I don’t see Seinfeld coming out of our lives. And not because Netflix just shelled out $425 million to be the one to continue airing the smash show 20 years past its prime-time end.
I say that because of the media-saturated 30th anniversary of TV’s greatest sitcom back in July.
Take that, Lofty Literary Agent in New York City.
Wait. Sorry. Here’s the back story to that…and a teaser from my forthcoming book, Seinfeld-ism: How the Wisdom, Philosophy, Yadda Yadda Yadda of TV’s Greatest Sitcom Can Help You Live Survive Life:
“I don’t think anyone outside of New York City cares that much about Seinfeld anymore,” a NYC literary agent emailed me a decade ago, rejecting my proposal of a book based on this blog (which the New York Times cited in 2015, tipping the hat to Seinfeld).
The 30th anniversary obviously proved her wrong, I’m delighted to say.
And it proved that Seinfeld has become, in our time and society, a sort of holy writ.
Not in the biblical sense, of course. But “utterances of unquestionable authority” nonetheless. Moreover, the show is, as one pop culture maven put it, an “iconic, culture-defining show.”
Consider its comic canon of 9 seasons comprising 172 episodes. Sure, some of the situations and references (and clothing and…) are antiquated. Some details are baffling, including unresolved plot points. Further, you can quote the simplest of the most famous lines…No soup for you!…and people who don’t know the show will grin and nod politely and eyeball you like you’re some crazy believer in a cult they want nothing to do with.
And yet.
Countless are the people who quote the show daily because it speaks with verity—ensuing hilarity—over every facet of life, be it physical or mental, emotional or spiritual.
It’s silly writ, really.
And here, three decades later, people are still discovering the collective of voices from Jerry to J. Peterman, permeating our reality today as though the show were unfolding for the first time. That timeless relevance means Seinfeld stands to sway minds and win hearts and save souls in generations to come.
Hence the opening line here: I don’t see Seinfeld coming out of our lives.
That, of course, was not the sense in which Jerry used the words at the top here, to George.* Throughout the show, Jerry’s career-challenged friend pined to wield a planer as a professional planner of buildings that awe the world. The first we hear of it comes in the first season—and that was Jerry’s reaction.
I don’t see architecture coming from you.
By now, faithful readers, you may have thought of me, I don’t see a book coming from you. (That goes back to my June 2015 post on aiming to publish Seinfeld-ism the Book.) Most assuredly, I can say…the book is coming. Soon.
It may be a Christmas gift, but it’s coming.
All new material woven through a selection of the best of the material here—the most popular posts, that is, like the one that a law professor at Georgetown University passes on to students who don’t understand a certain Elaine line he drops now and then.
Nine years to the day on July 5 this year I launched this blog for the same reason millions reflected with a smile on Seinfeld turning 30 that day. This semi-swan-song post was originally slated for that day…but watching the aforementioned celebratory hullabaloo unfold online that week delighted me to no end—and changed some of what I wrote here about this end.
The end of the blog, that is, which will coincide with the publishing of the book.
Stay tuned. The publish date is certain to be tied into another Seiniversary date.
I’m speaking, of course, only to those who live in New York City.
*From “The Stake Out,” Episode 3, Season 1
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 1 | Time code for the scene: 12:38
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An outlandish observation to use on those who are beside themselves when they lose something precious to them, and they need someone to help them get a hold of themselves.
Elaine and Jerry accompanied George to a dinner party where they got stuck and she got bored. Crowd-watching from a settee, Elaine beheld a woman carrying on mawkishly about her fiancée, Where is my fiancée? “I have lost my fiancée,” she exclaimed to Elaine, “the poor baby!” As if reading a placard, Elaine delivered this “baby”-on-bored reply.
Think “the dog ate my homework.” But where “dog” is a story made up to cover up one’s own laziness, “dingo”—a type of Australian dog—is a true story, brought up here to point out another’s craziness over their “baby,” whatever it is that, when they lose it, makes them lose it (“Maybe the dingo ate your strongbox key”). Elaine’s line stems from the real-life account of an infant death in Australia at the hands—er, jaws—of…well, you get the picture. The Meryl Streep motion picture A Cry in the Dark immortalized the story.
The prospect that the “baby” of the person you’re ding-o-ing was eaten by some wild animal is, of course, so over-the-top as to be as down-under mythological as the subject of that Streep flick. That’s the point. Some mythology is obviously at work here in that person’s mind, to make them act all “Baby can’t live without me.” They must be there for baby. “Nobody puts baby in a corner.”
As with quoting a movie (even a famous one), the risk of dumb looks or backlash is high with this line, but a high five is also not altogether out of the picture. You might kill it, as they say in comedic circles about a bit well done. Or you might be killed—the bit flops.
Either way, “dingo” is worth it*, to let them know you’re killing me.
From “The Stranded”
Season 2, Episode 9
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 3
Time code for the scene: 07:08 (*Watch for Elaine’s smile at the scene’s end.)
Dedicated to Anthony Narkawicz
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A summary observation to make around people who know someone who has problems, but they act as though he or she has no problems. But you’ve no problem pointing it out.
When Jerry’s girlfriend took him to the eatery owned by her father, “Poppie,” Jerry excused himself before the meal that Poppie was to make. In the bathroom, Jerry was washing up, when out of one stall came Poppie, zipping up. A finger-flick double-check of the hair (and zipper), an Ah! Jerry, tonight you in for a real treat, and Poppie was out the door. Apoplectic, Jerry glanced at the stall—then the sink—then the stall…then later gabbed about it all to an unfazed George, who popped this unvarnished take.
Clearly, this wasn’t the first restroom-related Poppie infraction. Surely, others in the restaurant had seen Poppie inaction but, for whatever reason, did not confront Poppie with his sloppiness.
Just the same—with any Poppie crossing your path—don’t talk about the Poppie in front of the Poppie. (And leave “Poppie” in the line, no matter whom this is directed toward. Poppie could be anybody, so use it on every-problematic-body.) And don’t confront the Poppie. This is not cause for a “Sloppy, Poppie?”
This is diagnostic—not antagonistic. Not yet. Conditions must be right. Confer with a friend or other confidante to ensure you are not the one with the problems. Then make your move (contact health inspectors, slip him a mickey, etc.).
Then you can wash your hands of the situation.
From “The Pie”
Episode 15, Season 5
Seinfeld Disc 3, Volume 4
Timecode for the scene(s): 10:00-12:50
Dedicated to MFD
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(a note in advance of more Seinfeld-isms to come, very soon…)
Returning here after more than two years–after I went bye-bye in 2013, after saying Helloooo!–I was tempted toward a good George-ism to capture the moment. Maybe the simple, ebullient “I’m back, baby!”
Or the subversive, Eeyore-ish voicemail he once left Jerry, “Hey, it’s George… Pfft. I’ve got nothing to say.” (BEEP)
But even Costanza comes up short here. (Sorry, George. I’m really sorry. It’s not you, it’s me.) To capture such an unexpected turnabout…I turn to the one-and-only Kramer.
In one of Kramer’s doofus falls into a legit job (Brand/Leland was the poor, unsuspecting company’s name), his boss called him on the carpet about his output. “I’ve been reviewing your work,” Leland said. “Quite frankly it stinks.”
He went on to tell the Ritz-cracker-smacking Kosmo that he must move on. I don’t even really work here! was Kramer’s crack-me-up reply.
As to why exactly that cracked me up…consider my absence, yes (I don’t even really blog here!)…but do read on.
The What-Happened
My absence was not intentional. Not even in my mind was I gone (although there is that, sometimes.) I still love this blog. I still love this show–even though some of it is not as funny to me as I near 20 years of great marriage and my mid-40s, and seriously/sillily raise 52 children.
(Actually we only have 5 but jokingly refer to “our 52 children” because, despite the joy, the laughter, all that Schmoopie…sometimes the comments, the questions, all that snap, make it seem like we have way more children than we do.)
Still, much of Seinfeld is as funny to me now as it was when I first discovered it. Some of it is even funnier. Which is why I never meant to, in early 2013, stop adding to this Seinfeld survival guide to Life.
Around that time, in an Seinfeldishly ironic twist, Life dispatched a plane across the landscape of the Bounds family, unfurling a banner that read “Survive this”–and started dropping circumstantial bombs. We wanted to yada yada yada over the whole thing…in the George-negative, not the Elaine-positive way.
Then came a Newman-ic depressive phase. You know, where you’re denouncing vegetables and calling for honey-mustard shots and doing other foolish things that have people wiser than you saying life-saving things to you like you better think again, mojumbo.
The dance of Life didn’t halt, per se, during that time. It just shifted into a full-body-dry-heave kind of dance. Arms flailing, legs akimbo. Feet moving the family halfway across the country…that sort of thing.
Meanwhile, in another ironic, Seinfeldian twist during that long hiatus…this blog’s readership took off across the two years I stopped writing. See for yourself:
I can hear George now: Your chances of success in this blog are only hurt by you continuing to write it.
Even with that attractive power of the Opposite apparently boosting my work, I still stayed away. Then, later, an idea: If I get back into it someday, I’ll do some new material then get out. Take a bow. Cue the curtain drop.
Then, much later–nearing the debut of the get-out plan–the plan got a good-surprise “Get out!” push.
The Times
Seinfeld cracking me up over Life itself–for me and for those around me–is what led me to launch this blog-ode to the series on July 5, 2010. Five years to the day, that is, coming up here soon. The final-bow plans came up about a year ago. I crafted a Seinfeld-ism “bucket list.”
While I dabbled with the plan–fast headed to the five-year anniversary–yet another Seinfeldian twist occurred: my blog got linked in the New York Times. This week. (Scroll down to the “George’s love of cheese” line.)
I can hear Jerry now: Costanza*…Benes**…Bounds***?!
*Recall George’s hand-clapping joy over a “NEW YORK YANKEES!” job.
**Recall Elaine’s hip-swinging joy over a “NEW YORKER!” gig.
***Pardon my laptop-tapping joy over a NEW YORK TIMES! nibble.
The New York Times exposure leaves me grinning a la Jerry’s “And you want to be my latex salesman” grin AND looking unfazed a la Newman’s “Hi-lar-ious” deadpan face. Not at the New York Times. At literary agents. Because back in 2010, when I started this blog, I had been trying to publish this material as a book.
The rejection-letter emails that followed (coming mostly from literary agents based in NEW YORK CITY) are best summarized by this one line from one such agent:
“I don’t think anyone outside of New York is really that interested still in Seinfeld.”
Cue the look on my face akin to Jerry’s when that Donna Chang gal he was dating used the word ridicurous.
The High Note
Scores of Seinfeld lines come to mind in witty retort to that agent’s comment. But I’ll just end where I began here and reach back into the Kramer-working-for-Brand/Leland episode. The morn of Kramer’s first day on the job, Jerry saw Kramer in a suit and tie and–dazed and Uncle-Leo-level-confused at his notoriously jobless friend now gloriously dressed for a job–Jerry said, “How long have I been asleep? What year is this?”
Have you been asleep? I wanted to say to that agent. Do you know what year it is?
Seinfeld has conquered the world!
That was 8 years ago.
Now look at Hulu.
“That people will only watch television like this in the future is so obvious,” Jerry himself cracked-wise at the April announcement to the world of the Seinfeld/Hulu duo.
Yes it is, Jerry. Yes it is.
So now I turn to George, to do as he once did and–as he learned from Jerry (“Showmanship, George!”)–get out on a high note.
Time to publish that book myself.
(Giddy-up!)
Stay tuned.
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A jovial shoutout to insider-joke stupidity, disguised as a greeting—for when you care enough to send the veritable jest.
Jerry joked with George that, when Clare, the woman Jerry was then dating, fell asleep, her stomach stayed awake and talked to Jerry–the voice overblown and jolly, like a caricature of a human being: “Hel-looooo!” followed by “Talk to meeee!” or “La-la-laaa.” Jerry and George laughed it up with Kramer, who also picked it up (Elaine just put it down)…until Clare found out about it and, disgusted, basically told Jerry It’s me or the voice. And, just like that, Jerry’s hel-lo became a good-bye.
This is the voice of one talking behind another’s back. That someone you are talking about walks into the room right as you and a friend are talking about that someone, and up goes your voice, silly big, the “o’s” booming out of one side of your mouth, Hel-looooo! The gusto of the faux greeting will leave the butt of your joke thinking that nothing but kind things are going on here.
Don’t let one too many know what’s going on here. The fewer who are “in” on your joke, the better, as Elaine pointed out when, hearing “the voice” for the first time, she asked Jerry what it was:
Jerry: “Oh, it’s just this stupid thing.”
Elaine: “Well, I’m sure it’s stupid….”
That is to say, at some point the stupidity of your joke will be revealed. And it is at this point that, as George, Kramer, and Clare illustrated, your friends will likely abandon you. Unless, of course, that sort of thing doesn’t bother you—in which case, by all means, continue the voice, starting with those “friends”:
“Fare thee welllll! La-la-laaa.”
From “The Voice”
Episode 2, Season 9
Seinfeld Disc 1, Volume 8
Timecodes for the scenes: 1:06 (Jerry and George initially), 3:02 (Kramer and Jerry), 3:50 (Elaine to Jerry), 6:50 (George, at work, to Jerry), 9:10 (George and Jerry, at the café, to Kramer), 9:50 (Jerry to Clare), 13:24 (Jerry, again to Clare, saying good-bye), 14:20 (Jerry and George, the latter souring on the voice), 14:45 (Jerry to Elaine), 15:10 (Jerry saying good-bye in the voice to Kramer), 20:55 (Jerry to Clare, at the end), 22:05 (Jerry, George, and Kramer at the end)
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(another Seinfeld-in-culture note before you read on to the latest Seinfeld-isms below)
Jerry was flying first class and living it up (while Elaine suffered in coach) when this line came his way. His seatmate was marveling at a comment he’d just made about the fudge sundae they were eating (“They got the fudge on the bottom. You see? That enables you to control your fudge distribution as you’re eating your ice cream!”).
Who knows what Jerry will discuss in his “comedic distribution” this Wed, April 4, when he brings his stand-up again to Norfolk, Virginia. But I’ll be there, marveling at his comments. Marveling as I laugh, that is, at the insights of a guy whose brand of comedy is still relevant enough after all these years to play to packed houses. Even those who don’t laugh at Seinfeld–either his act or his show–have to hand it to a guy who gets a standing “o” as he takes the stage.
Let us all marvel then at more recent evidence of how Seinfeld continues to “live it up” in practically every section of our lives, from cars to politics to…
Tune in soon for a new Seinfeld-ism: a timely observation on spring (among other things) from a certifiable/smitten George.
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A whimsical challenge for that occasional time when you must admit to a friend that (1) yes, we’re not in college anymore but (2) no, we didn’t learn all we needed to learn, so (3) we might as well act like a student once in a while.
