Favorite Seinfeld moments?

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I'd suggest skipping the pilot for now. Way too many bugs. If you start there, you'll lose interest immediately. Start with something in between seasons 3 and 9, perhaps.

Yeah, I agree, the pilot was universally panned by viewers and critics alike - so much so that when the pilot went to series, the network had so little faith in it that the first season only had five episodes.

To me, the earlier seasons (which were mostly shorter) show signs of how much it struggled, and the episodes tend to be a tad slow-paced, dull, and feel like drawn-out stage plays. I'm with Mo, only for my personal opinion, I'd say anything from Season 5 though 9 instead of 3 through 9: I feel like 5 is when the show finally found its footing, structure, and solidity.

Now, many critics say the last two seasons (8 and 9) are awful, because by then, the show's co-creator/showrunner had left, and they feel the writers went way too far in making situations absurd, far-fetched, and unrealistic . . . but in my personal opinion, they're two of my favorite seasons, but it's all up to you.

If you have TBS, they air four back-to-back episodes early in the evening (6:00 - 8:00 EST) every weeknight except Monday (which they devote to a marathon of Seth MacFarlane shows), and they happen to be in the middle of Season 8 right now, so there's a good place for you to start. Bear in mind, though: TBS has a tendancy to really bounce around the seasons a lot, so just because they're showing Season 8 right now doesn't mean 9 will follow afterwards.

Thanks guys, I think i'll start with season 4 because it's in between seasons 3 and 5.

 

[D'Snowth]

Season 4 does improve about halfway through - particularly episodes involving Jerry and George and their pilot for NBC (which itself fictionalized Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David dealing with the network when selling the show).

 

[fuzzygobo]

In some ways Seinfeld parallels M*A*S*H. Both shows took a few seasons to hit their stride, and their final episodes set record numbers. And cast members from both shows found varying degrees of success (or failure) afterwards, but left behind some ensemble work, the best of which is unmatched.

 

[D'Snowth]

You're right, there are parallels now that I think of it: M*A*S*H did so poorly in its first season, it was on the verge of cancelation, but summer reruns saved it and it became a hit in its second season. But M*A*S*H definitely went downhill fast in its last few seasons.

 

[Muppet Master]

Not sure yet, I was going to start with the pilot and then watch some of the more popular ones. Any suggestions?

As stated already the pilot and most of the show until season 3 is pretty slow and wasn't well recieved. Here's a list of episodes I think you should watch.


The Contest
The Soup Nazi
The Parking Garage
The Chinese Resturant
The Little Kicks
The Bizzaro Jerry
The Junior Mint
The Library
The Puffy Shirt

That's a list of good episodes I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[D'Snowth]

There's an occasion or two on the show where George talks about how he'd love to drape himself in velvet, "if it were socially acceptable."

So, is wearing velvet somehow not socially acceptable? Is velvet like sweatpants or something?

 

[fuzzygobo]

I'm surprised George would want to wear velvet. As a fabric, it doesn't breathe. He should stick with cotton, like the Yankees uniforms he ordered.

Or best of all... Gore-Tex! 8)

 

[D'Snowth]

Apparently frolf is a real thing, or more accurately, "disc golf":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_golf

And here I always thought it was some odd thing the SEINFELD writers made up.

 

[D'Snowth]

Remember the episode where Elaine had an obsession with exclamation points? The more I think about it, it almost sounds like the song "Morning Train" (a.k.a. the "Corporate Kramer" song) was actually written by her . . . I mean, pay attention to the refrain:

My baby takes the morning train!
He works from nine to five and then!
He takes another home again!
To find me waiting for him!

 

[Mo Frackle]

*Sigh* If only...