Creators
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld
Cast
Jerry Seinfeld .Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus .Elaine Benes
Jason Alexander .George Costanza
Michael Richards .Cosmo Kramer
DVD Release Date: June 5, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 506 Minutes on 4 Discs
The Show
When there’s a show about “nothing,” then how many seasons can you possibly get out of it? Well, the cast of Seinfeld proved to the world that not only could you get nine seasons out of it, but that the only reason there weren’t more is because the cast was just done making it. Season eight of Seinfeld brought possibly one of the best crop of episodes with some very memorable ones to boot.
George was in his prime and just doing everything that constituted being George. He was still working for the Yankees but found himself actually being wanted by the Mets. And even though it always seemed like an easy task in his life before; try as he might, he just couldn’t get himself fired in order to take the better position with the Mets. George also realizes he has a lot more potential then he even gives himself credit for. Not only can he pull off the role of the “bad boy,” but when he’s not having sex, he is one of the most intelligent and articulate people ever.
Elaine has her ups and downs this season as she experiences just what it is like to run her own company when she’s put in charge of the J. Peterman Company while Mr. Peterman has a nervous breakdown over in Burma. But if it wasn’t for his collapse from sanity, then we would have never been introduced to such great things as the urban sombrero, the war vet executive, or her famous “little kicks” dancing technique. She has her good moments though as she comes up with the fantastic idea of a store selling only the tops of muffins. But her excitement also does not last long as someone beats her to it.
Kramer is just as strange as ever. Tormented by both the neon and edible chicken from Kenny Rogers Roasters, he is forced to choose between comfort and tasty goodness. Another visit to Jackie Chiles with a possible lucrative lawsuit, this time against the tobacco company, proves to be anything but. Kramer just can’t seem to listen to legal advice when he’s given an opportunity to be large and in charge. And Kramer’s real place in life also seems to be in the world of business, if he doesn’t have to actually do any work that is.
Last but not least is Jerry himself who is nothing more than, well, Jerry. Jerry is of course the center of this little “nothing” universe and usually everything begins at his apartment. Again he finds himself in tons of little relationships here and there with women that can never quite be the one. There is always something wrong with them such as falling in love with Kramer or having man hands. Even when Jerry tries to do a good deed like buying a Cadillac for his parents, it ends up backfiring on him and he winds up sleeping in the back of the car that was recently in a swamp.
When it’s all over, the show about nothing is quite honestly the show about so much that it is sometimes hard to keep up. There are so many things happening and with all four characters going through different experiences, it’s almost as if getting four short stories in each episode. Throw in references to past happenings or recurring characters from earlier seasons and you’ll constantly find yourself saying, “Oh I remember that ugly baby from a few years back!”
Seinfeld shows no signs of slowing down or even that their final season was approaching. There are a few episodes that drag and don’t have the gut-wrenching laughs, but they are far outnumbered by the hilarious episodes. Some of the great moments like Frank Costanza’s flashback story to his time when he was a military cook just had me crying from laughing so hard. There is no watering down and if anything, they push the envelope even further so you simply can’t be bored while watching this show. Those people who say they hate Seinfeld are usually those who think that the things happening in the show could never really occur. I believe that they can relate to the show so much that they don’t want anyone knowing how screwed up their lives really are.
Episodes
Disc One:
The Foundation: George’s fiancé Susan has recently passed due to an unfortunate accident with some cheap wedding invitations; so her parents establish a foundation in her memory and ask George to sit on the board. Elaine takes over as head of the company when Mr. Peterman freaks out and moves to Burma.
The Soul Mate: Kramer falls for Jerry’s new girlfriend Pam. Jerry doesn’t really think there’s much between him and her until Kramer points out how great she is. Elaine’s new boyfriend Kevin goes to the extreme and gets a vasectomy to win her heart.
The Bizarro Jerry: Elaine must choose between Jerry, George, and Kramer or their exact opposites in Kevin, Jean, and Feldman. Jerry also dates a beautiful young woman who happens to have “man hands,” but that doesn’t stop George from using her picture to get the affection of some models. This is quite possibly the best episode in the entire set since the regular gang and the bizarre gang makes for some great interactions.