Jerry bumped into Seth, an old college buddy, one day and talked of catching up. Seth had a big banking job to get back to. Jerry had no particular place to go. And all it took was this little exhortation from Jerry to get his old friend to go there with him.
Whether the college days were glory days is debatable: some still want to relive them; some have long since renounced them. This much about the college days is universally known (even by those who didn’t go to college): who doesn’t like to pick the subjects they want to deal with, pick the time they want to deal with them, and have someone else pay the bill?
This is a lifestyle that comedian Jerry knew something about, and when you think about it, being a college student really is a lot like being a stand-up comedian: learn a lot so you can come up with observations to make at night around a bunch of people with access to alcohol. Either way, this isn’t real life we’re talking about here. College and comedy aren’t typically things you do when you grow up; they’re things you can do to help you deal with growing up.
They’re also things you can do in lieu of growing up, as Jerry illustrated here with his “college comedy” idea: take a business meeting “pass” like it’s a political science class so you can, say, tackle a local coffee house like it’s Animal House:
“Java! Java! Java!”
From “The Chicken Roaster”
Episode 8, Season 8
Seinfeld Disc 2, Volume 7
Timecode for the scene: 1:10
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(a note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below)
It was cut from the episode, the above Costanza line, before “The Busboy” aired. (Turn on the “Notes About Nothing” function while watching any Seinfeld episode on DVD to get such priceless trivia.) George inadvertently played a hand in the kneejerk firing of a waiter at a restaurant where he and Jerry were dining. When Kramer later announced in Jerry’s apartment that the waiter had found the building and was headed up, George reacted like a man who knows a recently released convict is headed for him. This is part of what came out of his mouth.
This sort of thing didn’t come out of my mouth but it did run through my mind in recent days–let it kill me–as we feared a little for our lives in the path of Hurricane Irene. We got out of the way completely, fleeing town for higher ground, so all was well…even though, initially, it didn’t end quite as well. Returning home to find the power out for days to come, we had to seek more “other ground” (i.e., stay with family elsewhere) again.
To cut to the chase, as George might say: I’m back, baby! (as George’s father did in fact once say).
One more Seinfeld-in-culture moment, then, that I’d planned for last month: it was three years ago in August that Microsoft told the world they’d tapped the man himself, Jerry Seinfeld, to be the face of a $300 million campaign to reboot the Windows brand. The result, you may recall, was some commercials featuring Jerry and the Microsoft Man himself, Bill Gates.
The reaction of the public (or rather, the lack thereof), you may also recall, led to the canning of those commercials not long after they began airing.
We don’t need to view the “notes about nothing” on this little episode to know that Jerry didn’t get fired. One only needs to catch a show of Jerry’s tour (where he continues to play to packed houses)…
or check your local TV listings for how often Seinfeld reruns are on…
or look at how many people have friended the Seinfeld page on Facebook…
(or keep up with this guide-to-life blog…)
to understand why Microsoft hired him in the first place.
Seinfeld is a brand that needs no reboot.
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A flabbergasted observation to make when you’re headed in a certain direction–you know where this is going–then you pass a sign that says, “This road has no outlet.”
Looking to reduce the time in his shower routine, Kramer badgered Jerry into standing in his shower and acting out what he does in his routine. When Jerry left it at that–no disrobing, no sudsing–Kramer popped the cap on his inflated expectation, deflating with this line.
Not getting what you want. It’s at the heart of both types of teasing: the taunting kind, which we deal with as children (“Quit teasing me! Mo-o-om…”) and the titillating kind, which we deal with as adults (“She’s teasing me! Ma-a-an…”). The man-child Kramer brings both together in one exclamatory statement. Jerry doesn’t shower it up, so Kramer dresses him down, the “hipster doofus” calling his good buddy the “shower doofus.”
In Kramer’s hands, note, it is a silly taunt–that’s the rub. So you didn’t get that raise? Waited for a relative who didn’t show? Offered some champagne to celebrate the big news, then your friend finds he has no bubbly in the house after all? Go ahead. Tell them what this is. Let your voice crack a little, a la Kramer, on the tease–like your voice is changing, indicating a breaking through into maturity.
And that is what you are doing with every Kramer-ian tease: showing some maturity. We can’t always get what we want. That’s just life. So rather than get upset, get a little silly.
A little immaturity, in other words–in this case–is actually the mature thing to do.
From “The Apology”
Episode 9, Season 9
Seinfeld Disc 2, Volume 8
Timecode for the scene: 5:45
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(another Seinfeld-in-culture note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below)
Elaine delivered the above line into George’s neurotic implosion over a date gone wrong (“She wants me to like her, if she likes me. But she doesn’t like me!”).
Parents magazine delivered a Seinfeld line in a sidebar story in their August issue (p. 116) for 2010. (This isn’t the first time Parents has done this. More on that later.) The line–“Serenity now!”–is arguably one of the most memorable…and most translatable-into-real-life…to ever come out of the show. And you don’t have to be a parent to appreciate it.
What parents in particular can appreciate is the way the line came to fuller human life with two words that George’s nemesis, Lloyd Braun, tacked onto it later in the same episode:
“Serenity now. Insanity later.”
Easy to see why that one probably won’t appear in Parents magazine–never mind that it’s even more revelatory about life. You do the hard day punctuated by Serenity now!‘s to fight off the insanity, then collapse onto the couch after the kids are in bed. You’re still trying to erase the blasted look on your face that says Insanity now–like some war-like movie about the horribleness of human nature directed by Francis Ford Coppola is about to go down in your house. What do you do?
You try not to think about what your parents did to you, for one thing–that’s what you do. And if that doesn’t work, you pop in any Seinfeld involving the Costanzas (e.g., “The Serenity Now”) and think, “Well at least I don’t have it that bad.”
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(another Seinfeld-in-culture note to readers before you read on to the latest Seinfeld-ism, below)
Like most people, Elaine loved her work and hated her work, the latter evidenced by the above comment she made to Jerry (in the episode “The Frogger”) after a particularly hard day. The difficulty? Co-workers pushing cake on her as they celebrated…yet again…somebody’s something or other.
ABC’s 20/20 thought enough of that episode to include it in a story they aired this month in 2008, about people working out while they work—using such equipment as a treadmill with a desk attached to it. “Remember the ‘cake-pushers’ from Seinfeld?” the commentator began the segment, showing the clip from the episode.
Watching Seinfeld and living it–now that’s what you call “having your cake and eating it too.”
Let’s have another piece!
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An instructive challenge to use on someone whose social skills demand that you take them to school. Obedience school, that is.
George revealed to Jerry that their friend Gary had just confided that he never really had cancer. Jerry, who’d purchased a hair club membership for Gary, started foaming at the mouth–and wanted to sink his teeth into Gary. But George, awaiting a really big favor from Gary, wanted Jerry to be nice meanwhile. When Jerry retorted, “I don’t think I can be that nice!” then George started foaming at the mouth with this line.
Putting on a good face when you need to is hard enough without having to push someone else in the situation to do it too–because you need them to. You begin politely: “Can you rein in the sarcasm toward my family long enough for us all to enjoy this vacation?” Your ______ (spouse, friend, etc.) can’t. And since you can’t let that go, you do as George did: break it down, in language that even a dog would understand.
If you see it dawn on your listener’s face, that one of you is a dog in this scenario, give it a moment. They’ll get it, that this is a dog eat dog world we’re talking about here. We all get dog tired, then rest so we don’t get sick as a dog. We can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and we should let sleeping dogs lie. He ain’t nuthin’ but a hound dog. Who let the dog out? So…he’s in the doghouse tonight. (She keeps him on a short leash.) Doggoneit, well, aren’t you a son of a—
Which brings us to the point here: we’re all a little doggish sometimes, when we want or need to be. In this situation, where you’re running after something, you’re not talking down to them with George’s words. You’re barking at them to run with you…just try to keep up!
From “The Scofflaw”
Episode 13, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 9:10
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(another Seinfeld-in-culture note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below)
It was one of George’s aims, the above comment, in the “summer of George.” We’re not exactly sure where George stood when it came to books. In one episode, he was collecting them like an avid reader. In another, he was foregoing a book to watch the flick based on it, like an avid moviegoer. If George was anything like his father–an avid TV Guide collector–he was an avid TV-watcher.
TV and books (and movies based on books) had to do with one more thing Entertainment Weekly had to say in July 2008 about Seinfeld’s place among the “new classics” of the past 25 years. (We recently touched on their ranking of the show and of the man himself.) That landmark 1,000th issue ended with another reader’s poll: favorite cultural moments of the last quarter of a century.
Seinfeld‘s finale episode in 1998 was the “moment” that landed the greatest sitcom ever in this poll–and it didn’t make it past the first cut in the NCAA tourney-like, single-elimination poll. The rival that won? The finale book of the Harry Potter series in 2007.
So Jerry lost to Harry. Whoop-dee-do, we say. This is, after all, a poll that ended up crowning as the #1 “moment” the release of the iPod. Techies versus “bookies” versus the TV savvy (and more)?
Hi-lar-ious, as Newman might have said, as polls go. But fun nonetheless.
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Tags: Costanza, Entertainment Weekly, Frank Costanza, George, Harry Potter, iPod, NCAA, Newman, Seinfeld, The Summer of George, TV, TV Guide
A diversionary shout-out to use when it appears to someone that you’re digging yourself into a hole, but rather than come clean and get out of it–you’re acting like you meant to dig that hole (and you’re not stopping until you get to China).
When Jerry got into a phone call that he suddenly wanted out of, a bystanding, quick-thinking George rapped on the counter like a knock at the door and chirped, in a gravelly falsetto, “Chinese food!” George’s parents later used the same diversion on him–much to his derision, when he found out that they basically wanted out of talking so much to him.
Quick, we need a distraction! It’s the stuff of TV and movies because it’s the stuff of life–trying to do something spontaneous (or unusual…or wild…) without others questioning you (or judging you…or laughing at you…) for it. It’s not that you don’t want them to know; you just don’t want them to know right away. If you can find a way to distract them, you’re out the door, you’re free. You just need a start.
You need look no further than Costanza. Chinese takeout is the perfect distraction because, universally loved as it is, it’s also a suggestion. People are moved by their stomachs, so you’re using it–as the Costanzas used it–to move someone on. “Nothing to see here, just…something to eat here.” Now they’re thinking of something to eat there. Hmm, that sounds good.
Make mei fun their fun, and you’re on to your fun.
From “The Junk Mail”
Episode 5, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 1
Timecode for the scenes: 00:03 (George’s “fakeout” order), 02:27 (Frank and Estelle’s)
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: China, Chinese food, Costanza, Estelle Costanza, Frank Costanza, George, Jerry, Kramer, movies, takeout, The Junk Mail, TV
(another Seinfeld-in-culture note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below)
Jerry was referring to the New York Marathon in the above comment to George and others at a party overlooking the race, in the episode “The Apartment.” The snarky attitude toward competitive races was essentially his and Seinfeld co-creator Larry David’s attitude toward the competition in television when their show first aired: What’s to see…? They were running their own race, at their own pace.
Little did they know they’d outrun every other sitcom in its time–maybe for all time–a fact showcased in Entertainment Weekly “new classics” issue released this month in 2008. Indeed, EW showcased Seinfeld‘s timeless greatness more than once in that issue, one of which we noted here last week. EW also did a reader’s poll on the favorite TV star of the past quarter of a century.
Guess who came in first.
And guess whom he beat, in winning that distinction? A woman from daytime TV (Oprah, who came in at #3). A guy from late-night TV (Johnny Carson, at #2). And maybe 20,000 other shows–all losers by comparison–in the past 20-something years.
Any show that can do that–now that’s something to see.
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Tags: Entertainment Weekly, George, Jerry, Johnny Carson, Kenya, Larry David, New York Marathon, Norway, Oprah, The Apartment, TV
(another Seinfeld-in-culture note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms, below)
David and Victoria Beckham welcomed their fourth child recently. The child’s full name? Harper Seven.
Now, we don’t need to read any further into the Beckhams’ life to guess that some Seinfeld-ian mischief might have been at work here, courtesy of George, whose dream name for a child was “Seven.” (A name that George’s fiancee, Susan Ross, didn’t like at all–didn’t think it had any caché; witness George’s reply above.) For all we know, the Beckhams are rabid anti-Seinfeld-ites, who instead were inspired by, say, Prince–or that dark movie that a fellow David directed, costarring that other British chick and a certain Mr. Pitt. (No, not the one that Elaine worked for.)
Watching the blogosphere become atwitter over this–“George had his name stolen from him again!” (as though he is still out there, in prime-time TV land, and he’s losing it)–was gratifying enough.
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Tags: Brad Pitt, David Beckham, David Fincher, George, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harper Seven Beckham, Prince, Seven, Victoria Beckham
An uplifting challenge for reminding someone that, when it’s all said and done, all you need is love. And a superficial hand gesture is all you need to show it.
Jerry’s search for a new car led him to the dealership where Elaine’s boyfriend David Puddy worked. As Puddy helped him, Jerry discovered that he had to hand it to Puddy–a literal hand, that is, nice and high. Elaine refused the slaphappy Puddy’s next high five, so he added a down low…which she also refused. But he hung in there.
“Slapping hands,” as Jerry told Elaine, “is the lowest form of male primal ritual.” But this isn’t maleness Puddy is upholding here–even though the high five easily says “Hey dude….” Neither, for that matter, is it femaleness–even though Puddy tried to give Elaine five too. Putting your hand in the air…like Puddy, like you care…has something for everyone.
Got a good friend who had a bad day? The high five reminds them that the best thing about a hard day’s the night. Got a love interest with whom you think you can work it out? The high five signals, “I don’t want to hold your hand just yet, but this is something.” A major life change hit you? Without a word–just a look on your face–the high five lets those around you know that you feel fine.
And if you put that hand in the air and the look on their face says they don’t care (i.e., you’re probably going to be left hanging)…let it be. If you like the person, you might add Puddy’s “You owe me five” as you walk away. If you don’t, then just walk away. The same hand that says “hello” can say “goodbye.”*
From “The Dealership”
Episode 11 , Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 9:50 (here’s another five for those interested: see 2:40 for the first “High five”; 4:05 for another Puddy “High five” followed by Jerry’s “primal ritual” commentary ; 5:30 for “High five… You owe me five”; 19:51; and 21:15 for more Jerry commentary)
*It’s unclear from the Seinfeld repertoire whether the Beatles inspired Puddy here. For all we know it was the Eagles, the Bangles, or even Peter Gabriel (“Nothing seems to please…I need contact“). We’re content to contend that this was a Puddy original.
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Categorized in The Challenges
Tags: A Hard Day's Night, All You Need Is Love, car, dating, Elaine, friendship, Hello Goodbye, Hey Jude, high five, I Feel Fine, I Have the Touch, I Want to Hold Your Hand, Jerry, Let It Be, Peter Gabriel, Puddy, Something, The Bangles, The Beatles, The Dealership, The Eagles, We Can Work It Out
(another Seinfeld-in-our-culture note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms, below)
The line might as well be a classic–Jerry taking the opportunity to go to dinner with his dermatologist girlfriend and, as George put it, “put that aloe pusher in her place.”
