17
And he eventually follows Kramer down to the train and decides to
30:20
try and rob him. At which point the blind
30:24
violinist who Kramer had given money to because on the train
30:29
earlier, because he's obviously there just to as a trying to get
30:32
money. It turns out to be a cop and
30:35
size Kramer. And of course at any episode
30:37
Kramer then pays for everyone's meals at the coffee shop again.
30:41
So that's a really good storyline going as well.
30:45
George, of course, is as always, just completely George.
30:50
And he gets on the train, he's going to try for a second job
30:54
interview. And he meets up with a woman on
31:00
the train who thinks that he's looking at wanteds because he's
31:03
on. And I'm looking at the stocks,
31:05
love the stocks. Got to keep up with the stocks,
31:06
you know. And she said, oh, I didn't think
31:08
you'd be, you know, looking for a job, said, oh, no, no, I'm
31:11
very good, very, very well off going very well.
31:14
Thank you. One of the great lines out of
31:19
Seinfeld that often gets missed is said by George here in this
31:22
situation on the train when he's talking to this lady and he
31:25
says, I've always gone my own way and I've never looked back.
31:30
And then this train horn goes, man, and of course he
31:34
immediately jumps up and looks behind him.
31:37
It's done so beautifully and so perfectly by Jason Alexander.
31:41
It's just fantastic. And I've I've always loved that
31:43
line and that reaction. So of course she says, oh, maybe
31:47
you'd like to get off the train with me and we could go, you
31:49
know, So they go back to her hotel room and he thinks that
31:54
they're going to do the do. But of course, she's just there
31:56
to rob him. And the great line where she
31:58
says $8. I've wasted my whole morning on
32:01
you for $8. And George says, what?
32:04
You're robbing me? And she's, I'm taking your suit.
32:07
Don't take my suit. I paid $299 for that.
32:11
And then as she goes out the door, you can't leave me here.
32:14
Will I ever see you again? And that's the end of George.
32:18
So he loses his class. He's lost his $8 and of course
32:22
he doesn't get to that second job interview, So well done.
32:25
George and Jerry's story is just as fantastic.
32:28
Jerry's going to Coney Island to pick up his car which had been
32:30
stolen in the previous episode or the episode before that and
32:37
it's been left and of course they say it's not have been
32:39
left, It was, it was cleaned and it had been had a wheel
32:43
alignment. So he's going to go pick up his
32:45
stolen car from the police place out there at Coney Island.
32:49
And he's on the train and he falls asleep and everyone's
32:51
around him and he's got this guy across from him reading his
32:53
paper. And then he wakes up and the
32:55
person across from him, of course is completely naked.
32:58
And everybody else standing on the train and sitting at the
33:00
very far end of the the carriage.
33:03
And Jerry takes a little of his straw and says, OK, then this is
33:06
interesting. And then he starts talking to
33:08
him saying, you know, because he says I'm, I'm not ashamed of my
33:13
my naked body. And Jerry says that's the
33:17
problem. You should be because he's quite
33:19
overweight and nothing like being an overweight nudist.
33:23
But after that initial exchange, of course they end up talking
33:27
and they become, you know, friends.
33:29
They're talking about baseball and they talk about the Mets and
33:33
how they're going to go and what their rotation's like and all
33:35
this kind of stuff. And they get through to the end
33:38
of the episode, through these back and forth.
33:40
And they eventually they decide that they're going to go to
33:42
Coney Island together. And the nudist had sort of said,
33:47
I haven't had a hot dog at Nathan's for, you know, 10 years
33:49
or 12 years, nothing. And Jerry says not.
33:51
First we're going to ride the Cyclone, then we'll go to
33:53
Nathan's. And of course, once he gets back
33:56
to the coffee shop, they get to the point where he says, ah,
33:58
we're on all these rides and we you should have seen what this
34:00
guy put away at Nathan's. And then he said, I got so late
34:03
that I didn't, I went to pick my car up and the police station
34:06
was locked up. So I'm going to have to go out
34:08
there again. And so, of course, they all
34:10
finish, end up in the coffee shop in that situation.
34:13
Elaine hasn't been to the wedding.
34:14
George needs his spare key from Kramer because he needs to go
34:17
find some clothes. Jerry's looking for someone to
34:21
go to the Coney Island with me. And of course, at the start of
34:23
the episode, they'd all just put the bill in front of Jerry and
34:26
say, come on Jerry, pay for breakfast.
