"Seinfeld" (1989-1998), Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, and Arguably The Most Popular Sit-Com Of All-Time - Starring Jerry Seinfeld, Michel Richards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Jason Alexander

[DonRocks]

Crackle (positioning to be a competitor with Amazon, Hulu, etc., is offering viewers, among other things, sporadic episodes of Seinfeld for free (with advertising) - seemingly taking a cross-section that creates a "theme" rather than going in sequence. Right now, there are 10 episodes to watch, all seemingly involve movies, and most involving dogs (that's just a guess, but those two themes seem recurrent) - this might be done to prevent users from sequential marathons, an to keep returning to crackle (they say they expire 2/1/2015, so I assume another 10 episodes will take their place, but who knows). Since Crackle apparently owns rights to syndication, they can do whatever they please, and this might be a good strategy. So far (I've only recently discovered "Crackle" via "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee".

When I've filled in a picture, I've finished watching that episode, and would very much enjoy discussing it (as of Sat Jan 25, 2015, I've watched all nine of "Seinfeld At The Movies" - just start any discussions in a new post in this thread (after all, discussions are what this is all about). Any comments? Questions? Thoughts? And this goes even for series that I'm writing mini-guides to, such as Star Trek (TOS) and (TNG), Twilight Zone, and Night Gallery - any and all discussion, no matter how minute you think it may be, is more than welcome - it makes my day, actually.

On view now on Crackle's "Seinfeld curated theme" is "Seinfeld At The Movies" - 10 episodes, all dealing with Seinfeld and/or friends going to the movies at some point in the episode, and it looks like these will be available until Feb 1, 2015. I suspect they have a "theme of the month" (which could result in repetition - for example, I was thinking "dogs" might be part of this current theme, but they're only incidental). It's an interesting way to prevent people from blitzing through the episodes in order, and "encouraging" visitors to come back to Crackle on a regular basis. Sure, why not.

Season 3, Episode 3: "The Dog" - Oct 9, 1991: 

[Note: Jerry is asked by an inebriated airplane passenger to watch his dog, Farfel, while the passenger recovers from a medical incident.]

Season 4, Episode 14: "The Movie" - Jan 6, 1993: 

[Note: A comedy of errors, this ends up with everyone (but Kramer) going to the movie they didn't want to see, the fictional "Rochelle, Rochelle."]

Season 5, Episode 24: "The Understudy" - May 18, 1993: 

[Note: Kramer, a Bette Midler fan, falls for and fawns over her after George brazenly knocks her out in a softball game.]

Season 7, Episode 1: "The Engagement" - Sep 21, 1995: 

[Note: George and Jerry resolve to grow up and take life more seriously, resulting in George's engagement, while Kramer and Newman try to rid Elaine of a barking dog.]

Season 7, Episode 20: "The Calzone" - Apr 25, 1996: 

[Note: George Steinbrenner falls in love with Calzones, and sends George to fetch one nearly every day]

Season 7, Episode 8: "The Pool Guy" - Nov 16, 1995: 

[Note: Jerry has trouble telling the Pool Guy at their club that their group of friends has no room for somebody new.]

Season 8, Episode 12 "The Comeback" - Jan 30, 1997: 

[Note: An insulted George goes to great lengths to issue a comeback against a co-worker who publicly insulted him.]

Season 8, Episode 17, "The English Patient" - Mar 13, 1997: 

[Note: Elaine has such a disdain for "The English Patient" that it adversely affects all around her.]

Season 8, Episode 4, "The Little Kicks" - Oct 10, 1996: 

[Note: Elaine turns out to be the worst dancer in the history of the world, and it's hilarious.]

Season 9, Episode 20, "The Puerto Rican Day" - May 7, 1998: 

[Note: Jerry and Kramer get stuck in heavy Manhattan traffic during Puerto Rican Day, desperately trying to get across town.]

[DonRocks]

On view now on Crackle's "Seinfeld curated theme" is "Seinfeld At The Movies" - 10 episodes, all dealing with Seinfeld and/or friends going to the movies at some point in the episode, and it looks like these will be available until Feb 1, 2015. I suspect they have a "theme of the month" (which could result in repetition - for example, I was thinking "dogs" might be part of this current theme, but they're only incidental). It's an interesting way to prevent people from blitzing through the episodes in order, and "encouraging" visitors to come back to Crackle on a regular basis. Sure, why not.