Speaking of classics: three years ago this month, Entertainment Weekly dropped their grand 1,000th issue (June 27/July 4, 2008), the theme of which was “The New Classics.” In the new-classics-in-TV article, ranked only behind The Simpsons and The Sopranos–there, of course, was Seinfeld, at #3.
Now that’s a classic we can all read, Dr. Van Nostrand.
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Categorized in The Notes
Tags: aloe vera, classics, dermatology, Dr. Martin Van Nostrand, Entertainment Weekly, George, Kramer, Pimple Popper, The Simpsons, The Slicer, The Sopranos, TV
(a note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms, below)
“…we have watched you take our beloved Yankees and reduce them to a laughingstock, all for the glorification of your massive ego!” Those were George’s final words in his doing-the-opposite-of-his-instincts harangue of his new boss, George Steinbrenner, in the episode “The Opposite” (which we drew from last week for a famous Seinfeld-ism). And this–Hire this man!–was Steinbrenner’s reply.
The final words of the notorious, cantankerous Yankees owner himself were spoken in this very month last year, which brings us to this next note on Seinfeld‘s continuing influence on our culture. Days after Steinbrenner passed away, the Wall Street Journal dedicated a sidebar story to Steinbrenner’s ongoing influence on Seinfeld. Even though the man himself never appeared as himself in a Seinfeld episode (actually he did, but it was cut from the final edit–a story you’ll find in the back stories of the Seinfeld DVDs), his character appeared 23 times.
Only such a character-in-real life as Steinbrenner could appear in TV life more times than other, more memorable fictional characters (Bania, the Soup Nazi, Babu, etc.) on the same show.
Here’s to being a character in real life, thanks to lines from such characters in TV life as Seinfeld gave us…
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Categorized in The Notes
Tags: Babu, Bania, George, George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees, Soup Nazi, The Opposite
An impromptu observation to make when someone talks so incessantly about musical things–about, say, some new song they’re plucking–that you’re thinking Yeah, you’re really plucking something there.
“So the Raisinets are eating a box of Raisinets?” Jerry asked Elaine as they rode the subway and discussed a commercial showing various candies playing in a band: Raisinets on sax, Milk Duds on banjo, etc. At one point, the saxophonist Raisinets buys a box of Raisinets from a nearby concession stand. Elaine didn’t get it either. Jerry wrapped it up with this bon mot that he got from the scene.
You love music. (Who doesn’t?) What you don’t love are people with a mere modicum of musical skill who confuse the universal love of listening to music with the personal love of discussing music. And explicating it. And tying any conceivable topic of discussion back to it. You mention Back to the Future and in seconds your guitarist friend is onto Don Giovanni.
Eddie Van Halen did the guitar in the scene where Michael J. Fox puts the Walkman on McFly? Huh. No, I haven’t seen Amadeus. That’s why Eddie named his son Wolfgang? Fascinating, you say–your polite “crescendo” as you bow out before you’re made to feel like you need the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, Rosetta Stone for Italian, and a few other “parts in your kit” to…er…be on the same sheet of music.
Wait for this person to leave the immediate area then strum Jerry’s low note with the nearby audience–or, if you’re comfortable with your conversational talent, play this rimshot while that person has a front row seat. Don’t fret about their reaction; eventually, they’ll understand: anyone with so much time and energy on their hands for one thing clearly needs something else to do. You’re just helping them get to it.
Or, to put it in terms they’ll understand: you’re giving them a friendly kick in the arpeggio.
From “The English Patient”
Episode 17, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 00:00 (you read that “music note” right; this scene is the prelude to the episode)
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: Amadeus, arpeggio, audience, Back to the Future, banjo, concession stand, conversational talent, Don Giovanni, drums, Eddie Van Halen, Elaine, Italian, Jerry, Marty McFly, Michael J. Fox, Milk Duds, movies, music, musical note, musicians, NYC subway, Raisinets, rimshot, Rolling Stone, Rosetta Stone, saxophone, sheet music, The English Patient, The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, TV, TV commercial, Van Halen, Walkman, Wolfgang Mozart Amadeus, Wolfgang Van Halen
(a note to readers before you read on to the latest Seinfeld-isms below)
It’s been 16 years since the “Soup Nazi” joined the ranks of the Seinfeld immortals–and permanently entered our pop cultural lexicon–with lines like this one to George. The mulligatawny master’s most famous line…do we even need to say it?…still resonates. So too, obviously, does the show that introduced it.
Fancast.com (now called Xfinity) wrote about that–“Why Seinfeld Still Resonates“–a year ago this month.
The impetus for looking at that resonance? The real Soup Nazi, Al Yeganeh, whose famed NYC soup stand Seinfeld immortalized, had just reopened for business in July 2010 after a six-year absence. The lines, the article noted, stretched around the block.
Kind of like the lines from the show that keep appearing in our lives…
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Categorized in The Notes
A logical observation for helping someone find their way when they’ve lost it, and what they need to be shown how to use is not their GPS transmitter, but their BS detector.
No job, no money, no place but my parents’ house to live, George sighed to Jerry and Elaine one day. “Every decision I’ve ever made in my entire life…has been wrong.” His direct admission led Jerry to this indirect exhortation–Do the opposite–which led George to change everything. Suddenly, life was no longer taking a bite out of George; now it was the other way around.
We, like George, often don’t learn until later that some steps we’ve made in life were the equivalent of stepping in it. We take that job. (Later: “What BS. I should’ve taken a break.”). We dated that person. (Later: “That dating service was BS.”). We pursued that degree. (“Why did I pursue this BS? I should’ve gone for the BA!”) And we should’ve seen it coming. If only we’d had a Jerry initially to point it out–to help us separate the bull from the viable.
When you use a line like this to help a George you know–that project manager, prodigal sibling, or fast-food-drive-thru worker, to name a few candidates–expect that not every one may be as receptive as George, who took to Jerry’s sage-like words like an acolyte to a mantra. (“Jerry,” George said later, euphoric from his opposite successes, “this is my religion.”) For all of its likely rewards, the opposite has its risks of humiliation, retaliation, loss of membership at the health club, etc. And that’s okay, the sage-like smile on your face will say.
You’re okay, that is, with your risk in saying this for their reward, which is that they would actually arrive at something for once in their lives…which explains why you’re quoting Jerry here in the first place.
You had to, or else you were going to lose it just listening to them.
From “The Opposite”
Episode 21, Season 5
Seinfeld Disc 4, Volume 4
Timecode for the scene: 1:38 (for Jerry telling it like it is); 12:10 (for George taking it as his religion)
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: bullshit, dating, Elaine, friendship, George, GPS, health club, Jerry, job, religion, school, The Costanzas, The Opposite, work
(a monumental note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms, below)
And so began the episode–aptly named “The Nap”–where George found a way to catch some much-needed Z’s: under his desk at work. There’s a reason we join George in this precarious, languorous spot…
Today marks one year that Seinfeld-ism began in blog form. This hilariously keen perspective on life began a lot earlier than that, of course. By that I don’t mean the end of Seinfeld‘s prime time TV run in 1998. I mean the way in which TV’s greatest sitcom–in all of its wisdom, philosophy, yada yada yada–has been permeating not just our culture but our daily lives since…in an ongoing and widespread way.
For that reason then–for the continuing influence of Seinfeld, which “Seinfeld-ism” here embodies–I’m as happy as George eating a car battery-sized block of cheese to tell you about three things happening with this blog, to mark this anniversary.
First, it’s back to a recurring format, like when the blog began. Three days a week–say, every Mon, Wed, and Fri, without fail–you’ll see new material appearing. That starts tomorrow with a line from Jerry that is the fulcrum of one of the most famous episodes in the series.
Second, I’ll mix up this weekly material by adding some of the evidence of that Seinfeld-ian influence–something I’ve been collecting for years. We’ll start with an article just last week on Today.com that nods to George’s innovative way of nodding off on the clock.
Finally, you’ll see what seem to be arbitrary numbers appearing on each Seinfeld-ism, starting with the inaugural entry on July 5 last year: “How long have you been waiting to squeeze that into a conversation?” As I mentioned just before the end of 2010, we’re going somewhere with this. Those numbers are an integral part of where we’re going. It is, as Kramer would put it (in the episode “The Dealership”)…
“Just a little place I like to call ‘You’ll see.'”
Here’s to squeezing lines like that into lives like ours–in every possible conversation…
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(a note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below)
This George-ian line inspired the name of the episode at the end of which we find George on a hospital stretcher when he says this line. Hospital and stretcher explain much of the quiet around here since my last post. It’s a testament to the nature of the family emergency (the loved one is okay now) that I didn’t think of this classic line once while I was at the hospital (no, it wasn’t me, but I was there…a lot).
I should have, now that I think about–since the family emergency consumed leave time I’d scheduled for the family vacation. How does that Buffet line go? “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane”?
A few more George-inspired laughs, then, by showcasing all of his lines so far in this compendium of the best that Seinfeld has to offer us in navigating life:
“Please, a little respect…for I am Costanza, Lord of the Idiots.“
“George is gettin’ upset!“
“Do you ever just get down on your knees and thank God that you know me and have access to dementia?“
“You know we’re LIVING in a SOCIETY…“
“We mustn’t disturb the delicate genius!“
“…there’s not enough voltage in this world to electroshock me back into coherence!“
“Khaaaaan!“
“Worlds are colliding!“
“Is there a pinkish hue?“
“He’s bebopping and scatting…!“
“Happy, Pappy?“
There’s your “summer,” George! Now I’m going to go regain mine in some fashion and, among other things, soon unpack the next couple of Seinfeld-isms I’ve had in the works–one of which is from George, in a rare moment of kicking sand in Jerry’s face…
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A blunt observation for the language of relationships, categorized not as the kind of comment where you’re trying to make history, but the kind where you just felt like saying something like We’re history.
Puddy and Elaine broke up for the bajillionth time while Jerry was car-shopping at the dealership where Puddy was working (and Jerry was hoping to get the “insider’s deal”). When Jerry–about to sign on the dotted line for a Saab–noticed something amiss with the usually unflappable Puddy, he asked, “Did you two break up?” This was Puddy’s “flappant” reply.
Sometimes in the dating relationship a moment compels you to over(or under)state the truth to articulate an emotion. It’s a somewhat juvenile tendency that most people don’t lose when they become adults. This is why you can technically blow a samba in a televised dance contest, or fiddle with the facts in a movie you make about a historical event, and people will ardently defend you to your critics by saying, “Yes, but it was emotionally true.”
Note that Puddy’s emotional truism–delivered as flatly and as quickly as if he’d just told Jerry, “That Saab is a lemon”–will not work in marriage, where the integrity of the relationship demands fidelity to the facts…and subtlety in the heat of the argumentative moment. Your loved one is not “whacked” but “acting whacked,” and so on.
You could still Puddy the waters by using this line as is, but don’t be surprised if your conversational rapport with your spouse becomes, for a time, akin to Whac-A-Mole…and you’re not the one holding the hammer.
From “The Dealership”
Episode 11, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 10:42
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: car, dating, Elaine, Jerry, Puddy, Saab, The Dealership, Whac-A-Mole
An ambiguous question to use on those who fancy themselves to be this big, bold character out of some story, and you’re just wondering Is this a comedy I’m watching? Or a tragedy, or a cartoon…?
George recalled this line to Jerry with serious distaste after breaking up with a woman who asked him this question. A tastefully silly Jerry then asked the same question of a woman he’d just gotten back together with.
Silly or serious? The listener won’t know where you’re coming from as you try, using this line, to determine where they’re at. First there’s happy, a word that denotes “positive,” “contented,” etc., yet is also one of that group of words ending in “-appy” that sounds a little insulting: sappy, nappy, crappy. (Even snappy has a critical ring: “Make it snappy!”) The next time you hear a “Look at him, he’s so happy,” note how what seems like a compliment can lend a hapless, almost idiotic quality to the person being described.
Then there’s Pappy, which brings to mind daddies and grampies and poppies and grandies…and the cartoon character Popeye, whose father was Pappy. Which also sounds nice until you realize that Pappy’s first name was Poopdeck.
Will they think they just got slapped–or crapped–on the shoulder, when you Happy Pappy them? Who knows. Who cares! Because, either way, the resulting conversation is sure to be animated.
From “The Engagement”
Episode 1, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 1:06 (George) and 3:40 (Jerry)
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Categorized in The Questions
Tags: cartoons, dating, George, Happy Pappy?, Jerry, Poopdeck Pappy, Popeye, The Engagement
A prickly question to use on those who are so full of themselves–over their own potential–they’re practically bursting. And you’re happy to expand their horizons.
Before Jerry and Kramer bumped into Sally, an aspiring actress friend of Jerry’s, as she approached them on the sidewalk, Jerry told Kramer, “She should just give up” (on acting). Kramer couldn’t act either–he had to say the things that people think of others but don’t dare tell them…which Sally soon learned.
Thanks to such documentation as nationally televised singing contests, we now have proof that people are not as phenomenal as they think they are–and no one around them is telling them this. Picture yourself in that judge’s chair then, with a mic on your shirt and a drink at hand, because there are people around you who need your critical powers.
You know who they are: the shape (e.g., triangle) painting artists, the so-so medical students, the guys who think that transporting enough recyclable bottles to the right state will make them some dough. These people need you to set them free from their delusions of grandeur. So wait for their self-aggrandizing stories, listen for the hint of failure, then it’s Kramer time.
They’ll likely despise you now, but they’ll thank you later…if they’re still talking to you. And if they don’t, that’s okay. Because one of the unexpectedly satisfying things you’ll find in honesty of this kind, about things like giving up, is…
You’re just getting started!
From “The Cartoon”
Episode 13, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 00:15
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Categorized in The Questions
Tags: acting, American Idol, friendship, Jerry, Kramer, Sally Weaver, The Cartoon, TV
(A note to readers before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms below…)
Kramer was reading Jerry’s VCR manual while lying like a bump on the log of Jerry’s couch in this episode (see “The Strike” in Season 9). Jerry questioned why he was doing this. This was Kramer’s reply.
His words need no explanation. Fit them in where you can, fun as they are. Abbreviate it, even, to your liking. What are you doing? you hear–you hear it all the time. “Well,” you reply, perhaps raising an eyebrow. “I’m not reading the classics.” Then watch their brow go up (or down…depending on whether they’re highbrow or lowbrow).
It’s been over two weeks since my last entry, but that’s not for lack of Seinfeld-isms. It’s for lack of time to write, what with Life crowding and clamoring and impeding. It’s an exciting yet exhausting life, many hours of which are spent at a laptop writing other things. One of my children often walks up to me, “What are you doing, Dad?” Well…
(And, no, my kids aren’t highbrows. They’re kind of middlebrow. Because if your kids are quoting Seinfeld lines to you…that ain’t lowbrow.)
