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25 ‘Seinfeld’ Facts and Ruminations About Nothing

What’s the deal with ‘90s sitcom premises?

25 ‘Seinfeld’ Facts and Ruminations About Nothing

May 26, 2024

Does Seinfeld hold up? The cast’s residual checks say yes, but a retrospective on some of their more problematic storylines paints a slightly different picture.

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25

George Is Learning The Bass Jason Alexander recently revealed on his Twitter that he is learning the bass guitar. Не has offered to reimburse those who can give him tips in a special way. Alexander wrote, You may ask yourself, 'what's in it for me, Alexander? An- swer- 5 years from now I will play you the Seinfeld theme song. Se- renity now. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

24

The Episode That Almost Got The Show Canned NBC execs almost made the biggest mistakes of their lives when they nearly canceled the show over the episode The Chinese Restaurant. Widely re- garded as one of the show's best, this episode was praised for its experimen- tal plot. When it was pitched, however, the execs found it boring and refused to shoot it. After Larry David threat- ened to quit the show, they allowed it to air near the end of season 2. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

23

The Huge Money Jerry Turned Down For Season 10 When Jerry was approached about doing a 10th season, NBC offered Jerry a whopping five million dollars per episode. Jerry has since ex- plained he turned down the money because comedy is all about pro- portion. How long is this joke go- ing to be? How many minutes? And getting that right is what makes it art or what makes it mediocre. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

22

Jason Alexander and Jerry Weren't Close During The Show's Run Although Alexander and Seinfeld had some of the best onscreen chemistry of any sitcom friends, Alexander has mentioned that they were really just work friends. Alexander elaborates, We had very different lives. But we really hung out with each other at the show. We were workmates. After nine years, when the show ended, we kind of went, 'Oh, bye, see ya! CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

21

Buck Showalter Still Loses Money On His Seinfeld Cameo Buck Showalter appeared in the episode The Chap- erone in 1994. Не says that because he was forced to join the screen actors guild, he is still taxed $19 every time the episode airs. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

20

How Much Cast Members Make In Reruns According to Yahoo, Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld can make up to $400 million per Seinfeld syn- dication cycle. In comparison, while the other main cast were paid a million per episode, they made pennies compared to the show creators because they did not negotiate to own stake in the show. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

19

Jason Alexander's Reaction To George Being Named Most Immoral Character In a poll on Twitter, George Costan- za was voted the most immoral character on Seinfeld. George didn't just win by a little, he won 63% of the vote. Newman came in second place with 15% of the vote, to which Jason Alexander respond- ed Wow, this kinda stings. I mean, come on...more immoral than New- man?? CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

18

Tom Hanks Asked Permission To Reference Jerry Robert Smigel pitched Tom Hanks a sketch called The Stand Ups for his first SNL episode, which lampooned Seinfeld's trademark What's the deal with socks. Dennis Miller felt like it was wrong to take the joke from Jerry and poke fun at it, when it very well might still be in his act. Hanks called Jerry, having never spoken to him before, pitched the sketch, and Jerry Signed off as he said he'd retired the bit. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

17

Dark Theory Posits Kramer Was Always Secretly Married DESIGN Fans have concocted a theory that perhaps Kramer was a part of an abusive marriage which ended shortly before the show's first episode. The evidence to substantiate the claim is that Kramer became a shut-in, rarely leaving his apartment early on, as he isn't as prevalent as other characters in the first season. They also cite Kramer's hatred of marriage in the first episode of season 7 where Kramer describes marriage as man made prisons. They also add that he ref- erences needing to ask permission to use the bathroom or — Source

16

Why Frank Costanza Was Recast After Season 4 Frank Costanza was originally portrayed by John Randolph in the season 4 epi- sode The Handicap Spot. While the show creators had nothing but nice things to say about Randolph, they said they went in a new direction with Jerry Stiller. They felt Randolph's portrayal was a bit too waspy, and too unlike George. They also added that while they original- ly wanted a calmer father for George to juxtapose his mother, they eventually de- cided they wanted the character to be more Seinfeldian. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

15

Jason Alexander Tried To Get Carol Leifer To Break In the episode The Kiss Hello, writer and executive story editor Carol Leifer played the receptionist who gets in an argument with George over their cancel- lation policy. Leifer revealed 27 years later that When Jason Alexander wrote a check to me in that scene, he wrote something crazy dirty to try and break me up. And with each take, the checks got filthier and filthier! Still surprised to this day that I never lost it! ??? CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

14

Could Jerry's Hallway Exist? A user on Reddit recently discovered that Jerry's hall- way defies the laws of phys- ics and really could not ex- ist. After a 3D recreation was made, they realized that the hallway would com- pletely intersect with Jerry's kitchen. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

13

Philly Customs Officials Reference Seinfeld Joke Upon Finding Molly In Soup Cans la Potagère Bisque de BISQUE DE HOMARD BISQUE DE HOMARD BISQUEDE BISQUE DE HOMARD HOMARD la belle-iloise la bel la belle-iloise U.S. Customs & Border Protection agents seized 24 pounds of liquid ecstasy hidden in soup cans from the Netherlands. The 12 cans of soup were leaking a purple liquid which agents found suspicious. After reporting their findings the CBP announced no soup for you! CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

