![]() Jerry happens to meet baseball great Keith Hernandez in a locker room, kicking off a bromance that turns into a triangle when Hernandez starts dating Elaine, leaving Jerry unsure of which one he’s jealous of. This might be cheating a bit because it’s a two-parter ( Seinfeld’s first), but “ The Boyfriend ” is absolutely packed with greatness. It doubles as a description of Seinfeld’s guiding philosophy: To be human is to “feel awkward, uncomfortable, even inhibited in certain situations with the other human beings.” The episode features one of the show’s all-time funniest exchanges, when Jerry has to explain to Kramer why, exactly, he doesn’t want Elaine to move in. Seinfeld often gets cited as a particularly mean-spirited, even heartless sitcom, but there’s something weirdly touching about the wrestling match of Jerry’s competing impulses-his genuine desire to do his friend a favor versus his anxiety about the potential conflict it might create, plus a craven inability to just say what he’s feeling, even when Elaine gives him an out. The plot hinges on a surprisingly affordable unit that opens up in Jerry’s building, and the crisis he creates for himself when he suggests that Elaine move into it, before realizing too late that having a close friend (and ex-girlfriend) living right above him might not be so great after all. To that end, I’ve always cherished “ The Apartment ,” an exquisitely relatable episode from the second season. For this fan’s money, many of the show’s best episodes were the ones that nailed something ultra precise about social interaction-the little agonies and petty obstacles of navigating a world of other people. That was just a hooky way to describe its actual area of interest: the mundane, inconsequential somethings of middle-class American life. Seinfeld was never really a show about nothing. ![]() When he does, Sophie believes he’s someone named Rafe and mentions that she hasn’t told Jerry about “the tractor story.” Everything after that is fantastic, including Jerry’s fake voice, the fact that the name Rafe is just weird enough to throw Jerry off, the abrupt way that Jerry hangs up and his relief at avoiding being caught, and then the MVP of a scene that’s already very over-the-top: George’s “beep beep beep,” a weird little moment that completely derails any concern about “the tractor story.” Jerry Seinfeld didn’t break too often on the show, but it’s clear that he’s having a lot of fun being extremely silly in this scene. He wakes up to Elaine pulling the plug.There might be Seinfeld episodes that are funnier overall than “ The Burning ,” but I don’t think the show ever topped the two minutes surrounding the first mention of “the tractor story.” Jerry is annoyed that his girlfriend, Sophie, has started saying “it’s me” when she calls, prompting George to suggest that he pulls the “old switcheroo” and do the “it’s me” to her. Jerry agrees to let Milos win at Tennis to save face, but Milos goes too far with the taunts ("Another Game for Milos!") and a series of events causes the tennis ball machine to pelt Kramer in the head. ![]() Jerry threatens to expose Milos as a tennis hack but doesn't, so Milos sends his wife to have sex with Jerry, but he can't go through with it. Kramer decides to get a living will after watching only half a movie about someone in a coma. He gets her to bring him vodka, cigarettes, and fireworks but then gets busted because he is only a teenager. Elaine is a fan of Vincent's picks at the video store and she wants to meet him after he mysteriously calls her. He gets zinged back with 'Why, you're their best-seller!' and then he retorts 'I had sex with you're wife!' which doesn't work because it turns out the guy's wife was in a coma. George has a great comeback, 'The Jerkstore called, and they're running out of you.' and he goes to great lengths to use it. I remember it being great but it isn't as funny when the central idea isn't fresh and as a result it fell in the middle of the list. For instance, The Label Maker episode contains the 'Re-Gifting' storyline. I was aware of this as I put my list together, but I kept true to how I enjoyed the episodes this time around. Season 1 (avg: 146) *A note about this list is that I was an avid Seinfeld fan during the initial run in the '90s, so many of the jokes fell flat on me during this viewing stretch, some 15 years later. I did an average of the ranking per season to see how the seasons ranked from best to worst.ĩ. I am posting spoilers in the descriptions. I list these hour long episodes only once with one rating and occupying one spot in the list. ![]() There are several hour long episodes that are now shown in syndication as part 1 and 2. I ranked all the episodes in order of how much I enjoyed each entry (basically how much I laughed). I kept a running list and rating (1 to 10) for each episode. I recently watched Seinfeld from beginning to end, starting in May 2013 and ending early July 2013.
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