Not one but two more Seinfeld-isms to come this week. George is about to speak again, and so perhaps is Jerry. And then there’s that guy named Puddy who’s got something new to share too…
Until then, enjoy a glance at the top ten (most-clicked-on) posts so far, since I began this blog last year, in order:
10. “Kudos, Elaine on a job…done.”
9. “You’re Schmoopie!”
8. “You ask me to get a pair of underwear, I’m back in two seconds.”
7. “That’s kooky talk.”
6. “You’re quite breathtaking.”
5. “And the heat–my God, the heat!”
4. “But I don’t want to be a pirate!”
3. “We mustn’t disturb the delicate genius!”
2. “Jerry, it’s Frank Costanza…George is dead. Call me back.”
And the new number one? Sorry, Elaine (whose “heat!” was the original chart-topper). Jerry, you go boy: “Boutros-Boutros ‘Golly.’“
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An aargh-umentative comeback to use on someone who tries to stick you with doing something that’s just wrong. So you’re stickin’ it right back to them.
Kramer’s fashion-designer girlfriend asked Jerry to wear a shirt she’d designed on his next TV appearance. Nodding to what she said–not really knowing what she’d said, because she was a “low talker”–Jerry soon found himself in a billowy, puffy, 17th century-looking shirt. Seeing the ambivalence in Jerry’s face, Kramer tried to cheer him up: “You’re gonna be the first pirate!” Jerry’s timbers shivered in this child-like reply.
That’s just wrong can be applied to a boatload of things (e.g., “See what they did with the peas in that dish?”). The point here is things that most people would agree are just not right–like stealing a marble rye from an old lady.
And people who try to get you to do something like that–that’s not right either. You’re driving down the road, for example, someone cuts you off, and the passenger in your car can’t just curse that terror on the highways; they want you to walk that plank too: “Cut him off!” your matey squawks, like some Iago-ish parrot in your ear.
Swatting such people off your shoulder with Jerry’s reply–that’s gold.
From “The Puffy Shirt”
Episode 3, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 10:20 (sunken treasure: check out “The Scofflaw,” Episode 13, Season 6, Volume 5, Disc 3, Timecode: 11:30 to see an eyepatch-wearing Kramer swipe Jerry’s line)
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: fashion, Iago, Jerry, Kramer, low talker, marble rye, parrots, pirates, that's gold, The Puffy Shirt, The Rye
(A note to readers, before you read on to more Seinfeld-isms, below) Even when the name comes up indirectly, as in Jerry’s mocking George over the phone here–it’s funny. Hearing his name is funny because Uncle Leo was just plain funny, the actor himself as well as the words the writers put in his mouth.
In honor of Len Lesser, “Uncle Leo,” to quote the Seinfeld Facebook page.
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A snappy observation to use when someone you know is asked to do something, and they could be moving a little quicker. They could use a little motivation. So you decide to give them some.
Setting up his son George with a job interview with a bra salesman, Frank Costanza told him that he should know something about bras–then admonished his wife Estelle to go get one of hers to illustrate. George objected to the discussion, but Frank pressed the point. And when Estelle took too long, he pointed that out too…in his own fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of way.
Our motivations come mostly by example: we pick up things from parents, friends, teachers, etc., and imitate (or amend) them. Then we reach a certain age and stop thinking of how such examples apply to us–and start talking to others, exclusively, about examples that apply to them. Because they sure could use the help.
Thanks to Frank you now have a fresh example for helping those slow-goers you come across: toss some tighty whiteys at them. This will confuse them, initially, as to where you’re going, but they’ll come around: no, you’re not going “commando” on them; you’re commanding their attention by giving an illustration to make a point.
Just be sure you have a point, or their reply is likely to be the equivalent of a “wedgie”–suddenly and unexpectedly yanking you into a laughable-yet-uncomfortable position.
From “The Sniffing Accountant”
Episode 4, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 3:40
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: brassiere, cleavage, Estelle Costanza, family, Frank Costanza, George, Orioles hat, The Sniffing Accountant
A music-critic kind of observation for a subtle bit of conversation: playing down someone who just played you (e.g., mocking your head as “rather bulbous”).
George bumped into an old acquaintance who had once made fun of him. Learning that the recovering alcoholic was now apologizing to people he’d hurt, George waited for his like a man who knows that Publisher’s Clearing House is headed to his house. When George’s “jackpot” turned “crackpot”–making even more fun of George–George got a little riled up. (And this was him giving Jerry the lowdown.)
So someone called you a name. Call them out with this line–loudly, hitting those syllables like you’re banging drums. The allusion to jazz music will have you saying several possible things about that jokester’s punchline–one of which is, no one gets it. And you don’t have to be a conversational “musician” to know a well-played number when you hear it, so if there is something to get in what they said, then you’re saying this about their “jazz”: it ain’t all that.
From “The Apology”
Episode 9, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 12:30, 22:20
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: George, jazz, Jerry, music, Publisher's Clearing House, The Apology
A yuletide observation for making something down-to-earth sound out-of-this-world. Not because it’s actually miraculous (it might even be ridiculous) but because ’tis the season.
On hearing that George’s father, Frank, had invented a holiday alternative for those on the outs with Christmas–a “Festivus for the rest of us”–Kramer was in. When an unlikely host of characters gathered at the Costanzas for the Festiv-ity (the metal pole, the feats of strength, etc.), Frank was, to Kramer, the star who’d led them there. And Kramer rejoiced.
A festive us–to drown out the rest of us–this is what we look forward to each December, like snow blanketing the daily grime. Our festivities come from these little activities (e.g., trading gifts) we don’t do at any other time of year.
It’s astonishing that this whole gig still works year after year, given the humanity–oh, the humanity–of it all. Laughing at your uncle’s jokes, finally speaking to that cousin, and so on…and doing so without clinical psychological help when it’s all done…now that’s a miracle.
Announce such “miracles” with holly jolly crispness by singing Kramer’s joy to the world.
From “The Strike”
Episode 10, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 19:27
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: airing of grievances, Christmas, family, feats of strength, Festivus, Frank Costanza, George, Kramer, oh the humanity, pole, The Costanzas, The Strike
A carnival-barker shout-out to clarify for those around you that you are in fact full of yourself. Because being someone you’re not is hypocrisy…and you’re not going to be one of those people who’s full of it.
Elaine’s new boyfriend had this attractive twinkle in his eye that she couldn’t explain–until a channel-flipping Jerry discovered the explanation in a tacky commercial: the guy was a local actor whose claim to fame had him in kingly garb, a goofy grin, and this bombastic line. In the end, he was the wiz, leaving Elaine to ease on down the road.
Remember who you are. We grow up hearing it because, once grown up, we easily forget it–our true identity. This line is one way to avert the infamous identity crisis: have an identity circus. Anytime you find you’re not feeling like yourself, take that one word that summarizes who you are (architect, coach, etc.) and, like the long pole in a tent, build a three-ring show around it with these six words (e.g., “I’m the professor! And…”).
Your show may be less talent than freak in other people’s eyes, but social interaction is a high-wire act for everyone, no matter who you are. So, while you’re performing, you might as well be one of the main attractions.
From “The Junk Mail”
Episode 5, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 18:31 (that’s the main attraction; for the warm-up act, see 10:48 and 11:41)
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: circus, dating, Elaine, Jerry, The Junk Mail, The Wiz, TV
A rhetorical question to ask anyone who admits they’re seeking someone without flaws, someone who really stands out. Yeah, you say. And you blend.
Jerry offered to set George up with a friend of Elaine’s, which set George to politely grilling Jerry about this woman–his questions revealing a wish list that no woman short of a Marisa Tomei (a dream woman of his) could fulfill. This question about cheeks (“Does she have a good cheek? I like a good cheek”) showed his true color.
We’re all guilty of wanting a real winner in something, or someone, when the truth is we all have a bit of George in us…a bit of the loser that admits (if only, quietly, to ourselves) I’m such a loser! Catch someone in this hypocrisy–a bald guy, for example, carrying on about the criticality of dating a woman with “thick, lustrous hair”–and you can conk them over the head with this inquiry.
Their answer is irrelevant. The question shows how ridiculous they’re being with their line of questions–looking for someone who, it sounds like, just stepped off of Mount Olympus, when they themselves are one step removed from their cousin Vinny.
From “The Fix-Up”
Episode 17, Season 3
Seinfeld Volume 2, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 9:03
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Tags: bald, dating, Elaine, George, Jerry, Marisa Tomei, Mount Olympus, My Cousin Vinny, Snicker's bar, The Fix-Up
A tasteful comeback for every distasteful quid pro quo that comes your way.
During a vacation at the beach, Kramer asked Jerry to rub some suntan lotion on his back. “Who are you, Mrs. Robinson?” Jerry replied. Overlooking Jerry’s crack from The Graduate, Kramer graduated his request to a proposal: “C’mon. And I’ll rub some on yours.” Jerry’s snicker right into this line let Kramer know that this idea wasn’t exactly rubbing him the right way.
There’s a time to “break bad” when someone wants something from you, and there’s a time to break it gently. When you do the latter–say, for a friend (or just to be friendly)–you reach for lines like this. It’s Not! wrapped in a snicker–a bit of SNL-type sarcasm softened by Seinfeld-ian irony, the irony here being that this line implies that you might like this deal if they offered you something that gets you past no deal. And they’re trying–you’ll give them that.
But that’s about all you’re giving them.
From “The Hamptons”
Episode 21, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 2:45
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: beach, Jerry, Kramer, Mrs. Robinson, Saturday Night Live, The Graduate, The Hamptons, Titleist golf balls
A scolding observation to let someone know they made a wrong choice…but the bigger wrong would be for you to not do anything about it.
George’s depression over losing his hair finally ended in his gaining a toupee–and dividing his friends in their reaction. Kramer approved; Jerry demurred. Elaine decided to take the matter into her own two hands: one to yank the “little hair hat” (Jerry’s words) off George’s head, and the other to open the nearest window in Jerry’s apartment.
No subject–or object–is sacred here if you proceed with caution. Could you get away with tossing a loved one’s hair piece out the window? Only you know. Do something they can undo, if they want to. The point is for them to understand that they shouldn’t have done what they did in the first place–not look at you as the angel of death. Take your aunt’s tummy tuck, for example: you could point it out (“I don’t like this..!”) and then, with a smile (“And here’s what I’m doing…!”), plunk down a few Drake’s Coffee Cakes right in front of her face.
That’s giving someone the “It’s not me, it’s you” to get them to see that this thing…it’s not you!
From “The Beard”
Episode 16, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 15:13
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Tags: bald, Drake's Coffee Cakes, Elaine, family, friendship, George, Jerry, Kramer, The Beard, Titleist golf balls, toupee
An unbridled shout-out to Opportunity–exciting, boring, doesn’t matter. Because in everything you see something better…and you’ll leave everyone in your dust to get it.
After landing a date with a Miss America contestant, Jerry discovered a pageant requirement: a chaperone for such evenings out. When pageant aficionado Kramer balked at Jerry’s offer to be that chaperone (uninterested as he was in a contestant from Rhode Island because “they’re never in contention”) Jerry threw in dinner–and Kramer threw out his catchphrase in affirmative reply.
In this classic expression of carpe k-man, seizing the day doesn’t require much; all you need is an idea that gets you out and about. The littlest things spurred Kramer to adventure because to him Life was an adventure. Even a tumbleweed a’tumbling would be a thing to follow, in Kramer’s worldview: paradise might lie around that next desert bend.
Announce your next adventure by pronouncing this line–with or without the exclamation mark. You mustn’t always sound like you’re hoisting your hat with a holler; sometimes you’re just tipping your hat with a nod. Somewhere between enthusiasm and intrigue–that’s where you are…and you’re home on that range.
From “The Chaperone”
Episode 1, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 6:38
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: Frogger, Jerry, Kramer, Miss America, Rhode Island, The Chaperone
A spirited challenge to extend to someone seeking a voice of sanity, of knowledge, of reason. And you know just the voice. Yours.
Wanting his ex-girlfriend back, George pined to Jerry about what he should do. Should I call her? George then asked of Kramer, who’d just walked in–and, with this line, jumped right in. “You’ve got to listen to the little man,” Kramer boomed, his voice confident, almost jovial. “My little man doesn’t know,” George whimpered, to which Kramer again boomed: “The little man knows all!”
The little voice inside us all has more than one name (instinct, conscience, etc.). It also has one common denominator: sometimes that voice goes the whimpering way of George’s. So we seek the counsel of others, maybe do a little research, to educate the little man–so that when we follow, or let others hear, what comes out of the little man’s mouth, we don’t end up sticking a little foot in it.
Wherever you find such self-education missing in those around you–whenever you hear their deliberations, their questions, their incessant fretting–fill their ears with the boom of Kramer’s challenge. Outing their inner monologues should promote better dialogue, making their lives and yours better for it.
Because if knowing yourself is the key to bettering yourself, then this isn’t just a line, it’s a linchpin to critical thinking–even if it’s just arriving at George’s conclusion to Kramer: “My little man is an idiot!”
From “The Pick”
Episode 13, Season 4
Seinfeld Volume 3, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 3:00
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Tags: George, idiot, Jerry, Kramer, The Pick
A zesty challenge for enticing someone to fall for something they love–because you can (and you know they will).
George’s love of cheese compelled Jerry to tell George how disturbing the George-cheese relationship was. So when Jerry disturbed George to get him out of a board meeting and George said he couldn’t–sighing like a man under their influence–Jerry reminded him of the real influence he was under.
Jerry made the power of incentive patently funny by dangling one of his friend’s silly little loves in front of him as though it were an incident of national significance–the equivalent of hearing about, say, a senator swayed not by budgetary concessions but a good box of donuts (“Krispy Kreme, Senator. Krispy Kreeeeme!”).
Donuts, chorizo, professional baseball–whatever the silly little love of your friend’s that you choose to hang on this line, don’t bait them with it until you get the hang of this line, specifically Jerry’s exaggerated voice on the Cheeeese! Think Homer Simpson heralding beer, only with a higher tonal pitch, and you’re ready to let it fly.
And don’t let the idea of “baiting” family or friends prick your conscience. You’re picking their brains–brains not of mice but of men, which should know that you’re enticing them to come to their senses, not take leave of them.
From “The Foundation”
Episode 1, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 21:16
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Tags: baseball, block of cheese, Congress, family, friendship, George, Homer Simpson, Jerry, Krispy Kreme, Of Mice and Men, senator, The Foundation
A striking confession to those around you when who you are (e.g., the job you work in) and who you want to be (e.g., the band you play in) suddenly attempt to occupy the same space…and you’re a little spaced out.
