Jerry struggles to figure out if he’s invited to a party. George buys a car he believes was owned by Jon Voight. Kramer advises an elderly couple who own a store, only to inadvertently get them shut down. Jerry finds Kramer has sold all his shoes. Elaine wins a radio competition for Mr Pitt to hold the rope for Woody Woodpecker at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.

Written by: Tom Gammil & Max Ross
Directed by: Andy Ackerman

This is a classic example of the show being delightfully overwhelmed with concepts and plot. I found myself thinking, as I often do, that a lesser show would have maybe two, maybe three of these concepts as plots; Jerry wearing the wrong boots was where it struck me, where I could see a sitcom episode that opens much the same way and tries to build a whole arc around them by stretching one joke across three or four scenes and different hapless accidents. Seinfeld makes one joke and then moves on. But I can also see how this is true for, say, Elaine trying to win the radio competition for Mr Pitt, where a normal sitcom would make the same joke in three or four different ways before she wins.

I find myself thinking of one of my favourite Futurama episodes, “Three Hundred Big Boys”, which is made up of many tiny plots like a mosaic, and this effectively describes every Seinfeld episode after the second season. They don’t stretch out an idea beyond its natural shelf-life; instead they move on to another one and rely on plotting to tie them all together. To put it another way, in early episodes they would set one thing in motion to have it specifically pay off later – a character leaves something behind and it gets knocked over later – and now they’re much more freeform about it, setting a dozen things in motion and finding a way to have them all pay off at once, like at the party. Jerry leaning back and knocking over the Empire State Building into Woody Woodpecker feels like absurdity they found in the process as opposed to something they deliberately built up to, and it creates a very fun energy.

My favourite of these plots and by far the most substantial is Jerry’s preoccupation over whether or not he’s invited to Tim Whatley’s party. It’s definitely thematically the most Seinfeldian of the plots, and I enjoy that it’s an obvious bit of social minutiae that’s separate from the whole ‘platonic friendship as romance’ idea the show normally deals in. A lot of it is where the basic idea is so funny; Jerry breaking down exactly how Tim said his various sentences and later going through the party shamefully trying to not draw attention to himself has me howling even before we get to the jokes themselves.

It works for me because it amplifies little things I do all the time every day when talking to people – in his precise situation, obviously I would simply call up Tim and ask if I were invited, but breaking down the minute details of something people said to make sure I got the correct meaning is how I listen to people, every day, trying to give the benefit of the doubt and being clear without being annoying, and sometimes taking a leap of faith like showing up to a party not sure if you’re supposed to be there. Jerry’s behaviour is funny because it amplifies that in a situation where it’s manifestly inappropriate.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• “I hope it’s not a Lemona, or you’ll be hearing from my lawya” is somewhat infamous, at least in the shitposting groups I’m in, as the worst joke in the entire show, certainly the worst of Jerry’s standup, and indicative of the quality of his standup.
• Great moments in blocking, where Jerry follows Elainer gesturing as Elaine dances forwards. Also the way Julia Louis-Dreyfus leans right over as she says “I talked to Tim Whatley.”
• Jerry is under the impression dentists will criticise you for your brushing technique. This makes sense, given he criticises unfunny people, and is analytical in general. This is also why his analysis of the potential lie of Jon Voight’s car is so funny.
• Really funny little moment where Kramer describes Jerry as having a Peter Pan complex. The show would really dive into the characters making fun of each other later, and Always Sunny would run away with the concept.
• Elaine getting the salt off the pretzels for My Pitt is such a great detail. I also enjoy the character note that she’s indifferent to the radio contest right up until she’s given the task of solving it, at which point she immediately flips into 100% rage at the first obstacle she gets.
• “Liam Neeson. You know he’s not American.”
• Callback to “The Puffy Shirt” with “But I don’t wanna be a cowboy!”
• “I’m sure Jon Voight just misspelled his own name. I know I sometimes spell my name with a ‘g’. And an ‘I’!”
• “I make a motion that, uh, we have no more of these meetings that have been initiated by George Costanza.”
• “How would I feel showing up with an uninvited unwanted intruder?” / “The way I feel when I go places with you?”
• “Well, he was a little standoffish.” […] “It’s justifiable, he thought I was going for his wallet.”
• Bryan Cranston makes his first appearance as Tim Whatley! Cranston’s central skill as an actor is his ability to immediately embody the most normal, charming guy at the party – his work on Breaking Bad is a really great spin on this, where Walter White is often trying way too hard to be charming. Later episodes will also build on his ability to make a character really weird as he gets into it.
• Jerry being a celebrity comes up when he shoes are found exactly the same way they thought they found Jon Voight’s car. It’s rare, but I always enjoy that.
• Kramer and Jerry on the train is a reference to Midnight Cowboy.

Biggest Laugh:

Next Week: “The Secretary”