George tries to fix up Jerry with Susan’s best friend so they can continue to hang out all the time after they get married, only for Jerry to look a fool in front of her by losing the member’s jacket from a club he’s trying to join at a stage show. Elaine starts working with a man with a hearing aid and she suspects he’s faking his disability to get out of work. Kramer tries going on da Vinci’s sleep schedule and it interferes with his love life.

Written by: David Mandel
Directed by: Andy Ackerman

This is another one of those episodes that does a lot of little Seinfeld things really well. The central idea of Elaine’s plot is quintessential Seinfeld; for starters it was based on an actual observation writer David Mandel took from his life, of a kid who had a hearing aid and used it to get out of work he didn’t want to do. This is the sort of thing that separates Seinfeld from many of its imitators and even comedy writers who are just trying to be funny; there is a cliche of the guy who makes up someone and then gets mad at them (usually, a political opponent), but Seinfeld brings a sense of reality in simply by bringing actual reality in. The imagination comes into how the characters respond to it; Jerry immediately testing Bob’s hearing at the first opportunity is an incredible moment, because of course his curiosity would be sparked and of course he’d give it a shot. Seinfeld is the perfect mixture of plausible and absurd; realistic behaviour, realistic response, and the whole thing is still so stupid.

There’s also the complete lack of actual explanation that also feels true to reality. Bob’s one real behaviour is that he’s horny, and we never quite figure out what his deal is; the same goes for Connie, Kramer’s girl o’ the week, who is clearly going through something strange and spectacular, but we’re never quite given an explanation beyond a few words (it’s a very Cowboy Bebop moment, and yes, it’s weird to me to put those two shows in the same bed). It feels like the show doing the minimum amount of work to get to ‘making people laugh’, which I deeply respect.

TOPICS O’ THE WEEK

• “This is my lucky day!” / “Well, one out of twenty thousand, that’s not bad.”
• Kramer’s attempted sleep schedule – twenty minutes naps every three hours – is now known as the Uberman sleep schedule. I’m told it’s hell to adjust to but great when it gets going.
• It’s sad seeing Rob Schneider in this, in that I think he’s a perfectly competent comedy performer; he could have been a solid and comfortable TV career, but his reach kept exceeding his grasp, his ego took over, and now he’s descended into rage over his ideology.
• “I’m mossy, Jerry! My brain is mossy.”
• “That was him? Somehow I thought he’d be taller.”
• Amazing how Peterman has a habit of sneaking up behind the characters.
• This episode captures the nauseating anxiety of being in an audience when stage performers do crowd work.
• “And I know you wouldn’t be having fun with his handicap. Ooh, that kind of cruelty would be grounds for dismissal.” I love how sincerely Peterman says that.
• The entire ‘de-sour’ part of the episode was added by David and Seinfeld (comedian), and it definitely has their rapport. “You’ll de-sour, right?!” / “I’ll try and de-sour.”
• “BUT I WOKE UP IN THE HUDSON RIVER IN A SSSSSACK!”

Biggest Laugh:

Next Week: “The Wig Master”.