When “Relationship George,” the lovey-dovey life he lived with fiancée Susan Ross, unexpectedly met “Independent George,” the hang-out life he lived among friends Kramer, Jerry, and Elaine–it was like two cars passing too closely going in opposite directions. Some good eventually came of it–Susan independently retreated from George’s independent world–but at the moment of the collision it was sparks flying…a sound heard in every syllable of George’s reaction at the scene.
For most of us, who we are and who we want to be are so different that we live a double life. If we could just merge the two–the band becomes the job–that would be the best. Instead, the worlds remain separate, and we try to make the best of both.
The rub comes in the inevitable collision between the two worlds. And it is inevitable. Even the most well-funded, superbly-directed double life is bound to run into itself, as Schwarzenegger illustrated in True Lies. The question is what you do when you see your lives crash before your eyes.
And here, thanks to George, is what you do–taking his cry not as existential (Why me?!) but triumphal (Why, yes!) as you anticipate some good to come.
From “The Pool Guy”
Episode 8, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 11:12 (for more on the “worlds colliding” theory, see 2:28 for Kramer’s original explanation, 5:15 for Jerry’s and George’s explanations, and 11:24 for George’s explosive summary)
Dedicated to TI
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Categorized in The Confessions
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elaine, George, Jerry, Kramer, Susan Ross, The Pool Guy, True Lies
(A note to readers, before you read on…)
Smirking, George dropped the above line on Jerry when Jerry pointed out that salmon swim against the current, while tuna swim with it–George’s smirk coming from wanting to get on with the conversation at hand, not detour into trivial things.
You might think that of what’s below, mumbling George’s equivalent of Good for you as you go about your blogging way. Well, let me say before you go: think again, mojumbo!
With the posting of the Frank Costanza voicemail classic on Monday (piece of trivia: that was a favorite line of the comedian himself, Jerry Seinfeld, the Seinfeld DVDs tell us), this blog-driven guide to the Seinfeld-ism life marked its 50th entry. Yes, we’re counting–because we’re actually going somewhere with all of this. More on that in the new year.
For those of you who recently jumped into this stream of advice from Seinfeld‘s Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George (and more)–and you’ve little time to go archive trolling here–here’s a sampling of what you’re missing so far…
Observations to use on smug conversationalists–whether they’re “smugging” you with just a word or an entire monologue.
Questions for the friends who don’t know you as well as they should–and for the friends you do know that well.
Challenges that raise an eyebrow (even if you’re just looking for a reaction).
Shout-outs for all manner of things beyond your control: the odd friend whom you presume is not of this world, the incontinent passer-by, the presumptuous person you’d like to pass by without saying something (but you can’t resist), etc.
Comebacks for when you’re feeling a little jaded—Who has the energy to discuss this?–as well as for when you’re pretty jazzed up to discuss it all.
Confessions that those who know you have never heard come out of your mouth (and now they’ll never forget).
And put-downs the likes of which you’d never have come up with on your own…because that’s just Seinfeld.
And, thank God, Seinfeld was about our lives.
Parting piece of trivia: the most searched entry here to date (i.e., the one with more views than any other so far)? Elaine, you go girl.
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A provocative challenge to leave on someone’s voicemail when you want to get their attention–even if what you have to say is not that important.
When George discovered that accidentally locking his keys in his car in a primo parking place at work made him look like the primo employee–first in, last out–he took off for a little R&R…until George’s boss thought he was R.I.P. And this was the WTF response that George’s father left on Jerry’s answering machine when he found out.
With texting, e-mail, and caller ID replacing voices in sending messages, voicemail demands the kind of creativity that George demonstrated when he once sang a famous TV show song with a twist on his answering machine (“…believe it or not, I’m not hooome”). But that was a voicemail greeting. Leaving a voicemail is another story–one that must often happen in mere seconds.
You can use George’s same creativity, courtesy of George’s dad, with this line that works on anyone. Substituting the proper names and even explaining the death reference is no problem because this is a shameless reference to the Seinfeld show–making this one unique among Seinfeld-isms: it doesn’t fit directly into conversation, so you’re likely to get a What was that? And that’s good, because you just got yourself a call back.
Equally good: you get to explain the origin of the reference and, perhaps, why you refer to this show at all.
And leaving a voicemail like this is a great illustration of why that is: referring to Seinfeld is the equivalent of having a bevy of comedic writers at your disposal, so you’re never at a loss for words. Not even when you call expecting to get someone on the phone and what you get instead is 15 seconds to explain yourself.
From “The Caddy”
Episode 12, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 16:00
Dedicated to Chris and Matt
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Categorized in The Challenges
Tags: Frank Costanza, George, George Steinbrenner, Jerry, New York Yankees, phone, The Caddy, The Great American Hero, voicemail, work
An optimistic observation to make when faced with a problem so puzzling that, even after picking at it, you’re still not sure what to do–except maybe to get something to drink.
Kramer landed a small part in a Woody Allen movie, and this was his line. Unsure as he was about how to say the line, Jerry, Elaine, and George each played the acting coach…then soon began acting out using this line–not as art imitating life, but art commenting on life.
Look closely at many of the books, movies, and TV shows we enjoy and you’ll find in those stories a pretzel to untwist–a conundrum or mystery to solve. We love problem-solving…as long as it’s someone else’s problem we’re solving. This is why a comment like What’s the problem? is so prevalent–and sounds so different, depending on where you’re directing it: a helpful, always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life sound when addressing someone else’s “pretzels” (“Sooo…what seems to be the problem?”); a harried, sometimes insane sound over the pretzels affecting you (“What is the PROBLEM?”).
Kramer’s famous line can be just as prevalent a comment–for the pretzel-y politics of workplace or family, for example–and a far funner comment to deliver, to boot. For one thing, you’re practically laughing at the problem, which mixes comedy with your bravery–yes, brave, as you are, to still be wrestling with a problem, not letting it get you down.
Which is what you’re announcing loudly, through this comment, with a come-one-come-all kind of cheer–so others might join you for a cup of courage.
From “The Alternate Side”
Episode 10, Season 3
Seinfeld Volume 2, Disc 2
Timecodes for the scenes: 9:25 (Kramer), 9:52 (Elaine), 9:55 (Jerry), 10:03, 10:30 (George), 11:13, 11:19 (Kramer again), 18:03 (Jerry), 20:20 (Elaine), 21:12 (Kramer et al.)
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: Elaine, George, Jerry, Kramer, movies, pretzels, The Alternate Side, Woody Allen movie
An acute challenge for those times when someone’s bugging you over some big decision they must make, and you don’t mind chiming in on what they should do–so long as it hurts them more than it hurts you.
George wrung his hands over how to break up with the woman he was dating (“Can’t I do it over the phone? I have no stomach for these things”), and the good Dr. Jerry was there–speaking from all of his medico-relational experience–to tell him how to do it.
This isn’t so much about mitigating pain as it is about making decisions–and decision-making is painful, when you think about it. Making up one’s mind means taking sides, which makes even a mere “Yes” or “No” a big deal. You’re not stepping into the fray with an “I don’t care” or “I don’t know.” But step out there with a good solid decision–say, an “I am breaking up with you“–and you’ll hear the impact from recipient (“That hurts”) and bystander (“That had to hurt”) alike.
So don’t be discouraged if the recipient of your Jerry-inspired advice doesn’t listen. Like a good doctor, you did what you could.
From “The Ex-Girlfriend”
Episode 1, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 2:35
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Categorized in The Challenges
Tags: dating, George, Jerry, The Ex-Girlfriend
A syllable-smacking put-down for when you must call someone’s attention to their poor performance (and there’s no better way to get someone’s attention than to call them by name).
Elaine’s sudden appointment to the head of the clothing-catalog company where she worked inflicted her with doubt about her abilities–doubt that Jerry seconded but Kramer karate-chopped with Zen-like confidence. With that confidence now her own as her business took off, Elaine got Jerry on the phone to inform him that he’d just usurped the throne of Kramer, long since crowned the “hipster doofus.”
What’s in a name? “Aloof,” “goof,” and “genius”–that’s what’s in this name. Yes, genius. Kramer’s bulb sometimes shone dimly, but it shone brightly just as well (e.g., inventing a beach-smelling cologne that Calvin Klein picked up). And that gives you total name-calling immunity with this moniker. If the recipient is a genius, you’re reminding him that he too is human–prone to doofus-ness. If he happens to be a doofus, then you’re not just telling it like it is, you’re telling him there’s hope–hope that there might be genius in there, waiting to appear. Either way you’re golden, because this isn’t “constructive criticism,” as they say; this is a critical compliment.
And all hail Kramer for giving us a better oxymoron.
From “The Foundation”
Episode 1, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 16:13
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Categorized in The Put-Downs
Tags: clothing-catalog company, Elaine, Jerry, karate, Kramer, The Foundation
A deadpan observation to use when someone you know gets all worked up about something, and you take it upon yourself to bring them down.
A car radio preset for a Christian rock station had revealed to Elaine that boyfriend David Puddy was not only a man who loved him some Arby’s–he was also a man of some piety. After his silly condemnation of her (“You’re the one who’s going to hell”) and her silly resignation over it all (“The heat–my God, the heat!“), Elaine tried to change the conversational tune: a little less “Highway to Hell,” a little more “How’s It Going to Be.” So Puddy obliged her.
If you obliged all the people in your life who needed to bend your ear over their insufferable situations, things would get bent, all right: your mind, for one thing, and eventually your entire life. Think of all the woe-is-me chatter you’ve endured from relatives, for example, how they bent you out of shape. This is why you need a little something to end their suffering in your ear–a little channel-changing comment. You need a little Puddy.
And here it is. To the Elaines in your life who turn up the heat of discussion–wanting to get on with a real conversation–you bring up Puddy’s line to dismiss it and get on with an Arby’s night.
From “The Burning”
Episode 16, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 17:36
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Tags: "Highway to Hell", "How's It Going to Be", AC/DC, Arby's, dating, Elaine, family, hell, Puddy, The Burning, Third Eye Blind
A witty comeback (or put-down, depending on your timing) for those times when you need a harmless way to tell someone that they don’t know what they’re talking about—even if they know what they’re talking about.
Kramer’s decision to start managing his time better in the shower sent him to Jerry for feedback on his shower time. When Jerry said he was out in ten minutes–a wash-and-rinse sprint compared to Kramer’s sudsy marathon (he was taking about an hour)–Kramer replied with the conviction of a man who thought Jerry was a kook.
You don’t know what you’re talking about is one of those irresistible lines, as gratifying as a piece of well-placed profanity. And, like profanity, it comes in various euphemistic shapes and sizes (e.g., “You’re crazy!”). What makes Kramer’s line the ideal substitute for this classic accusation is the disarming nature of the word “kooky.” If you’re right in your accusation, then kooky—so reminiscent of cookie (and what’s more harmless than a good cookie?)—will keep the conversation light enough to allow the listener to get out of that hole they just dug for themselves.
If you’re wrong, then you’re the one who just stepped in it…to the splashing sound of laughter all around you.
From “The Apology”
Episode 9, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 2:40
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Categorized in The Comebacks and The Put-Downs
Tags: Jerry, Kramer, shower
A buoyant observation to make when someone or something moves you forward several spaces in the game of Life, and that just makes you feel like high-five-ing yourself.
Sitting on the couch in front of the TV one night, Jerry and Elaine shifted from gabbing about random things to strategizing about how they might hit the bedroom…then hit the couch again for more TV or hit the road or whatever–so long as it didn’t require being with each other. And Jerry rejoiced.
I’ve arrived. This is what we’re shooting for–arriving Somewhere, whether that’s a status, a location, a collection of toys, etc. We start the journey early in life, throwing it out there like a roll of the dice: “I’m really going Somewhere someday.” Then we spend years getting up each day, trying to get ahead…to get Somewhere. And now, here we are, we’re gettin’ there.
The little joys that come your way, along the way–mark them with Jerry’s line, nice and loud, with a childish lilt in your voice. Not because you might spend your whole life getting there, which is true (and better than going Nowhere fast). But because, more importantly…whoever dies with the most joys wins.
From “The Deal”
Episode 13, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 5:29
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: dating, Elaine, Jerry, The Deal, TV
A window-shaking shout-out for those times when you know you can’t arrange for someone who screwed you over to die a fiery death in a starship explosion…but it sure is cathartic to think about for a moment.
At the graveside of George’s fiancee, Susan Ross, Jerry stood nearby with Mr. and Mrs. Ross (while George “mourned”). “She’s not really dead,” Jerry told Susan’s parents–quoting Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan–“if we find a way to remember her.” When the Rosses’ way to remember Susan came to be–a philanthropic foundation with George on the board–Jerry’s remark incurred the Wrath of George against Khan–er, Jerry.
How you react to someone who screws you over ranks right up there with the most important decisions you’ll ever make in life–because, ultimately, you must act decently. (After all, we do live in a society.) George demonstrated for us one measure we might take: yelling at the top of your lungs in public. You might yell at the abstract World, but in this situation that’s not sufficient. Better to yell the name of the person you’re deriding.
But since life doesn’t really work like that–that’s the stuff of movies–better to yell a fictitious name, like one from a movie. Because to quote a movie that fits a life situation…that’s the stuff of life.
From “The Foundation”
Episode 1, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 13:11
Dedicated to Flick Club.
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: George, Jerry, Star Trek, Susan Ross, The Foundation, The Rosses, Wrath of Khan
An insane shout-out for those You vs. the World moments, because you’re trying to get it together—and you’d like the World to get it together too.
George’s mom, Estelle, had just ignored Frank’s advice in the car, which led to Frank’s outburst for peace and quiet. Frank’s doctor had given him a relaxation tape that exhorted the use of this line in stressful times. “Are you supposed to yell it?” George asked. “The man on the tape,” Frank answered, “wasn’t specific.”
TV Guide magazines shelved in the right order, a son who knows what the standard bra sizes are—these were just a few of the specifics that kept the stars aligned in the world of Frank Costanza. So when he started randomly yelling this line, we knew…something was missing. We don’t know what exactly. The reason Frank’s doctor gave him the relaxation tape is no clearer than why the man on the tape wasn’t specific.
Even if something is missing with you too, Frank’s “tape” is now yours to use anytime, anywhere. Any explanation to others for your outburst—that can be missing too. Because if you’re mad enough at the World to open your mouth like this, you’re sufficiently mad to keep it closed too…and no one will think anything of it.
Indeed, as George and company showed, everyone else will probably get in on it too.
From “The Serenity Now”
Episode 3, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 1
Timecodes for the scenes: 00:15 (that’s the main scene, described above), 00:40, 2:58, 8:15, 17:29-30, 22:08 (all of those were from Frank!), 8:45, 22:20 (George), 14:38, 14:50-51, 14:58, 15:06, 17:55-56, 18:07-08, 18:15-20, 18:28-40 (Kramer), 17:31, 17:48 (Lloyd Braun)
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: Estelle Costanza, Frank Costanza, George, insanity, Kramer, Lloyd Braun, relaxation tape, The Serenity Now, TV Guide, world
A rare confession for those times when circumstances leave you speechless–and you’d like the same to happen to anyone who asks you about it.