The Little Kicks: One of the most famously known episodes as Elaine throws a party for her employees and breaks out the dance that has them all talking behind her back at the office. Jerry gets bullied into bootlegging a film for Kramer’s friend Brody and ends up enjoying his new career.
The Package: Elaine learns that all of her doctors think she is a trouble patient and can’t get checked out anywhere. Jerry won’t accept a mysterious package but it’s no problem for Uncle Leo. George wants to impress a girl at the camera center with some sexy pictures, but his plan backfires as always.
Disc Two:
The Fatigues: An old nemesis returns again since Jerry’s new girlfriend has a mentor who is dating Bania. Elaine gets into some deep water at work promoting an old war vet that scares everyone else in the company. Kramer hires Frank Castanza to cook for some Jewish singles.
The Checks: The gang all are connected as Jerry appears on Japanese television and signs a bunch of royalty checks. George then attempts to sell the Jerry pilot to Japanese TV since Jerry is such a star there. Kramer helps some Japanese tourists by letting them stay in a huge dresser from a furniture maker that Elaine’s boyfriend is obsessed with.
The Chicken Roaster: Another fantastic episode as Kramer boycotts the Kenny Rogers Roasters chicken franchise when one opens across the street from his apartment. Their red neon sign glows all night and day, driving him nuts. Jerry agrees to switch apartments with him for a while and ends up acting just like Kramer.
The Abstinence: In another episode of switching identities, George’s girlfriend gets mono and can’t have sex. Without sex, George ends up becoming very well-read and extremely intelligent. Elaine stops having sex and ends up having no common sense and becoming very dumb. Kramer files a lawsuit against a tobacco company.
The Andrea Doria: Jerry tries to help Newman with the mail so his nemesis can get a transfer to a route in Hawaii. Kramer has a horrible cough that sounds like that of a dog, so he does what anyone would do and sees a veterinarian. George tries to come up with a good enough sob story to win a great apartment over a ship wreck survivor.
The Little Jerry: Kramer buys a chicken for some fresh eggs but it ends up being a rooster. Little Jerry Seinfeld is born and a natural cockfighter. Jerry bounces a check at the local market, and the shopkeeper displays it for all to see.
Disc Three:
The Comeback: George goes out of his way for a snappy comeback at a co-worker after being insulted. Jerry spends a lot of money on a new tennis racquet from a professional trainer who really sucks. And Elaine falls for a mysterious video store clerk because she likes his favorites.
The Money: Kramer has a new girlfriend (guest star Sarah Silverman) who has the “jimmy legs” so he can’t sleep in the same bed as her. Jerry tries to buy back his parent’s Cadillac from Jack Klompus and ends up flying back and forth to Florida. George finds out his parents have saved for a long time and are rich so he knows he’ll receive a lot when they die. That is if Kramer doesn’t convince them to spend it all first and enjoy life.
The Van Buren Boys: George finds the first recipient of the scholarship from the Susan Ross Foundation and it’s not the smartest kid in the world. Mr. Peterman has returned and buys the writes to Kramer’s memoirs and wants Elaine to be the author of his autobiography.
The Susie: Elaine’s co-worker mistakenly calls her Susie, but Elaine doesn’t correct her in order not to damage her reputation. George goes out of his way to avoid his girlfriend so she won’t break up with him. That way he can use her to help him make a god impression at the Yankee Ball.
The Pothole: Jerry knocks his girlfriend’s toothbrush in the toilet and casually forgets to tell her. George loses his Phil Rizzuto keychain down in a pothole and does whatever is necessary to get it back. Elaine has been banished from receiving take-out from her favorite Chinese place so she moves her address into a janitor’s closet to get back on their list.
The English Patient: George finds the perfect woman because she is beautiful and mistook him for her boyfriend. Kramer wants to get into the cigar business so ask Jerry to bring him some Cubans from Florida. Elaine is at the brink of everyone’s disgust when they find out she hates The English Patient.
Disc Four:
The Nap: Jerry’s handyman Conrad just can’t seem to make any decisions on his own until Jerry tells him to “just finish the job.” George then hires Conrad to make him a comfy bed under his desk so he can sleep at work. Kramer can’t get comfy swimming at the recreation center pool, so he finds the next best place the East River.
