Jerry and George’s sitcom pilot goes into production. The NBC president desperately tries to convince Elaine to be with him. George becomes preoccupied with the ‘Kramer’ actor apparently stealing a box of raisins as well as a medical issue he’s developed. Kramer develops an intestinal blockage.

Written by: Larry David
Directed by: Tom Cherones

This episode feels like a culmination of everything the show has been doing so far. Partly, it’s because it contains callbacks and cameos from across the show’s existence. Partly, it’s because double episodes in an episodic television show feel important no matter how silly or frivolous the show actually is. And partly, it’s because this is a show about the making of the show. There is some pleasure in feeling like we’re seeing a prequel to the events of the pilot; as much as it’s obviously fictionalised (I wonder what Warren Littlefield, president of NBC at the time of the production, thought of this – presumably, he thought it was hilarious), he can see obvious real-life elements of the production like the warm-up guy explaining the concept of a pilot.

There is some commentary on the nature of television and the production of Seinfeld specifically; I’d remembered the executives complaining that Jerry can’t act, but I’d forgotten Jerry himself stressed about it. We even get visions of an alternate version of the show – Larry Hankin was in the running to play Kramer (though Larry David was always behind Michael Richards) and thus as a gag is cast as the Kramer actor here, and it strikes me that his Kramer would have been sleazier and less naive or happy-go-lucky than Richards’ version.

There’s also looser commentary on the culture, and much of this strikes me as more obvious; the final gag of a new president fucking over the old regime’s pet projects is alright and works more as a way of returning to the status quo than anything else, and the gags about method actors and sensitivity to being corrected are kind of predictable. On the other hand, this leads into the specific quirks of Seinfeld and its characters; the method actor questions set up Jerry to enthusiastically shit-talk Elaine, and you have both the sheer imagination of the details he drops and the fact that he almost reflexively does this. No thought – the moment the chance to roast a friend comes up, he takes it.

And, of course, the episode is filled with much more typical Seinfeld stories. It’s obvious from context that David – who wrote this episode – has seeded real events that happened to him into the process of making Jerry; it’s very unlikely the raisins thing happened between him and Richards, given they knew each other, but I assume it happened somewhere, and that feeds my theory that much of his creative process is the weaving together of disparate elements into a whole new structure.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• Jerry’s standup about the fear of death vs public speaking might be my favourite of his ever, to the point that I forgot that he was the one who said that.
• Russel has a very George-like plot this episode, and I love that Bob Baladan plays him totally seriously.
• I’m with Jerry on sweatpants; I was slightly exasperated to learn many women are attracted to men in sweatpants, though obviously having a big schlong helps in that regard.
• “God would never let me be successful!” […] / “I thought you don’t believe in God.” / “I do for the bad things!” Relatable.
• George’s white discolouration is clearly just a bit of dehydration, right?
• “He knows he’s bald.”
• Love that the only way to get Kramer out of a plot is giving him violent shitting.
• “I lived my whole life in shame, why should I die with dignity?”
• Weird bit of blocking: Jerry handing George a sandwich that he then shares with Elaine. Funny bit of blocking: George confidently double-dipping a chip.
• I wasn’t sure about Elaine’s plot – god forbid a woman be annoyed about sexist hiring practices – but the punchline that they’re all the owner’s daughters saved it for me.

Biggest Laugh: In an episode full of gags about Jerry’s bad acting, we get a great demonstration of his flippancy and chemistry.

Next Week: “The Mango”.