George’s parents, Frank and Estelle, had argued themselves into a seemingly irreconcilable difference of opinion and separated. Discussing her newfound singlehood with George over coffee, Estelle talked of getting an eye job because she was now “out there.” She was out there alright, came George’s reply in so many words: out of her mind. And if she didn’t get back into it, well…
None of us lives in some emotionally-impervious bubble, keeping to ourselves within it and others outside of it. If we fashion a “bubble” of time and space, the unexpected soon occurs and emotions strike—lighting us up like one of those see-through orbs with the lightning-y bolts. The effect is no mere salty discharge from the eyes, but a stunned state of mind from electrical charges in the heart. You can’t talk about it, except maybe to zap a line like this—introducing it either conditionally (“If I lose my job…”) or declaratively (“And now that I’ve lost my job…”).
An “Oh, let me guess…” right into someone else’s delicate situation works as well. The stark image of this line—and your determination to stick it to them—should be enough to pop their bubble.
From “The Fusilli Jerry”
Episode 21, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 1:47
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Categorized in The Confessions
Tags: coffee, Estelle Costanza, eye job, family, Frank Costanza, George, marriage, The Costanzas, The Fusilli Jerry
A daring comeback for when you’re faced with something that brings up the standard “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”—and so is ugly, you feel the need to remind the beholder.
Elaine’s date suggested they see The English Patient because it was up for all those Oscars, so she went (even though she wanted to see Sack Lunch and find out what was up with all those people in the brown paper bag). Bumping into friends as they departed the theater, the friends gooed—”How could you not love that movie?”–and Elaine booed.
Ugly doesn’t get as much air time in conversation because that’s what the conversation itself might become if you go there. And this is one time when you should—go there when someone goes so ga-ga over the beauty of something, that they can’t see that everything has flaws. Flick these words like a lighter in the darkness of their thinking, and you’ll show them things they might not otherwise see. How do I love thee? they pine of that thing and count the ways. “How do I hate thee!” you interject about that thing, and count away too.
From “The English Patient”
Episode 17, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 4:04
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: Elaine, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Oscar, Sack Lunch, Sonnet 43, The English Patient
A smarmy comeback to use when certain people in your life crack a joke at your expense, and you can’t let them think it was funny–even if it was funny.
Newman entered archnemesis Jerry’s apartment with Kramer, who asked to borrow Jerry’s pliers. “What, did Newman get another Army man stuck in his ear?” Jerry remarked. Staring at Jerry, Newman didn’t flinch–except to say this…in a low, comically-menacing voice.
This isn’t a question of you being able to laugh at yourself; of course you’re humble enough to do that. You’re just too proud to do that in front of anyone–sworn enemy or serious friend; it doesn’t matter–who would take you laughing at you as an opportunity to look down on you. With such people, you can’t be perceived as weak; that might shift the balance in the epic battle that is your relationship.
Newman might have actually had an Army man stuck in his ear but he wasn’t about to concede to Jerry in laughing about it.
From “The Reverse Peephole”
Episode 12, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 2:06
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Tags: Army, enemies, friendship, Jerry, Kramer, Newman, The Reverse Peephole
A back-slapping shout-out to use on those people in your life who look like human beings, act like human beings, but every time they open their mouths it becomes clearer that they’re from another planet.
Thanks to Jerry, Elaine landed the chance to rent an apartment in his building–a gesture he soon regretted when he realized she’d pop in even more. After the rent deposit turned out to be more than Elaine could afford, Jerry rejoiced…until Kramer suggested Jerry lend Elaine the money. Elaine took the offer, and Jerry looked at Kramer like he was less “K-Man” than “K-Pax”–an alien being whom Jerry wasn’t sure had come in peace.
The cosmic Kramers in your life put you in Jerry’s dilemma: these people could be phenomenally brilliant or galactically stupid, you’re not sure which; you just know you’ll never really rid your world of these lovable creatures because they are your friends. Putting up with them is part of the universal pact of friendship. So is reminding them every once in a while, as Jerry did here with Kramer, that you see through their pretense of being from planet Earth.
Indeed, if any one of these people became suddenly, consistently down to Earth, you would think they’d “been replaced”: Who are you and what have you done with _________ (insert the extra-terrestrial’s name)?
From “The Apartment”
Episode 8, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 13:58
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: Elaine, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Jerry, K-Man, K-Pax, Kramer, pop-in, The Apartment
A proud confession–for young and old alike–for those times when you do something wrong and, at that moment, “I screwed up!” doesn’t sound as compelling as “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
Jerry’s Uncle Leo swiped a few books at a bookstore and Jerry happened to see him do it. When Jerry alerted the store security, who promptly swarmed, Uncle Leo promptly requested the “senior citizen discount.”
We grow old to find some of the latitude we had when we were young–latitude for forgetfulness, for miscommunication, for errors in judgment. Even for wrongdoing: the spray paint on high school property because you’re “just goofing off” becomes your backing into a bad driver in a parking lot because you’re older and have more insurance. In these two periods of life we get a break, some slack–because we’ll get it eventually, the straightening up and flying right.
Problem is, all the times of our life in between being old and being young could use some of that slack too.
So a toast…to Uncle Leo: not for the petit larceny he thought he could get away with, but for the uplifting remark we’re happy to make off with.
From “The Bookstore”
Episode 17, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 10:43
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Categorized in The Confessions
Tags: Fried Green Tomatoes, Jerry, Nat King Cole, The Bookstore, Uncle Leo
An under-the-breath observation to make when confronted with someone who doesn’t understand why the pieces of the puzzle before them don’t fit. But you understand.
When George’s parents joined him and his fiancee, Susan Ross, for dinner with Susan’s parents, the cornish game hen they were eating set Mr. Costanza to pondering aloud which bird—the chicken or the rooster?—procreates with the hen. “Something’s missing!” he effused, and Mrs. Ross, just as she sipped her wine, amused everyone with this reply.
A penchant for puzzles is a part of human nature, hence the great range of things that come in pieces for us to try to put together: the epic picture on soft cardboard, the plot points of a mystery movie, the instructions for a new household appliance. Emphasis on the word try. To try is human, and to solve—that’s not divine; that’s human too. Some people just require a little encouragement–and maybe a glass of wine for anyone standing around watching them–until they arrive at the solution.
Which brings us to Mrs. Ross’s brilliant reply, a commentary on Mr. Costanza’s shortcomings without bringing him up short—like the famed nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty. Ole Humpty might’ve been too complex for anyone to reassemble, but all the king’s horses and men might’ve also just been idiots.
From “The Rye”
Episode 11, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 6:56
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Tags: Frank Costanza, George, Humpty Dumpty, puzzles, Susan Ross, The Costanzas, The Rosses, The Rye
A decisive comeback to use on anyone who drops a tired expression into a conversation.
When a trivial conversation sidetracked Jerry and Elaine from talking to George about his piano-playing girlfriend, George cut in with a Can we cut to the chase? “Cut to the chase?” Jerry mocked. “Who are you, Joe Hollywood?” George had an answer for why he said it–and Jerry told him what he could do with it.
No, we’re not battening down the hatches–we’re preparing for difficult times. Yes, we’re pretty satisfied with our station in life at the moment, but we wouldn’t describe that location as cloud nine. The list of expressions we can do without is long, but your patience with people who use them doesn’t have to be. Knit your brow at every By Jove…! or Happy, Pappy? and repeat that expression back to them.That should be enough to rid them of their idioms. Most people don’t know–or can’t explain with a straight face–the origins of such phrases well enough to defend them.
If that doesn’t work, Jerry’s four-word declaration should be enough to make them go cold turkey.
From “The Pez Dispenser”
Episode 14, Season 3
Seinfeld Volume 2, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 7:23
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Tags: cut to the chase, Elaine, George, Happy Pappy?, Jerry, The Pez Dispenser
A cutting comeback to make of those people you must deal with because they have a specialty (medicine, law, etc.), and they go and do something that reminds you they’re not that special.
A pain in George’s arm led him to seek the medical attention of Elaine’s physical therapist friend, Wendy. When he missed an appointment without cancelling within 24 hours, Wendy charged him. Then when George showed up for another appointment and she wasn’t in—the whole thing had become a pain in George’s butt. And this was how he mitigated that pain.
Their degrees hang on their walls like windows out into the rarefied air of some higher-intelligence climate. But you see through them: yes, you’re standing in their ivory tower, but these people have two feet like the rest of us—feet they trip over now and then. Cases in point: you’ve had to move your appointment, pay more money, suffer phone calls to reconcile their errors…. The insufferable list goes on; they remain high and mighty. And now, thanks to George, you’ve a line to bring them down to earth.
Telling them this would fall on deaf ears, of course—dizzy as they are from all the pressure exerted on their heads at that egotistical altitude. So you lob your comment like a roll of toilet paper at the people who serve these professionals—the people of the front offices, on the phone lines, etc. You, for example, move another appointment (“Will that work for the delicate genius?”) and they won’t mind your missive—because they are as down to earth as you are, and so will get where you’re coming from: you’re just tee-peeing the ivory tower (and you’re not sparing a square).
From “The Kiss Hello”
Episode 17, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 3
Timecodes for the scenes: 3:15, 12:00, 19:15
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Tags: can you spare a square, Elaine, George, ivory tower, physical therapist, Superman poster, The Kiss Hello, toilet paper
An illustrative observation to use on married couples who’ve taken the “We’re two people who’ve become one” so far that they need to be taken to school on a few subjects—like biology.
Jerry and George made a pact to grow up, which included getting married: George would look up a former flame who still dazzled him; Jerry would look closer at a woman who still puzzled him (she ate her peas one at a time). When Jerry told Kramer, Kramer taught Jerry about married life: no TV during dinner, etc. When Kramer mimicked what it would be like even trying to use the restroom when betrothed, Jerry’s thoughts of growing up turned to thoughts of throwing up.
Kramer’s mockery of marriage as stifling actually reveals how liberating marriage can be: a couple of individuals, a blissful co-existence. This is the lesson to give those you know whose marriage is one of awful codependence. Make your next chat with them a class, with you at the lectern, and Kramer’s line a ring of the bell to begin (e.g., “Is it alright if he goes to the bathroom now?”). With their attention at that point, cover any one of a number of subjects to illustrate: politics (e.g., “Marriage is like two nation-states…”); geography (e.g., “…settling on mutual territory…”); literature (e.g., “…the two-headed monster being, of course, a myth”); etc.
You want them to see their commitment as the institution that it is–not as an institution they commit themselves to.
From “The Engagement”
Episode 1, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 4:45
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Tags: biology, George, Jerry, Kramer, literature, marriage, peas, politics, Superman poster, The Engagement
A hard-hitting observation to use when someone brings up a personal subject–assuming everyone will keep their distance–and you decide to hit that thing like a pinata.
Kramer’s acting gig at a local hospital–portraying different ailments for medical students to diagnose–soon landed him a role he thought was beneath him. When he later walked into Jerry’s apartment and announced “Well…I got gonorrhea,” Elaine admitted outright that she didn’t see anything wrong with this picture.
People sometimes reveal something about themselves, inviting you to comment in a discriminate way: do you juggle the subject (“Are you sure?”)?; deflect it (“You need to talk to…”)?; duck it (“I’m hungry–let’s get something to eat”)? These are the times that try men’s souls, because what you’d like to say is the truth–except most people can’t handle the truth.
Which is why, sometimes, you must speak the truth, even if it has all the effect of pulling out a bat. People may furrow their brow and stand back a little because they’re not sure what you’re going to do next. “I really dorked that up,” your cousin says; and with the four words of Elaine’s line you say not only “Yes, you dorked that up” but also “Because you are in fact a dork.”
Imagine the more meaningful conversation that would follow that.
From “The Burning”
Episode 16, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 7:52
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Tags: acting, Elaine, gonorrhea, hospital, Jerry, Kramer, Superman poster, The Burning
A chameleon-like comment (observation, put-down, etc., depending on the context) to use on people who’ve really opened their hearts for their loved ones, and–Moses smell the roses–it’s one of those heart-shaped box of chocolates.
Soon after Jerry and Shiela, his latest love interest, took up this sugary manner of addressing one another, they strolled unwittingly down their Candy Land lane until George and Elaine nearly vomited from all the gumdrop comments that kept falling on their heads. When Jerry clued them in that he and Shiela might be on the outs, George couldn’t help upchucking all over the schmoopie-ness: “People who do that should be arrested!”
People who do that (i.e., the die-hard romantics) demand that others tolerate their greeting card life–where words rhyme but have no reason–and schmoopie is their piece de resistance. People who can’t stand that (i.e., the saccharine-intolerant) can learn from George and Elaine’s derision: call out the schmoopie. You witness a couple locking lips like their ship is going down and you interrupt: “Hey–Schmoopies. Would you mind….”
Just be careful not to overextend yourself in calling out the schmoopie–and don’t focus so much on any one person or couple that your calling-out becomes a “death to schmoopie” campaign. You may end up dating or even marrying one of these people someday.
From “The Soup Nazi”
Episode 6, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 1
Timecodes for the scenes: 00:45, 1:10, 15:15, ad nauseam
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Categorized in The Comebacks, The Observations, The Put-Downs and The Shout-Outs
Tags: Candy Land, dating, Elaine, George, Jerry, schmoopie, Soup Nazi, Tweety Pez dispenser
A chest-puffing challenge for predicaments that call for a little diplomacy, but you’re listening to that little voice inside of you this time—and it’s saying, “It’s go time.”
Discussing with Frank Costanza, George’s father, what George did to get himself arrested, Elaine said something about George’s ability to hatch such a scheme. “What the hell does that mean?” Mr. Costanza swung, his demeanor cartoonish. Elaine counterpunched: “It means whatever the hell you want it to mean.” That fired up Frank, not to defend the honor of his son or the glory of the Costanza dynasty, but to throw this sucker punch.
They went to blows, yes, but one pictures two close kids in a backyard rumble—a picture completed by Elaine’s counter-sucker-punch: “I could drop you like a bag of dirt.” This is one person’s “No, I’m not” vying with the other’s “Yes, you are,” the silly fisticuffs of family and friends. Which means you probably shouldn’t use the Costanza challenge on co-workers, cashiers, and other strangers.
But if such people should rankle you—say, they’re flouting Order and you feel like making a scene—don’t forget the cartoonish demeanor. You’re the wit holding a crowd at, say, a bar…not the nitwit starting a fight outside it.
From “The Little Kicks”
Episode 4, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 21:30
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Tags: Elaine, Frank Costanza, George, Mandelbaum, police station, the bad boy, The Little Kicks, Tom and Jerry, Tweety Pez dispenser
A grandstanding observation to use on someone who flouts Order, and rather than confront the person, you prefer to make a scene (and you just might win an Oscar while you’re doing it).