The Yada Yada: Dr. Tim Whatley is an avid joke-teller and wants it to be OK to tell Jewish jokes so he converts, angering Jerry. George’s new girlfriend overuses the phrase “yada, yada, yada,” and ends up omitting the most important parts of her stories.
The Millenium: The turn of the century is drawing near and Kramer and Newman are lobbying everyone to come to their respective parties. George is trying to get fired by the Yankees so he can take a position with the Mets but just can’t seem to do anything bad enough. Jerry’s girlfriend isn’t too happy that he keeps moving further up her stepmother’s speed dial.
The Muffin Tops: Jerry accidentally shaves his chest and becomes so obsessed with the look that he can’t stop. Elaine has a fantastic idea for a business that sells only the tops of muffins the good parts. But when she bumps into Mr. Lippman, she finds out he has stolen her idea.
The Summer Of George: George has garnered a severance package from the Yankees that will give him enough money to take the summer off and do only what he wants to do. Elaine is disturbed by a co-worker (guest star Molly Shannon) who doesn’t swing her arms when she works. Kramer ends up winning a Tony award.
The Video
The episodes are presented in 1.33:1 full screen format and the episodes look really good. Doesn’t look as if much was done to remaster them or change them much from when they were on the air, but they still look fine.
The Audio
Each episode is heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound and also sounds good. As much as I hate live studio audiences and laugh tracks, those for Seinfeld were never overly annoying or kept going and going. They know when to laugh and when to shut up. The music is the same as always for this show and the dialogue is all crisp and easily heard.
Special Features
Inside Looks – These are on all four discs and give little “making of” segments for most of the episodes. The writers and even Larry David give their thoughts and reasoning behind how the storylines came to be. As surprising as it may be (please detect the sarcasm), the different segments for each episode are taken from real-life experiences they have all had. Each one is only about five minutes, but it’s kind of interesting seeing where they pulled each idea from.
Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That – These are your bloopers and you’re bound to find some of them funny considering you get 25 minutes of them. There are the occasional screw-ups, but most of the bloopers are the cast just cracking up hysterically and they can’t stop. Elaine is the potty mouth and oddly enough, Kramer is the most stable one of all who usually keeps his composure.
Yada, Yada, Yada – Each disc also has a few of these and they would be your audio commentaries. Different members of the cast and crew sit down and watch the episodes with you and they are quite humorous. Some of them are worth checking out and since you’ll end up watching the episodes multiple times anyway, then you might as well listen to the commentary at least once.
In The Vault – Again these appear on every disc and are the deleted scenes from the episodes. Some of them are quite funny, but most of those which were cut deserved it because they just were short and pointless.
Jerry Seinfeld: Submarine Captain – A short documentary about Jerry Seinfeld and how he runs his ship which is the show Seinfeld. Old cast members, crew, writers, and others tell their thoughts on Jerry and how he was an extreme workaholic. He went from simply acting on his show to writing, producing, acting, directing, and virtually making an eighth day of the week just so he could get more work in. A rather interesting look at how he became such an integral part of the show named after him over time instead of right away.
Sein-Imation – Two very short animations entitled “The Del Boca Vista Express” and “Pinky Toe’s Wild Ride” set to Jerry’s stand-up and a scene from the show respectively. The one set to a segment from the show, “Pinky Toe,” is a lot funnier then the one set to Jerry’s comedy routine. But they are both somewhat amusing and worth the three minutes combined it takes to watch them.
Notes About Nothing – Here is a version of VH1’s Pop-Up Video as little notes continuously pop up to give insight for different things in each episode. The little tidbits are interesting but can honestly become quite annoying since they appear randomly at the top of the screen and then at the bottom and back again.
The Inside Pulse
You might as well just save yourself the time and pick it up. There are many people who proclaim TV DVD sets stupid because the reruns are always running. Sure they are, but when you known you plan on watching the episodes more then once, then why not be able to just watch them whenever you please instead of hoping today’s rerun is the one you want? And as good as Seinfeld is as a show, it set gives you something that most TV DVD sets don’t and that is special features. Most only give a blooper reel or cast interviews, but with Seinfeld you get close to two hours of extra footage and entertainment. Do yourself a favor and pick this up to officially start your summer of whatever your name is.