34:27
I'm paying for breakfast again. Why do I always have to pay for
34:30
breakfast? And of course he's about to do
34:31
it again. But Kramer, who now has an
34:33
absolute ward of notes, just did the dirt through.
34:36
That'll do. That's close enough and they all
34:37
walk out. End of episode.
34:40
So obviously all with all these episodes, me explaining to you
34:44
the episode is not going to show you as much as good of the
34:48
episode is if you watch it yourself.
34:51
But hopefully if you watch it again, you'll pick up all these
34:55
little things as they go along with it.
34:56
Maybe you haven't picked up before and maybe you'll see why.
35:00
For me, it's one of my favorite 10 episodes because the four
35:04
different stories play out together at the same time and we
35:07
go from one to the other all the way through.
35:09
So they're not actually together for the story to happen.
35:14
They're all together at the start, they're all together to
35:16
finish, but the rest of the time they're all doing their own
35:17
thing. So I think that shows pieces of
35:21
their characters that we wouldn't necessarily see because
35:24
they're not actually interacting with each other, they're
35:26
interacting with other people in the public, which makes for a
35:31
very interesting episode and still one of my favorites.
35:36
This is great. This is what I need.
35:38
Just what I need. OK, take it easy.
35:41
I'm sure it's nothing. Probably rats on the track.
35:44
They're stopping for rats. God, it's so crowded.
35:49
How could there be so many people?
35:51
This guy really smells. Doesn't anyone use deodorant in
35:55
the city? What is so hard?
35:56
You take the cap off, you roll it on.
35:58
What's that? I feel something rubbing against
36:01
me. It's not disgusting.
36:03
Animals. These people should be in a
36:04
cage. We ordered the cage.
36:07
If I missed the wedding, I got the ring.
36:09
What they do? You can't get married without a
36:11
ring. I can't breathe.
36:14
I feel faint. Take it easy.
36:18
It'll start moving. Some think about people in
36:21
concentration camps. What they went through the
36:23
hostages. What would you do if you were a
36:25
hostage? Think about that.
36:27
This is nothing. No, it's not nothing.
36:30
It's something. It's a nightmare.
36:32
Nothing. Nothing.
36:39
Go wrong with the train. It's untrapped.
36:42
There's no traffic. I'm going to train.
36:44
Get stuck. Step on the gas.
36:46
What would it be? You think the conductor would
36:49
explain it to us? I'm sorry.
36:51
There's a delay. We'll be moving in 5 minutes.
36:54
I want to hear a voice. What's?
36:55
That on my leg. So moving on again through
37:02
season three and again there is a a couple of good episodes
37:07
through this section of Seinfeld that I I guess I didn't really
37:12
consider for this podcast. But they're always interesting
37:17
to look back on. Especially the boyfriend which
37:21
was where Keith Hernandez the the the Yankees baseballer
37:25
appeared and firstly was going out with going to go out with
37:29
Elaine and of course became good friends with Jerry who then
37:32
wanted him to help him move. But perhaps the best part of
37:35
that double episode was all about the magic loogie and
37:40
Kramer and Newman's story about how they'd gone to a baseball
37:43
game and said nice game pretty boy and then Kramer had been hit
37:47
by a magic loogie. Of course they didn't found out
37:51
that it was in fact another player from the other side from
37:54
the Mets who they had forgotten that they had taunted during the
37:58
game as well. And so of course they made-up
38:00
with Keith Hernandez and went on and said you need some help
38:03
moving. But they just the telling of
38:06
that story alone for that double episode is fantastic.
38:11
And then I guess the other one you've got there is where Kramer
38:18
has his portrait painted by Jerry's girlfriend, who was
38:21
actually played by Katherine Koener.
38:23
For anyone who knows Katherine Koener on that show and also
38:27
where Elaine went to the Yankees game and sat in the Yankees box.
38:31
But of course we would refused to remove her Baltimore Orioles
38:35
baseball cap, and there was lots of stuff going on about that.
38:40
So those were two episodes that are between 3:16 and we get to
38:45
another episode that I think that a lot of people would say
38:50
really that's one of your top ten episodes because a lot of
38:55
people sort of forget that it exists at all.
38:59
And it is season three, episode 22, and this one is called The
39:04
Parking Space. Crazy.
39:07
What are you doing? Hey, hey, you're stealing my
39:11
space, George. Wait, you don't know who this
39:13
guy is? People kill for parking space in
39:15
this city. No.
