Theme by nostrich.
“The Stock Tip” (Season 1, Episode 5)
5/180 - 179 days to go.
An obvious point of humor on this show is the way in which the audience can relate to many of the problems with which the castmembers deal.
For example, Elaine is late to lunch with Jerry and George because she has just spent twenty minutes trying to find a grape that she dropped on the floor of her apartment. Without doubt, this is a phenomenon that we have all experienced at one point or another. The amount of times that a dropped object tends to vanish upon (usually loudly) landing on the floor is uncanny. Where does it go, anyway? Is there a black hole under our dishwashers and refrigerators?
(by the way - how amazingly awesome is her suede cowgirl jacket? Seriously, 90s fashion for the win).
Another interesting aspect of this episode is the fact that Elaine, despite a strong and pervasive allergy to felines, begins to date a guy who owns two cats. In the end, the guy chooses the cats over her, but that’s not the point that stuck with me on this episode. There is a scene in which Elaine jokes about hiring a hitman to murder them, and I only felt ehhhhhhhh about it all. Not only because I would most likely wring the neck of anyone that tried to harm Eddie and Cooley, but also because animal torture humor is not really something I think needs to be indulged.
WTF moment of the episode: Jerry takes his new lawyer girlfriend, Vanessa (first introduced in “The Stake Out”), to a cabin in Vermont and she’s a complete and utter buzzkill (to use a euphemism) the entire time. Why won’t she even tell him what kind of perfume she wears? Luckily for us, their relationship’s fate is sealed with that trip and she is g-o-n-e. Gooood riddance on that one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Favorite line of the episode:
Jerry: I gotta say, that’s pretty sad. Losing out to a cat.
“The Robbery” (Season 1, Episode 3)
4/180 - 179 days to go.
Blogger’s note: “The Robbery” was the fourth episode to be created in Season 1, but it aired third on primetime. Because we are watching the episodes in creation order (and DVD order for that matter), we viewed it fourth, making this the fourth episode we have seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Being a big-city girl, I am absolutely no stranger to the sky-high rental prices of apartments downtown. I love everything about where I live and its accessibility to all that goes on in our nation’s capital, but Bracks and I are certainly paying an arm and a leg to take advantage of the privilege.
So we were both sympathetic to Jerry, George, and Elaine as their focal point of this episode was a potential amazingly-inexpensive-but-huge apartment right near Central Park. Jerry and George both wanted it; Elaine was planning to move into either of their places. In the end, Jerry and George decided the apartment was not worth the constant tension it would create in their friendship, and the apartment went to their waitress at the restaurant they eat at in every episode.
at the waitress’ apartment housewarming party.
The apartment was a 2BR. Haven’t they ever heard of being roommates? Maybe my post-college-roomies-are-not-only-acceptable-but-pretty-much-expected mindset is a bit more flexible than theirs, but it did seem like a viable solution to the dilemma in my eyes.
Another interesting aspect of the episode is that Jerry doesn’t find out that his apartment has been robbed (goodbye TV, VCR (90s!), answering machine (90s!!)) until he returns from his business trip and Elaine fills him in. It is so indicative of how this show predates cell phones for the most part - Jerry would probably have known within minutes of the discovery if he’d had an iPhone in his pocket - and judging by his (now stolen) Apple computer in the apartment, he is definitely an iPhone kind of guy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Favorite line of the episode:
Kramer: You have insurance, right, buddy?
Jerry: No.
Kramer: How can you not have insurance?
Jerry: Because… I spent my money on the Klapto D-29. It’s the most impenetrable lock on the market today! It has only one design flaw: the door… MUST BE CLOSED!!!
“The Stake Out” (Season 1, Episode 2)
3/180 - 184 days to go.
Blogger’s note - although this episode was aired second on primetime, it was created third, and plays in that order on the DVD. Therefore, this is the third episode Bracks and I watched. Sorry for the confusion!
Ok, so, Jerry and Elaine used to date, but that ended before the show started. And now they’re in a sticky spot, because they’re still friends, but they both want to see other people and have trouble bringing it up to each other. And when I say trouble, I mean that Jerry, in an effort to avoid asking Elaine for his new interest’s name/number, pulls a pseudo-stalker move and goes to said interest’s office building for the sake of running into her, planning to tell her that he is there to have lunch with a friend named Art Vandelay. Ahaaaa… Vandelay. The first mention of an ongoing joke I have only heard about up until this point.