George tried to use the pay phone at the Chinese restaurant where he, Jerry, and Elaine were waiting to be seated. The man already on the phone ignored George’s request to use it, and when he got off, a woman got on and she wouldn’t get off–much to George’s ire. Rather than use brinkmanship in chastising the woman, George chose showmanship and chastised the World.
Take the stage with this line when you take umbrage at someone’s unruly behavior. Take the stage. This is “go to the mattresses” (minus any Godfather-ish confrontation) or “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore” (minus the Network cameras)—a line that may not endear people to your character or even move them by your message, but it’ll be entertaining to them…and cathartic for you. Few things are more entertaining and cathartic than a scene from a good movie.
And that’s all you can hope for, really, in situations like this: the good that can come out of it for you, without bringing the bad out of somebody else. You don’t ask a friend to watch your back while you dress down some stranger. You ask a friend to kick back with you over dinner while you recount your scene then wash it down—that’s how people normally act when airing their grievances.
And a particular person’s rudeness followed by your rebuttal to no one in particular—that’s entertainment.
From “The Chinese Restaurant”
Episode 6, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 8:03
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Tags: airing of grievances, Elaine, George, go to the mattresses, Jerry, mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, Network, Oscar, The Chinese Restaurant, The Godfather, Tweety Pez dispenser
A ripcord-pull of a shout-out for when you head unexpectedly into the winds of change–someone else’s, that is, forcing you to change direction before others think the wind came from you.
Kramer got the opportunity to manage a hansom cab, making a lot of money giving people a “rustic” tour of New York City. His windfall soon fell victim to a certain wind coming from the direction of Rusty, Kramer’s equine buddy in this buggy business. Kramer the driver or Rusty the horse? The customers in the carriage couldn’t tell at first where the smell was coming from. Kramer’s announcement cleared the air…sort of.
Kramer had no idea what buckets of “Beef-A-Reeno” would do to the digestive tract of a horse–just like you have no idea what you’re getting into when you walk down that greeting card aisle, around restaurant tables, or into any other non-bathroom place where you a bathroom-specific odor lurks. You might stop to look for the source, but what you’re likely to find instead are other people looking at you like you’re a character straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail—and they don’t think you’re funny.
You’re not trying to be funny if you give a shout-out to Rusty when stumbling into such a situation. But if they do laugh—all the better. Because if they’re wondering who this “Rusty” is, that means they’re off of you—and you…you’re riding off into the sunset.
From “The Rye”
Episode 11, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 17:40
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Tags: Beef-A-Reeno, hansom cab, Kramer, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, New York City, Rusty the horse, The Rye, Tweety Pez dispenser
A lighthearted observation to drop on those close to you, during those times when you’ve had enough of them standing so close to you.
Jerry’s weekend getaway with a woman he’d recently started dating turned quickly into a weekend he wanted to get away from. Jerry had thought it would take their relationship to “Phase 2,” never mind that George had warned him it was a “phaser” set to stun (“…you’re going to be with her 72 hours? That’s a dating decathlon“). Talking to his date at one point during the Lost Weekend, Jerry began talking to himself–thoughts we get to hear–when this bright idea arose.
Forget saying this one to yourself during, say, your Lost Week with the family for that annual summer vacation. Keep it to yourself, but on your tongue, ready to drop at the moment you feel like you’ve had enough. Subtlety born of peace at any cost–so common to many families–is not good for anybody at this point. Don’t even bother trying to be funny (e.g., “When you said ‘Beach-front sort of hamlet for the weekend RSVP,’ I didn’t know you meant ‘Near the ocean this year for all the Shakespearean drama, BYOB'”). Just let it all hang out there with this line.
No house is big enough for two (or more) families, they say–what you might call a precursor to this observation of Jerry’s. We don’t know who “they” are, but we’re betting they’re not hanging around with family that much anymore…and they’re probably happier for it.
From “The Stock Tip”
Episode 5, Season 1
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 17:42
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Tags: dating, family, George, Hamlet, Jerry, phaser, Shakespeare, The Lost Weekend, The Stock Tip, Tweety Pez dispenser
A delightful confession for those stressful times when you drift, those closest to you ask “Where are you, exactly?” and so you tell them: nowhere near them.
Bitten by the acting bug after a failed stint in a Woody Allen movie, Kramer decided to move to the L.A.nd of opportunity on the West Coast. When he confided in George about the plan, George doubted aloud: “You’re not really gonna go to California, are you?” Leaning in close, Kramer showed him the x that marked the spot.
An upcoming vacation, Friday night lights, or that car-battery-sized block of cheese you can’t wait to nosh–whatever x marks your hoped-for spot, you’ll leave your listener in uncharted territory about it if the right body language doesn’t accompany the line. Point to your head as you say the words Up here, then at the words I’m already gone shimmy that hand toward the horizon.
Now freeze that mental image and Photoshop yourself into a better background: sun-struck sand beneath your feet, for example, a Corona in the other hand, and nothing in the world to distract you. You could see a beached whale with something in its blowhole and you couldn’t care less (let someone else call for a marine biologist) because you’re just…there.
With that postcard in mind, plus Kramer’s line, to keep you from the edge, you’ll always be going somewhere. Just don’t forget Kramer’s moves and their timing to the line: there’s a reason it begins with elevating that one hand to your head as if gesticulating “I’ve had it up to here….”
From “The Keys”
Episode 22, Season 3
Seinfeld Volume 2, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 8:35
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Tags: beached whale, block of cheese, California, Corona, George, Kramer, marble rye, Photoshop, The Keys, The Marine Biologist, Woody Allen movie
A flat-out put-down (disguised as a flattering observation) to use in lieu of what you really want to say…which would take the listener’s breath away–huffing at the horrible insensitivity of your comment, that is.
Vacationing with friends who had a baby, Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer finally got a good look at that baby and–Gehhh. Evidently the baby (which we never see) would have made some of the world’s ugliest leaders (de Gaulle, Golda Meir, etc.) run up a tree. Enter the handsome family doctor, Ben, who refers to Elaine as “breathtaking” and now she really likes him. When Ben then pays the baby the same compliment–Errr?–confusion builds in Elaine until Ben later explains, “Well, you know, Elaine, sometimes you say a thing like that just to be nice.”
The initial reactions of Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer to the baby–in front of the baby’s parents–said it all, about the predicament most of us face when telling others what we really think about them: Jerry and Elaine masked their repulsion; Kramer’s reaction, witnessed in another episode that included this baby, was to snap his head back as if he’d just been hit, literally, with an ugly stick.
Wish for it though we might, we can’t all be Kramer, whose life was, as George once put it, a “fantasy camp”—weekly activities that included mooching off neighbors, sex without dating…and giving opinions without repercussion. We can’t, for example, tell that micromanaging boss what Kramer once told an actor friend of Elaine’s, “Why don’t you just give up?”
Dealing with people’s feelings involves a number of reactions that typically fall between two options: you might suck the air out of the room (e.g., “No soup for you!”) or you might blow smoke into it—using “breathtaking” at will, to describe what you will.
From “The Hamptons”
Episode 21, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 7:20
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Tags: Ben Pfieffer, breathtaking, Charles de Gaulle, Elaine, fantasy camp, Golda Meir, gotta see the baby, Jerry, Kramer, marble rye, no soup for you, The Hamptons
A curt observation for categorically dismissing all of humanity, not because you’re having a bad day or even a “moment”–you just felt like doing it. Because they deserved it.
Jerry was small-talking with Elaine about nitwits who get on a plane and start talking to you because they’ve got nothing else to do. Elaine understood: “I will never understand people,” she said, articulating the word never like hers was the last word on the subject–and it was a good one. Jerry one-upped her–and it was the stuff of a Dickens novel.
Humanity is inherently good, they say, but we know that’s up for debate. Look no further than Newman (“He’s pure evil,” Jerry once said) to see why. Yet we also know that Newmans are few and far between (“He’s a mystery wrapped in a Twinkie,” Jerry also said) so that thickens the debate.
What should settle the debate is what we know from our interactions with people, which tend to leave one of two general impressions: It was the best of this person; It was the worst of that person. And in this Tale of Two Personalities we see in every person we meet, the best may be yet to come. But until then…it’s the worst.
You go to a movie theater–they’re there, loud and obnoxious. You’re driving down the road, minding all traffic regulations–they’re there, and they’re not minding. Even when they’re not there, they’re the worst. You head to the checkout lane and discover new meaning to the word checkout: the register clerk apparently did just that when she saw the line forming. You dart into an open lane–the lane light is on–but no register clerk is home.
Who are these people? “What is with these people?” People! Why? These are some of life’s most (de)pressing questions.
And now you have an answer.
From “The Face Painter”
Episode 23, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 3:00
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Tags: Charles Dickens, Elaine, Jerry, marble rye, Newman, pure evil, The Face Painter, Twinkie
A befuddled observation to make when life forces are compelling you to be an Emoticon–but you will remain a Vulcan.
Jerry’s girlfriend goaded him to get really mad, because she hadn’t seen Jerry show such emotion. When Jerry finally did—ranting something about having had enough flan—Jerry’s girlfriend decided she’d had enough. She departed, and Jerry started wiping his eyes. “Oh my God, you’re crying,” Elaine chimed in. “This is horrible,” Jerry replied–and discovered the context for this phenomenon: “I care.”
You may be otherworldly in your ability to hide your feelings, but even you, like Jerry, have to keep a thing or two in that glass-faced box marked “Break in Case of Emotion”–just like the rest of humankind. That bumper sticker on your vehicle that says People say I don’t care…but I don’t care is no better than the polish on that vehicle: it’s rubbish, ultimately, in the face of time and circumstance. So when those teary moments come up, rare as they may be, reach for this observation.
The sterile wording will override whatever your tears are communicating, leaving those around you with this context: OMG…he doesn’t care!
From “The Serenity Now”
Episode 3, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 11:05
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Tags: Elaine, Emoticon, English Patient poster, girlfriend, Jerry, The Serenity Now, Vulcan
An awestruck observation for those times when you don’t know where you are, but you’re not lost. Nooo. Because that’s not how you see it.
Kramer ventured beyond his little world in New York City to maintain his “long-distance relationship” with a girlfriend who lived downtown. Eventually losing his way, he called Jerry, who told him to look for a street sign. And there it was: 1st and 1st. His epiphany at the sight sounded less like he’d found his place and more like he’d found space…the final frontier.
Watching the voyage of the Starship Kramerica Enterprise from I’m walkin’ here! to I need a little help here! should bring an encouraging signpost into view: we’ve all been here. It’s what you do when you get there, though–that makes all the difference. You might resign yourself to being lost and ask for help. Or you might say “Get lost” to those who tell you to ask for help.
But if you really want to get your bearings–and keep them–look at all the world around you as your little world. By taking such a Kosmo-politan view, you’ll never be lost because you’re always at the center of things…always seeing signs, not stars. Your every wrong turn will be a revelation; every misstep a chance to map that site and move on.
From “The Maid”
Episode 19, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 18:05
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Tags: English Patient poster, Jerry, Kramer, Kramerica, New York City, Star Trek, The Maid
An upbeat observation to make when someone makes you feel like it’s the end of your world as you know it…but no, you feel fine.
When Elaine confronted boyfriend David Puddy about his religiosity, he waved it in her face like a giant foam finger that said “John 3:16” and “We’re #1!” Taking a line from Puddy’s canon (“Don’t boss me! This is why you’re going to hell”), Elaine went finger-for-a-finger and poked him right back: “You should care that I’m going to hell even though I am not.” She even finger-painted a picture of how rough it was going to be (devils, ragged clothing, etc.)…just to be sure her enlightened man saw her light.
Use Elaine’s frantically silly comment when the heat is on—from the abyss of your job, the purgatory of a relationship, the living hell of that family reunion, etc.—and you will paint this picture: of course you can take it. Yours may be the only laughter here, but since laughter does good like a medicine, that means you’re saving your soul—and they should be losing their religion.
From “The Burning”
Episode 16, Season 9
Seinfeld Volume 8, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 17:36
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Tags: devils, Elaine, English Patient poster, hell, Puddy, religion, REM, The Burning
A giddy yet humble question to ask of those who went with your crazy idea—and it actually worked.
George had an idea to solve Jerry’s dating problem involving a stoic-seeming woman and her comic-loving roommate. The idea was so inspired, so devious, so simple…Jerry ran with it. The play wasn’t just successful–it was historical (in George’s eyes, anyway). The win was Jerry’s, the wide receiver now holding the ball in the end zone, but judging by quarterback George’s dance…you would’ve thought he was the one who scored.
George’s confessed craziness in the face of confirmed brilliance (for one shining moment, anyway) is the real genius here. If the line between genius and crazy is as fine as gossamer—and, as you know, one doesn’t dissect gossamer—George straddled that line, triumphant, like he’d just won the Super Bowl and pulled a quarterback switch to do it. The microphones came his way…and he belted his dementia to the back row.
This is not something most people do. We’re quick to point it out (You’re crazy) but even quicker to deny it (What do you think I am, crazy?)—never mind that we’re all a little bit crazy. You could cure cancer someday and someone, somewhere, will be thinking while applauding, See that guy? Cuckooo. Genius is indeed rare, but rarer still is the person who admits their craziness, which is why people like Jerry couldn’t help but love George. People will love you too if you’re not afraid to get out there and belt your dementia to the back row.
Or someone, somewhere, will applaud you, anyway.
From “The Switch”
Episode 10, Season 6
Seinfeld Volume 5, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 20:35
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Categorized in The Questions
Tags: dementia, English Patient poster, George, gossamer, Jerry, Super Bowl, The Switch
A theatrical observation for those times when you’re served a dish you despise, and you must sound a barbaric yawp about it over the tabletop of your world.
Kramer had to hide from Jerry his addiction to the delectable offerings of the nearby chicken roaster restaurant, so Kramer enlisted Newman to pick up food from the restaurant without Jerry knowing it. When Jerry happened to pass Newman with an armful of takeout, a container of broccoli–something Newman despised–caught Jerry’s eye. Jerry asked Newman to take a bite. Newman’s attempt to maintain the Newman/Kramer subterfuge led to this little ode to the sprout…as it ejected, half-masticated, from his mouth.
Unlike Newman himself, there’s more here than meets the eye–more to this observation than excoriating what sprouts out of the ground. With these two words, the sky is the limit: you can trash whole eateries (“Vile bistro!”), dump on culture (“Vile movie!”), and even categorically castigate people (“Vile celebrity!”). Brush off any accusation that you’re exaggerating to make a point; exaggeration is the point. Announcing your repulsion, at the moment you are repulsed, is to seize the day as Newman did. In carpe newman, subtlety is not a good quality.
From “The Chicken Roaster”
Episode 8, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 17:09
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Tags: broccoli, carpe newman, chicken roaster, Jerry, Kramer, Newman, restaurant
A snappy comeback to use on those who come at you with good reason—You were wrong!—but you still don’t want to admit they are right.