39:16
No, no, he's not getting away. George, what are you doing?
39:21
I think I'm parking my car. You can't do that.
39:23
You can't just sneak in from the bank like that.
39:25
I'm not sneaking. I didn't even know you were
39:28
parking. You were just sitting there,
39:29
three spaces off. What if you didn't think I was
39:32
parking? Why did you put it in head
39:33
first? Well, that's the way I park
39:36
anyway. You didn't start backing until I
39:37
pulled in. I was in the middle of a
39:39
conversation. Hey, buddy, what can I tell you?
39:42
The point is, I was here first. I was closer to this space than
39:45
you were. But I'm backing and you can't
39:47
put it in head first. I can't if I have room.
39:52
Are you going to move the car? No, I'm not going to move the
39:55
car. Shirk.
39:58
Oh, you're not. I love putting it in the garage.
40:03
It's my space. So yes, OK, look, this is an
40:07
unusual 1 to come up in a list like this.
40:10
And I know that a lot of people would disagree with it,
40:14
especially with some of the ones that I've left out.
40:16
But I've always loved this episode for a number of reasons,
40:21
the way that all the different characters seem to be upset with
40:27
at least one of the others, who are then upset with someone else
40:29
for different reasons. The episode starts where Kramer
40:34
comes in and and wonders where Jerry's car is and where George
40:39
and Elaine have gone. And he sort of says, I beg you.
40:42
And of course Jerry then says, you know, no, you beg, you
40:45
actually got to put something into it.
40:46
So, and then eventually, of course, he tells him that
40:49
they've gone to the flea market. And then of course Kramer about
40:52
a minute later in parts that he's been talking to Mike, who's
40:55
coming to watch the fight that's going on at their house.
40:58
And again he says, oh, we were talking about you and whatever
41:02
and back and forth again. And of course, then it works out
41:05
that Mike thinks that Jerry's are phony.
41:09
So of course, yes, these episodes set around the fact
41:10
that everyone's coming to Jerry's house to watch this big
41:13
fight. Elaine and George are coming
41:16
back from the flea market. And of course, it's interesting
41:23
that of course George loses control of the car and then
41:28
there's this noise in the car, which of course they think, oh,
41:30
now we've wrecked Jerry's car. But the big thing is, is they
41:33
turn up and they find this beautiful parking spot outside
41:35
Jerry's house. But I love this fact that they,
41:39
the talk between Jerry, sorry, between George and Elaine is
41:43
going on about how George can't pay for parking.
41:47
Because Elaine says let's just put you in a parking garage and
41:49
he says I can't pay for him parking.
41:51
It's a disease. My whole family suffer from it.
41:55
And then he has a parking system where you go drive around and
41:58
you go in concentric circles until you find a parking spot.
42:03
Sounds a bit like my wife sometimes, to be honest.
42:05
Anyway, so they find this parking straight outside Jerry's
42:08
building, You beauty. And of course, George and Elaine
42:11
sit there. And George is telling Elaine how
42:13
wonderful he is and how great it is.
42:14
And of course by the time he starts backing into this parking
42:16
spot, someone else is pulling in from the front and guess what?
42:20
It just happens to be Mike. Not that they knew each other
42:24
and the brilliant back and forth that goes on about this parking
42:28
spot with one car half parked in going backwards and the other
42:32
1/2 in going forwards and neither of them will move.
42:36
And I love how each person that comes up to this situation
42:42
throughout the episode, always in pairs and one or always
42:45
saying no, look, it's his spot he was backing, reversing back
42:48
into it and the other was no, he was just sitting there not doing
42:51
anything. So this guy's allowed to come
42:52
into the front. It's just, again, like Seinfeld
42:55
does perfect real life because there's no doubt in the world
42:58
that this has happened in real life, probably to Larry David.
43:02
But certainly in all their lives, we get the situation
43:05
where we're trying to find parking spots and someone steals
43:08
them and, you know, someone has stolen your parking spot at some
43:11
time in your life. So then other parts that go in
43:15
the story, I thought Elaine's story to Jerry to try and cover
43:18
the fact that there was a noise coming out of the car in which
43:21
she was chased. She and George were chased by a
43:24
pack of crazy teenagers and that there was his great escape.