Well, since I'm one of only three people in the history of the entire world to summarize the entire Night Gallery series, and have now ---> finished <---, I'll go ahead and Sing Along With Crackle for the month of February, 2015, the theme of the eight episodes available until March 1 being "Date Night With George." No write-ups, too much work (this is more of a "personal checklist" type of thing) - if anyone wants to discuss, please do, and I'll chime in.

1. Season 1, Episode 3, "The Stake Out" - May 14, 1990: 

[Note: Jerry wants to ask out a girl, but the relationship with Elaine is still too new to ask for her help; we meet his parents for the first time.]

2. Season 2, Episode 7, "The Phone Message" - Feb 8, 1991: 

[Note: George panics when he leaves psycho voice messages on the answering machine of a new girl he's dating.]

3. Season 3, Episode 14, "The Pez Dispenser" - Jan 15, 1992: 

[Note: Elaine laughs at a piano concert when Jerry puts a Pez dispenser on her leg, disrupting the pianist.]

4. Season 3, Episodes 17-18, "The Boyfriend (Parts 1 and 2)" - Feb 12, 1992: 

[Note: One of the greatest Seinfeld episodes; Jerry develops a man-crush on All-Star MLB player Keith Hernandez.]

5. Season 3, Episode 16, "The Fix-Up" - Feb 3, 1992: 

[Note: Jerry and Elaine fix up George and her friend, and oops, the latex product is defective.]

6. Season 3, Episode 9, "The Nose Job" - Nov 15, 1991: 

[Note: George is just too picky when it comes to noses, terrible pun fully intended.]

7. Season 8, Episode 11, "The Little Jerry" - Jan 9, 1997: 

[Note: An excellent episode, Kramer buys a rooster to lay free-range eggs and to win cock fights.]

8. Season 6, Episode 23, "The Highlights of 100 Episodes, Parts 1 and 2" - Feb 2, 1995: 

[Note: Darn it, I'm going to have to skip this one because of too many potential spoilers for episodes I've not yet seen.]

[DIShGo]

"The Boyfriend" was VERY funny.  I remember loving these episodes back in the day. 

[DonRocks]

"The Boyfriend" was VERY funny.  I remember loving these episodes back in the day.

"The Boyfriend" (with Major League Baseball All-Star Keith Hernandez) stands out from all these episodes as being the best one so far - it is *really* clever (with the "Magic Loogie Theory" pastiche, Wayne Knight being in both Seinfeld and JFK) as well as downright funny at time with its "man-crush" (one might even say "homo-erotic" when George is lying on the living-room floor) overtones throughout.

Darn it, I really wish I could watch the whole series in sequence, but I'm not going to pay for a DVD set, and I guess watching Seinfeld in a somewhat random order makes about as much sense as it would with any series. I'm not sure if there's any real character development, but there's definitely inter-personal development as the seasons progress (I caught the series late in real-time, so I wasn't aware that Jerry and Elaine's relationship was such a big deal, but in the early seasons, apparently it was). I also remember being terribly disappointed in the finale.

(BTW, DIShGo, if you're looking for a fun, intelligent, but not-too-much-work movie, watch "Dead Again" - don't read any plot details, just watch it. I've seen it twice, and find it to be great fun.)

[Al Dente]

Way back when Seinfeld was still on, my grandparents were visiting and staying at my father's. I came over for dinner one night and the discussion turned to the show. Turned out my grandparents had never seen it and since it was Thursday night, my dad and I sold them on what a hilarious show it was and that we should all watch it together.

Guess what new episode aired that evening? That's right, The Contest. I could see my father watching the expression on my devoutly Catholic grandmother's face and the embarrassed look on his face. We made it about 10 minutes into the show before my dad said, "Mike, could you change the channel? We're all getting a little uncomfortable here." I was doing all I could to keep from cracking up. My grandmother asked if the show was always like that.

I wonder if my grandparents ever watched the show again.