Newman traded his motorcycle helmet to Kramer for his radar detector, which Kramer knew didn’t work (and he didn’t tell Newman). When Newman was later slapped with a speeding ticket…he detected a foul smell rising from this sweet little deal. Voice heaving with A pox on you! ire, Newman went toe-to-toe with Kramer, demanding both helmet and recompense for the speeding ticket. Kramer tap-danced around him with this comment.
Keep the tap dancing in mind here. Admitting that you are wrong is a country line dance: difficult to master but automatic once mastered. Admonishing someone to rethink their position about your wrongness takes fancier footwork, different with every dance. Try too hard—working the dance floor like a full-body dry heave—and you’ll make the person wince. Tippy-toe the whole number—a little too delightful—and you’ll make the person laugh.
Do the Kramer two-step—boldly inciting the person to a second thought while lithely calling him or her a name (preferably something mumbo-jumbo)—and you’ll make them think they are wrong.
From “The Pitch”
Episode 3, Season 4
Seinfeld Volume 3, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 9:55
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: full-body dry heave, Kramer, little too delightful, mojumbo, motorcycle helmet, Newman, radar detector, The Pitch
A brazen shout-out for when you need to let someone down a la You’re out of luck, and you don’t mind bludgeoning their feelings while doing it.
George and Elaine fell victim to this verbal assault from the culinary genius known as the Soup Nazi, whose zeal for his craft so focused him on that craft, that normal communication was beneath him in the presence of anyone who didn’t pay his craft the respect it deserved—people who, for example, kissed on their “schmoopie” while standing in line rather than saying “One mulligatawny” and stepping to one side.
No need to substitute for “soup” another subject you want to dish up, a la No raise for you! (The approach has obvious delicious merits, but if you’re not fully committed to the blunt wording and psychotic exclamation, your substitution will only produce quizzical looks, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.) The universal images conjured by the word soup—ordering a favorite one in a fine restaurant, receiving an efficacious one from a friend while you’re ailing, etc.—all have to do with being provided a comfort food.
Being denied that comfort, courtesy of you channeling the Soup Nazi, is punishment enough for anyone, in any discussion.
From “The Soup Nazi”
Episode 6, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 1
Timecodes for the scenes: 4:00, 8:35
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: comfort food, Elaine, George, mulligatawny, schmoopie, soup, Soup Nazi, The Marine Biologist
A self-explanatory observation for those times when circumstances cause you to talk in an abnormal way—referring to yourself in the third person, for example.
When George’s good friend Elaine struck up a friendship with his girlfriend Susan, George’s worlds collided. Hapless, he could only watch. Speechless he was not, however, and one of George’s replies was to take a page from an old basketball-playing friend who loved to talk about himself—“Jimmy likes Elaine”; “Jimmy’s down!”—and rewrite it to address his own pathetic situation.
Rewrite at will to make it your own: the Jimmy-George inspiration behind this observation also begat “George is losing it!”, “George is gettin’ frustrated!”, and even expressions for situations that were the opposite of pathetic (e.g., “George likes his chicken spicy!”). All of these excel at self-improvement—and make a decent contribution to society, to boot. Announcing aloud just how beside yourself you are is a courtesy to anyone within earshot. You’re just letting them know where you stand.
From “The Pool Guy”
Episode 8, Season 7
Seinfeld Volume 6, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 11:10
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Tags: Elaine, friendship, George, Jimmy, self-improvement, society, speechless, Susan Ross, The Pool Guy, third-person talker, worlds colliding
A picturesque put-down to use on the superficial people in your life who could stand to be pushed into a pool–clothes and all, unexpectedly, right when they’re making some grandiose point.
Plunging headlong with Elaine into the classic “real or fake?” debate about a certain female body part, Jerry thought he’d ended the discussion with the upper hand. Elaine one-upped Jerry by telling him, in this indirect but illustrative way, to get real.
The analogy takes a monochromatic put-down (“You are so shallow”) and colorizes it with sarcastic flair. Substitute “shallowest” and the “pool” part with any number of similar put-downs that give rise to suitable analogies (e.g., “Just when I think you’re the loudest person I’ve ever met, you manage to stack a few more speakers on the stage”).
Just be sure to properly fit your put-down into the shallow/pool construction, or the analogy for your situation will be the classic throwing yourself from a stage and into the pool of a crowd—who promptly sidestep as you face-plant onto the floor.
From “The Implant”
Episode 19, Season 4
Seinfeld Volume 3, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 6:00
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Categorized in The Put-Downs
Tags: Elaine, fake, female body part, Jerry, spectacular, The Implant
A clever observation to make–insinuating a warning–to those who don’t need you to tell them bluntly “Don’t go there” or “Retreat!” They need you to paint a picture for them of the idiocy of the move they are about to make.
George wandered into hazardous territory with Elaine–the subject: a woman Elaine had set him up with–and his good friend Jerry was there to warn him. Jerry had been there before. Indeed, the Warning was one of the primary functions of Jerry’s part of the George-Jerry friendship. The Observation and the Put-Down were two other functions, one of which usually came on the heels of George not heeding the Warning.
This warning works wonders even in a strange crowd, because the people who have no idea what it is you’re waving your friend away from–they will still get the image you’re conveying of your friend’s unfortunate position: arms flailing, legs akimbo as he or she wobbles out onto the conversational ice. If that friend is any true friend of yours, he or she will probably ignore your Warning and fall through, leaving you in a most fortunate position–no Observation or Put-Down required.
Laughing with others at another’s expense because of something you said–that’s about as good as an “icebreaker” gets.
From “The Baby Shower”
Episode 4, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 2:00
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Tags: dating, Elaine, friendship, George, Jerry, The Baby Shower
A brilliant observation to express childlike wonderment when you’re faced with something so stunning that coherence escapes you.
When Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine encountered a half-naked woman on the beach where they were vacationing, the first words out of Jerry’s mouth were “Boutros-Boutros Ghali.” (The last word pronounced “golly.”) Momentarily awed, like a schoolboy peeking into a beautiful neighbor’s bedroom window in a 1980s’ movie, Jerry didn’t say, “Wow, look at those….” No “Hubba hubba.” Not even a “Breathtaking.” Just the name of the Egyptian man who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992 to 1997.
Golly evokes the younger days of talking for hours on end—“What do you think of this?”; “What about that?!”—but your vocabulary only filled five minutes with original material. Translated from the adolescent tongue, it means “I don’t know what to say but I’m working on it.” Boutros-Boutros “Golly,” the adult version of golly, will leave people around you nodding. If they are as smart as you, the name drop will also leave them thinking, “That reminds me of a Trivial Pursuit question I once had….” This is a win-win situation either way.
You don’t know what to say but you’ll come off sounding like you do.
From “The Hamptons”
Episode 21, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 4:00
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Tags: Boutros-Boutros Ghali, breathtaking, cleavage, Elaine, Jerry, Kramer, The Hamptons, Trivial Pursuit
A point-blank put-down to use on those whose antics cause such a rise in you that a mere head-shake in their direction just won’t do—you’d like to send them to their room too.
Jerry’s friendly advice to Babu about how he should run his Pakistani restaurant ultimately put the restaurant in the toilet. The wrath of Babu manifested itself in a simple, tossed-in-translation comment—You bad man—accompanied by glaring eyes and one index finger held high and wagging, a little metronome of fury still ticking momentarily even after the comment was done.
Mimicking Babu’s accent is not a problem; keeping yourself from laughing while you do the full Babu is. On the accent: separate the word very into two syllables and change the “r” to a “d” (ve-dy). On the straight face: see the “Inside Look” for this episode on the Seinfeld DVD for inspiration from Babu himself, actor Brian George. If you prefer a quicker look, here it is: even the professional couldn’t keep a straight face the first x number of times he did this—so if you don’t get it right the first time, keep at it.
Not to worry if you never get it right: those on the receiving end of the wrath of You shouldn’t be able to keep a straight face either when you give them this finger.
From “The Cafe”
Episode 7, Season 3
Seinfeld Volume 2, Disc 2
Timecode for the scene: 19:45
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Categorized in The Put-Downs
Tags: Babu, Jerry, Pakistani restaurant, The Cafe
An encouraging observation to offer those around you who are obviously in over their heads, and the best thing for you to do under the circumstances is to give them a palm-smack to the forehead disguised as a pat on the back.
Elaine suggested that she, Jerry, George, and Kramer bring vino to the dinner party they were headed to. “Why?” George retorted, his blockish expectations thunking up against the wine bottle-shaped entrance to this little social scene. Jerry’s observation about society helped get George–puffy coat, puffing cheeks, and all–through the door.
The pleasant tone softens the coarse insight: you’re not telling your friend that he or she is out of touch with the world; you’re observing that the World is untouchable to us all–no one can get a grip! The tack works because the fabric of friendship is very simple, one thread of which is this: pulling one over on a friend every once in a while is for his or her own good, if only because it makes you both feel good.
From “The Dinner Party”
Episode 14, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 1:56
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Tags: bottle of wine, Elaine, friendship, George, Jerry, Jujyfruits, Kramer, The Dinner Party
An easygoing comeback to use on those who rear their heads mightily in conversation to show that they know so much more than you do.
While George, Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine were vacationing, Jerry’s date walked into a situation that gave her a little hunch about the real George Costanza, and she couldn’t help saying something about it to George’s date. Trying to dispel their false notions about his true dimensions, George later illustrated his point by discussing what laundering does to a t-shirt. Elaine promptly popped his bubble.
Adjust Elaine’s comment—Mr. Medicine, Mr. Sportscaster, etc.—to fit whatever bulbous head is struggling to find its way through the neckhole of your finely-knit conversation.
From “The Hamptons”
Episode 21, Season 5
Seinfeld Volume 4, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 15:35
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: Costanza, Elaine, George, Jerry, Kramer, Mr. Science, shrinkage, The Hamptons
A plain observation to make to those for whom the show What Not to Wear was invented. They go on with their carelessly-clothed lifestyle then wonder why people are staring at them as if contemplating pulling out a twenty and giving it to the homeless-looking sap in the pajama-looking pants.
George showed up at Jerry’s apartment wearing sweat pants, and Jerry let him have it. This was one of Jerry’s favorite angles of friendly attack: the Costanza sense of style. In the Seinfeld saga, George was derided for a too-puffy coat, a too-small tux, and a winter parka with a snow-skiing lift ticket still attached to it, among other fashion faux pas. Jerry was not surprised.
And neither should you be if you encounter a George wearing his misery on his cheap velvet sleeve. Simply lower your voice to a taken-aback tone and register an indifferent look. Substitute the targeted clothing article for “sweat pants” in this line and let it fly. The only surprise here for you is not that this person did this—the surprise is what he or she is wearing.
“The Pilot (Part 1)”
Episode 23, Season 4
Seinfeld Volume 3, Disc 4
Timecode for the scene: 4:35
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Categorized in The Observations
Tags: George, Jerry, lift ticket, sweat pants, The Pilot, velvet, What Not to Wear
A confident confession to make when you blunder so colossally that what you really want to say of yourself, as George once did, is “People this stupid shouldn’t be allowed to live.”
George wore a wedding ring to cultivate the interest of any single woman who came near him at a party. What he reaped for it was the disinterest of every woman around him—a pathetic harvest he recounted to Jerry, leading to this line (and a melodramatic bite into a potato chip, like an actor bum-rushing the after-party hors d’oeuvres after Oscar passed him by).
George didn’t say this to just anybody; he said it to Jerry—a match of comment to audience worth remembering here. Only your friends would care to hear you make this kind of pithy-ful observation about yourself. If they are decent friends, they will listen quietly while you wallow momentarily. If they are the best kind of friend though, they will laugh.
From “The Apartment”
Episode 8, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 19:10
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Categorized in The Confessions
Tags: Costanza, friendship, George, Jerry, Lord of the Idiots, Oscar, potato chips, The Apartment, wedding ring
A massive shout-out to use on those who foul-ball on a job you asked them to do–and you weren’t even asking them to hit it out of the park, just get it on the field.
J. Peterman, Elaine’s boss, had just returned to the helm of his adventure-chic clothing-catalog company after leaving Elaine in charge while he got over a little case of Office Space. When he saw that Elaine’s biggest decision precipitated fashion disaster, this was his summary reply–delivered in the same room-filling, syllable-smacking voice he used to say just about anything (e.g., “Elaine…you’ve got to see The English Patient“).
Fill the room with your voice when you say it–the more flourish, the better, to give it that Peterman-ian flair–and don’t forget to give a full pause between the words “job” and “done.” Volume is not the point here; calling attention to the one word you’re leaving out of this universal courtesy is.
From “The Money”
Episode 13, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 15:44
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Categorized in The Shout-Outs
Tags: clothing-catalog company, Elaine, J. Peterman, Office Space, The English Patient, The Money
A boisterous comeback to use on those who come to you for advice then it backfires on them–and now they are looking at you, with flames in their eyes.
Kramer did this to Elaine after she questioned her abilities as the newly crowned head of her clothing-catalog company. Kramer exhorted her and she ate it up, the slack-jawed audience to his motivational speaker. On the winds of Kramer’s inspiration, Elaine soared…with all the aerodynamics of a flying candy apple. “You told me I could run the company!” she turned on Kramer, after her crash and burn. Kramer countered with all the subtlety of a man with a bullhorn.
Use with confidence on anyone who listens to what you had in mind and now they’d like to give you a piece of their mind. To acquaintances and strangers, this is the confidence that says “It wasn’t my advice, it was your failure!” To family and friends, this is the confidence that says “Why did you listen to me in the first place? You know me!”
From “The Foundation”
Episode 1, Season 8
Seinfeld Volume 7, Disc 1
Timecode for the scene: 20:20
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Categorized in The Comebacks
Tags: candy apple, clothing-catalog company, Elaine, friendship, Kramer, The Foundation
An incisive question to use on those who so delight in their “word of the day” calendar, they sound like Alex Trebek vocalizing an obscure dictionary entry on Jeopardy. They have discovered what the word obstreperous means, and they have been waiting to wave it in your face.
George did this in a conversation with Jerry about the relationship between students and cleaning. “It’s anathema,” George said. At Jerry’s quizzical look, George added, “They don’t like it.” This was Jerry’s retort.
This is also your alternative to thinking, after hearing someone use a word like “coquettish” or “haberdasher,” I need to go look that up. No. You don’t. Because if you find that word in the dictionary–make no mistake–it will perch itself on a peg somewhere in your brain and squawk at you during some future conversation, signaling This is the perfect moment to squeeze in that word. No. It won’t be.
And if you go for it anyway, guess what those around you will be thinking.
From “The Statue”
Episode 10, Season 2
Seinfeld Volume 1, Disc 3
Timecode for the scene: 2:15
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Categorized in The Questions
Tags: Alex Trebek, coquettish haberdasher, George, Jeopardy, Jerry, The Statue