43:28
And they whatever it is. And of course, by the time she
43:30
got to in the story, Jerry was just so happy that they were OK,
43:33
that he just said, well, as long as you're OK, don't worry about
43:36
the car. Which of course Elaine covered
43:38
up beautifully until Jerry finally worked out that no, that
43:41
wasn't the case at all. I love how the parking there in
43:46
the street and no one's moving. And then a big ice cream truck
43:50
comes along and says, well you've got to move it.
43:51
I've got a truck full of ice cream.
43:53
And So what do they do? Well, they get two non partisan
43:56
bystanders to actually move the cars out and then move them back
43:59
because no one trusts the other with with actually doing that.
44:04
George is taking a stand. He's not moving.
44:06
And of course, Mike isn't moving anywhere ever.
44:08
And the whole episode also has, like I said, crime is pissed off
44:11
at Elaine and George for going to the flea market without
44:13
asking him. Jerry's pissed off at Mike
44:16
because Mike thinks he's a phony.
44:17
And there's that great line where Jerry finally confronts
44:21
Mike with it, even though he's let it out of the vault.
44:22
He wasn't going to say it that. You think I'm a phony.
44:26
And Mike's saying, you know how people say you know when
44:29
someone's so bad, but they're actually saying it in a good
44:32
way? Well, this is the same as phony.
44:34
And so Jerry says, give me an example, Mike says that Michael.
44:38
John, he's so phony. And no, that doesn't work,
44:43
strangely enough. So look, all of that is
44:46
fantastic. And of course we get to the end.
44:48
And even at the very end we have the two cops who turn up and it
44:52
looks like George is 1 because the cop says you've got to move
44:54
out because you were reversing back at your spot.
44:57
But then the other cop says, well, why is it his spot?
44:59
And so of course it continues on.
45:02
And the last thing is Jerry going up to his unit again and
45:06
closing the window and turning on the two better onto the
45:08
fight. And of course the fight has just
45:10
ended. So again, me explaining these
45:15
episodes to you is nowhere near as good as actually watching
45:18
them. And this is 1.
45:20
Like I said, I find the whole story so well set out and the
45:25
back and forth between all the characters is really well done.
45:29
And George has another moment where he is able to make his
45:33
stand for just completely ridiculous reasons.
45:36
Elaine and Jerry both say different times.
45:38
Look, we'll just go put the car in a garage.
45:39
No, I'm not doing. I'm taking a stand.
45:42
I'm taking a stand against front in parking.
45:45
And again, the George Costanza character loses, as he always
45:50
does, but wins in the episode. So there you go.
45:55
Season three, Episode 22, The Parking Space.
45:59
The 4th of my top ten episodes of Seinfeld the series.
46:05
Come on. Who wants to watch the fight?
46:07
OK, whose cars are these? Let's move them.
46:09
Let's go. Office.
46:11
Can I just explain something to you?
46:12
Hey, let's go. I'm going to right boat you and
46:14
take it in about two minutes. The officer, he can't pull in
46:17
head. First officer.
46:18
He backed up from down the street.
46:20
He was double parked. He was sitting there.
46:23
Or you move your car. It's your space.
46:25
You can't go in head. Wait a second.
46:31
Why can't he go in head first? He said the guy was sitting over
46:36
there. What are you?
46:36
Talking about this guy was there first, but he didn't take it.
46:39
Hey, it's his space. No, it's his space.
46:45
So let's move into Season 4. Now.
46:47
Season four, as you will recall, is all about Jerry and George
46:54
basically trying to do the pilot for NBC.
46:58
And that's pretty much from not the first two episodes.
47:01
They're about where Kramer has gone to Los Angeles.
47:06
And so Jerry and George chase him down to try and bring him
47:09
back. And of course Kramer is mistaken
47:12
for a serial killer. But then we come back and then
47:15
we've got the episodes. Like #3 is the pitch, which is
47:19
where Jerry and George are going to write a pilot for a sitcom.
47:23
The show about nothing and the whole series more or less moves
47:28
along with that in the background throughout the whole
47:31
series. There are other stories, of
47:33
course, but mainly that's the main part of the whole series.
47:37
So it may well surprise you that not any of what I have put in my
47:42
top ten episodes come from season four, and maybe that's a
47:46
little bit because it's the whole story through the whole
47:49
series and but it's not that they weren't bad episodes.
47:52
I think they're great episodes. Some of them are just fantastic,
47:56
but for me there are none there that stood out as magnificent
48:00
episodes. And there is one there that of
48:02
course you will not have like me at all about.