Growing up with four brothers has made me quite the tomboy and many (if not most) of my friends are guys as a result. But one role I have never been able to master is that of friend-to-ex. It’s awkward. I admire those who are able to do so, and thank goodness Jerry and Elaine are able to, because this show would be naught without either of them (hardeehar, if Jerry wasn’t on it, what would we call it? Costanza?).
The scene at the restaurant for Elaine’s friend’s birthday was excellent. It was our first foray into Jerry’s mind via voiceover (and hopefully far from the last), and is an excellent portrayal of the awkward, tension-filled thundercloud relationship in which Jerry and Elaine are immersed at the moment.
Did I mention that I love how 90s this show is? Jerry’s incredible old-school Apple Macintosh in the background during apartment scenes is amazing,
and Elaine’s barrette-and-scrunchie-in-her-frizzy-curly hair just rocks.
One final thought - I absolutely love that George always seems to be not only in on, but directly involved in Jerry’s crazy plans.
Favorite line of the episode:
George: Let me be the architect, I can do it!!
“Male Unbonding” (Season 1, Episode 4)
2/180 - 186 days to go.
Blogger’s note - although this episode was aired fourth on primetime, it was created second, and plays in that order on the DVD. Therefore, this is the second episode Bracks and I watched (the Pilot - The Seinfeld Chronicles - being first).
First off, it’s nice to see that the show got its bigger budget, because the quality has improved ten-fold since the pilot. Nothing new there, just noting it.
First topic: Fanny packs.
One of my best friends rocks a fanny pack and we all love her for it. It’s something that will constantly remind me of her, so the fact that George wears an electric-blue fanny pack through the first couple of scenes of the episode makes me want to jump for joy (Jerry: “It looks like your belt digested a small animal”). You just don’t see enough fanny packs anymore. Do you remember when they used to be staples for family vacations and trips to amusement parks? How else were you supposed to keep your film camera and mickey mouse vinyl wallet on your person on upside-down roller coasters? We all lost a little bit of ourselves when fanny packs fell out of the mainstream.
Second topic: The exploration of guy friendships and subsequent break-ups (aka - the rise and fall of “bromances”). Jerry tries to dump his incredibly annoying and insecure friend Joel at a restaurant, and it plays out like a romantic relationship ending. Though presented humorously, the idea is still there - what does it mean to be in a friend relationship, and how do you end it when it’s just not working out? And isn’t it kind of mean on Jerry’s part to just concede and give Joel the Knicks ticket, screwing over the friend he actually likes, George, in the process?
A couple of sidenotes: The scene at the bank was excellent. How often have you been at the bank, filling out a deposit slip, and none of the pens work? Seriously, did all of the banks get together and decide to only keep out empty pens?
It’s great to see that Elaine is a regular cast member now, too. She was missed in the pilot.
Favorite line of the episode:
George: I know a guy who took a vacation on his change! Jerry: Yeah, where’d he go, an arcade?
“The Seinfeld Chronicles” (Season 1, Episode 1)
1/180 - 186 days to go.
Bracks warned me about this season - that, much like The Simpsons, Seinfeld takes a few seasons to really start nailing the comedy consistently.
So it wasn’t much of a surprise to me that this episode didn’t have me convulsing on the floor in laughter. In fact, quite the opposite. George makes me nervous. Jerry overacts (and his stand-up is so-so). Kramer is bizarre, almost to the point of discomfort.
I absolutely love the early 90s feel of the show, though (this episode originally aired in 1989). The fashion is spot-on tacky (hellooo George’s newsboy cap and Jerry’s red sweatpants).
The best line of the episode:
“Never get engaged.”It is obvious already that a secret weapon of the humor on this show isn’t so much in the line itself as the timing of it.
And so it begins
Tonight marks the beginning of my Seinfeld education. By my side is my loyal partner-in-crime Bracks, husband extraordinaire and an avid Seinfeld fan.
To those who are unaware, I was never brought up on Seinfeld. This is not to say that I was ever forbidden from watching “the show about nothing,” I just never really got into it and preferred The Simpsons during the dinnertime Fox entertainment hour.
Enthusiastically we take this plunge and with it, our own Seinfeld challenge: All 180 episodes by July 1st, 2011. That gives us 186 days - almost exactly an episode a day.
I have been blessed with ignorance about this show until now and I am embracing it - the rare opportunity to watch every episode with new eyes.
Here’s to hoping that the Girl Who Knows Nothing About the Show About Nothing will learn something.