It's funny though... several years later at a family reunion, my dear old grandmother told the following joke:

A little old lady was walking down the street dragging two large garbage bags behind her. One of the bags was ripped open, and every now and then, a $50 bill fell out onto the footpath. Noticing this, a cop stopped her, and said, "Ma'am, there are $50 bills falling out of that bag." "Oh, rats! Darn it!" said the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can find them. Thanks for telling me officer." "Well, now, not so fast," said the cop. "Where did you get all that money? You didn't steal it, did you?" "Oh, no, no," said the old lady. "You see, my yard is right next to the baseball stadium parking lot. On game days, a lot of fans come and pee through a hole in the fence, right into my garden. Then I thought, "why not make the most of it? So, now, on game days, I stand behind the fence by the hole with my shears. Every time some guy sticks his dingus through my fence, I surprise him, grab hold of it and say, "O.K., buddy! Give me $50, or I'll cut it off!" Well, that seems only fair," said the cop, laughing. "OK. Good luck! Oh, by the way, what's in the other bag?" "Well, you know," said the little old lady, "not everybody pays."

[DonRocks]

Way back when Seinfeld was still on, my grandparents were visiting and staying at my father's. I came over for dinner one night and the discussion turned to the show. Turned out my grandparents had never seen it and since it was Thursday night, my dad and I sold them on what a hilarious show it was and that we should all watch it together.

Guess what new episode aired that evening? That's right, The Contest.

"The Contest" is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny (I mean, how often do you watch TV alone, and actually bleat out laughing?), and taken in context, your grandmother's joke is, too!

[DonRocks]

The March, 2015 Crackle "Seinfeld" theme is "Bizarro Guest Stars."

1. Season 2, Episode 9, "The Stranded" - Nov 27, 1991: 

[Note: Guest Star Michael Chiklis as a party host where Jerry and Elaine get stranded in Long Island; then he gets stranded at Jerry's.]

2. Season 4, Episode 17, "The Shoes" - Jan 29, 1993: 

[Note: Guest Star Denise Richards almost costs Jerry and George a script when they stare at her cleavage; they entrap her father in the same way.]

3. Season 5, Episode 9, "The Masseuse" - Nov 18, 1993: 

[Note: Guest Star Jennifer Coolidge is Jerry's unwilling-masseuse girlfriend and doesn't like George; Elaine's boyfriend has the unfortunate name of Joel Rifkin.]

 

4. Season 5, Episode 2, "The Glasses" - Sep 24, 1993: 

[Note: Guest Star Anna Gunn grows weary of Jerry falsely accusing her of kissing his cousin; George loses his glasses and can't see a thing.]

5. Season 5, Episode 17, "The Wife" - Mar 17, 1994: 

[Note: Guest Star Courteney Cox pretends to be Jerry's wife to get a discount on dry cleaning; George gets caught tinkling in the shower of his health club.]

6. Season 5, Episode 18, "The Fire" - Apr 25, 1994: 

[Note: Guest Star Jon Favreau has a bit part as a clown; Veanne Cox is an annoying co-worker of Elaine; George acts cowardly during a small fire.]

7. Season 6, Episode 7, "The Mom And Pop Store" - Nov 17, 1994: 

[Note: Guest Star Jon Voight is *not* the seller of George's Le Baron (owned by John Voight); Jerry and Kramer play a brief tribute to Midnight Cowboy.]

8. Season 8, Episode 14, "The Van Buren Boys" - Feb 6, 1997: 

[Note: Jerry's dating Ellen (Christine Taylor), who people inexplicably peg a loser; George is hassled by the Van Buren gang after denying a kid a scholarship]

9. Season 8, Episode 22, "The Summer of George" - 

[Notes: Guest Star Raquel Welch makes mincemeat of Kramer and Elaine; George slips on a piece of paper, ruining his three-month severance]

10. Season 9, Episode 9, "The Apology" - 

[Notes: Guest Star James Spader refuses to apologize to George as Step 9 of AA; Elaine's co-worker is a germaphobe who thinks Elaine is tainted]

[DonRocks]

 

[Mark Slater]

Puffy Shirt

[Mark Slater]

Spongeworthy

[Al Dente]

I'm out.

[Mark Slater]

16 hours ago, Mark Slater said:

Puffy Shirt

Actually. the Puffy Shirt episode provided several of the hilarious terms the series is known for. Jerry's girlfriend was a "Lowtalker" which kicked the plot off. George also found work as a hand model- until he has an unfortunate encounter with a hot iron. 

On another note, growing up Jewish in Long Island, my dad was an avid TV watcher when he retired. He did have a sense of humor, but couldn't watch Seinfeld because he didn't think it was funny. Same with Everbody Loves Raymond. I never understood.