48:05
The Bubble Boy is such a funny episode, mainly the fact that
48:10
it's with the Bubble Boy who's in the George and and Susan who
48:15
he meets at NBC the first time he goes out with Susan the game
48:18
to Susan's parents cabin which of course eventually gets burned
48:22
down by Kramer. But they meet George has to go
48:26
and see the bubble boy and and of course plays Trivial Pursuit
48:29
and it's all about the Moops and yes that's where the Moops come
48:33
from the how often that gets used.
48:37
Beyond that you've got crazy Joe Deval was involved in so many of
48:41
these episodes as well. There's the episode, of course,
48:45
which is where Jerry dates the Virgin, which then moves into
48:51
episode 11 of season 4, which is the contest.
48:55
Now this is generally regarded as the best episode of Seinfeld
49:00
in the whole series, and most people, I would say 90% of
49:04
people who were doing a top ten episodes of Seinfeld would have
49:09
this episode in their top ten, and I do not.
49:13
And is that just me being difficult and just trying to do
49:19
the opposite from everybody else?
49:22
Perhaps it is. I don't really know.
49:25
I like the episode. Don't get me wrong.
49:27
I think there are funny parts about it, but in the long run I
49:31
just sort of think to me it just doesn't.
49:35
It doesn't reach top ten material for me.
49:38
It's not one of my favorite all time episodes.
49:40
I can watch it and laugh along with it still, but that's about
49:43
the best I've got. So you can all tell me how wrong
49:47
I am, and you probably are. And as you're listening to this
49:50
saying, you don't know what you're talking about, Bill,
49:53
that's fair enough. Everyone's opinion is different,
49:55
and in this case, the contest doesn't make it for me.
50:00
How about the pickup where Elaine mails a Christmas card to
50:03
everyone where she is in unintentionally revealing her
50:06
nipple? So that went the whole way
50:11
through. What about they're all the
50:15
characters you only see? It's called the Movie.
50:17
And of course, they all end up watching Rochelle, Rochelle
50:21
instead of what they wanted to see.
50:23
So many terrific episodes in this series, but none of them,
50:28
for me, make the like make the cut.
50:32
I think the implant probably goes close.
50:35
That's the one where Teri Hatcher stars as Jerry's
50:38
girlfriend. And they just want to know if if
50:40
they're real or and and of course they're real and they're
50:45
spectacular. But of course, yes, I I enjoy
50:49
that. That's where George also has to
50:51
get a death certificate so we can get a half price airfare.
50:54
Fantastic. The Junior Mint.
50:56
How good's that? Then you can go to ALDI now and
50:58
buy Junior Mints. And of course it's the genuine
51:02
goes into the men's chest cavity as he's being operated on as
51:07
Kramer and Jerry are watching him being operated on.
51:10
Fantastic. Oh, that was also, I think, the
51:12
episode where Jerry's unable to work out what his girlfriend's
51:16
name is. And it was, of course, it's a
51:18
part of the the female anatomy. So they're going with Malva, no
51:24
Dolores. And then how about, yeah,
51:29
Jerry's car gets stinked up and they can't get rid of the body
51:32
out of. That was fantastic.
51:34
And then eventually we get to the final of that series, which
51:37
is the pilot, the pilot episode for Jerry and how everything
51:43
devolves around all that. And of course, in the long run,
51:47
the pilot doesn't get picked up. So many great episodes in that
51:53
series, but none for me that make the top 10.
51:56
So sorry about that. And look, you know what?
52:00
I know I've only done four of my top 10 so far, but I'm going to
52:03
leave it here for this episode. I think we've covered a lot of
52:07
ground and you're probably bored of listening to me talk already.
52:10
So maybe at this halfway point juncture of this episode podcast
52:18
that I'm doing, maybe you could consider yourself what are your
52:21
favorite 10 Seinfeld episodes? And perhaps you can, if you feel
52:26
like it, you can contact me through social media or the many
52:29
devices that are available to you and let me know how wrong I
52:33
am and why I'm wrong about what my choices have been.
52:38
So we've got 6 to go, and I'm sure we'll get to that episode
52:42
sometime shortly down the line. Thanks for tuning in as always
52:47
to my podcast ramblings, and I do hope that you'll come back
52:50
and check out not only the second part of this episode, but
52:54
all the other episodes that are here on this podcast.
52:56
That keeps me amused more often than not.
52:59
On thoughts from The Middle Cabin.
53:01
Cheers everyone. You have been listening to a
53:20
metal cavern production.