12

Lorelei From Gilmore Girls Was On Seinfeld Lauren Graham played Jer- ry's girlfriend Valerie on season 8 episode 20, The Millennium. She landed the role of Jerry's speed dial ob- sessed partner just 3 years before landing her most fa- mous role of Lorelei on Gilm- ore Girls. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

11

Paul Shaffer Was Offered The Role Of George Jerry Seinfeld early on ар- proached Paul Schaffer to be his Sidekick on the new pilot he was developing. Schaffer thought the show wouldn't amount to any- thing so he didn't even bother to return his call. Schaffer says, That shows the smarts that a guy like me has. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

10

Elaine Tries To Convert A Gay Man CRACKED.COM In the season 6 episode, The Beard, Elaine pretends to be the girlfriend of a gay man in order to please his homopho- bic boss. After a fun night at the opera, Elaine goes full Mike Pence and tries to 'convert him,' and asks if he's thought about changing teams. Yikes! This epi- sode would 100% not fly by today's stan- dards unless it was being released by The 700 Club. Do better, Elaine. We're still waiting for an iPhone note-style apology on your Instagram. — Source

9

Elaine Doesn't Know Her Boyfriend's Race CRACKED.COM The Seinfeld gang can't figure out one important thing about Elaine's new boy- friend... his race! How does Elain crack the case? She hears hip-hop music blar- ing from his apartment and sees some Af- rican masks. Perhaps this could slide if Elaine didn't later call her black waitress sister, followed up by It's okay, my boyfriend is black. Talking about race is fine in comedy but it's best to avoid ste- reotypes, those are just lazy. — Source

8

The Gang Are Peeping Toms CRACKED.COM Ok, The Contest is an absolute gem of an episode, we all know that. How- ever, it has never sat well with me that a big portion of this episode is devot- ed to staring at a naked woman who has no idea three men are watching her? Yes, she leaves the curtains open and walks around all the time, but there's still something eerie about staring at a naked lady without her consent. — Source

7

Jerry Drugs His Girlfriend GRACKED COM Season 9, episode 6 named The Merv Griffin Show has a major problem. The subplot of Jerry and the gang continually drugging his girlfriend Ce- cile is just plain wrong. Obviously, the joke is referencing this is what r*pists do but what is the punchline? That they do the things assaulters do to play with toys? We know the gang are fundamentally bad people, but this is the stuff of Cosby. — Source

6

The Braless Wonder CRACKED.COM This one is a small offense but since when are Elaine and the gang so con- servative? This is the episode fueled by Elaine's hatred over her frenemy she dubbed the braless wonder. Then lat- er on when Elaine gifts her a bra, she is appalled to see her wear it under a sport coat. Slut-shaming is OUT, Elaine. Let the poor lady wear whatever she wants. This honestly makes Sue Allen Meschke seem a lot cooler in her defi- ance of Elaine's stylistic demands. — Source

5

The Salad CRACKED.COM Larry Charles, the same writer from the unproduced Gun episode, wrote another script that was revealed to have been nixed by NBC. This episode entitled The Salad had George get in trouble for observing, You know, I have never seen a black person order a salad. NBC shot back right away saying they were not comfortable commenting on the dietary habits of African Americans. — Source

4

The Cigar Store Indian CRACKED.COM America finally stopped using Native Ameri- cans as punchlines like 9 years ago, but Sein- feld had to realize this was at crossing the line while they were filming Cigar Store Indi- an. This episode features Jerry gifting Elaine a cigar store Indian statue with a card reading Let's bury the hatchet, we smokem peace pipe. Then Jerry chants a racist Native American imitation. C'mon NBC, how did you let this one slip through the cracks! The rest of the episode is a comment on how far white men will go to try not to — Source

3

Jerry And George Oogle An Underage Girl CRACKED.COM Alright, this one I clocked the very first time I went through the series, in the episode The Shoes. Who on earth ар- proved this storyline where George and Jerry stare at an underage girl's chest? Then they defend their stance by say- ing it doesn't matter the age as long as they're in the field of view? This is a wild scene that is so unwittingly creepy, not to mention the fact that Jerry was famous for dating a 17-year-old when he was 39. — Source

2

Stomping The Puerto Rican Flag CRACKED.COM The Puerto Rican Day Parade was ini- tially so offensive that it was pulled from circulation and NBC was forced to make a formal apology. If you forget, this is the episode where Kramer stomps on a burn- ing Puerto Rican flag. After being mobbed by a crowd Kramer yells, It's like this every day in Puerto Rico! The president of the National Puerto Rican Coalition called the episode an uncon- scionable insult to Puerto Ricans. — Source

1

The Gun CRACKED.COM An unreleased episode was deemed so contro- versial it was pulled from production, giving David and Seinfeld two days to write The Phone Message to replace it. The show titled The Bet aka The Gun was an episode writ- ten by Larry Charles in an attempt to bring some dark humor to the sitcom. Elaine essen- tially buys a gun to show Jerry how easily it can be done. Elaine ends up pointing the gun to her head saying What do you want? The Kenne- dy? According to Jason Alexander, Louis-Drey- fus refused to do the episode — Source

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