JT's comments below originally ran as part of Place to Be Nation's "Seinfeld: The PTBN Series Rewatch" project.
Best Character
There was no real standouts here, but I thought Jerry was really sharp throughout, hitting lots of good one liners and some real good deadpan comments to Kramer and George. Pat Cooper deserved more run too, he was great flipping out on both doofuses.
Best Storyline
By default, it is the jacket. Kramer's sleep issues didn't do much for me beyond his initial explanation and Elaine's story was not very inspired. Jerry and George trying to be the Gatsbys while chasing down the jacket brought the most consistent laughs.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Fuck the Sandos Brothers. A lot of trouble could have been saved if they didn't play dumb the night of the show. Jerry was really good in this one except when he was pouting over the jacket.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George and Susan need to throw in the towel. He is celebrating a delay in the wedding, neither have anything to say to each other, it is a dead, loveless affair that is going nowhere fast. Relationship Grade: 0/10
What Worked:
George's prancing through NYC was a strong way to open the show; Kramer explaining what Da Vinci means gets me every time, as does Jerry's "that must be some book"; Peterman giving up on Bob and giving Elaine his work was funny; Kramer saying he would come back for the milk and then stalking Jerry in his sleep because he is bored; Jerry was really sharp here with his deadpan one liners; Elaine dismissing Jerry after the failed attempt to talk to Bob; George's Gatsbys analogy was fantastic; Kramer's "Watch out, boy" when Jerry wakes him up; Jerry's line when George says they are like Lincoln; George and Susan sitting in the coffee shop in silence and then George yelling for the check; Jerry just watching Kramer get carried out in a sack and shrugging it off; Peterman buying into Elaine's bawdy talk to Bob; De-souring and sweetening; Kramer yelling "IN A SACK!"; Pat Cooper's rant is tremendous; Jackie Chiles as Connie's lawyer was a nice touch
What Didn't Work
How does George know to wear a jacket to the Friar's Club and not Jerry?; I also thought the dinner conversation between George and Jerry seemed very forced and abnormal for how they usual chat; Jerry also failed at talking to Bob at the urinal, why are you whispering? Just say hi!; George already reserving apartments for Jerry and Hallie, slow down bogambo; Sandos Brothers are assholes; Bob is real fucking weird; The episode kind of sputtered to a soft ending
Key Character Debuts
- Pat Cooper
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "This is my lucky day." - George "Well, one outta twenty thousand. That's not bad." - Jerry
- "If this works out, forget about it. Vacations together, movies together, dinner together. It...it's almost as good
as if I didn't get married." - George
- "This is evolutionary. I been reading this book, on Leonardo de Vinci. See, that means 'from Vinci', d'you know that?" - Kramer "That must be some book." - Jerry
- "No, the stupidest thing you ever said was when you said Steve Kroft from Sixty Minutes is the same guy from *Seals and Croft*." - Jerry "You watch the old videos. I'm telling you, look at him." - Jerry
- "Oh, I'm percolating, Jerry. I'm telling you, I have never felt so fertile. I'm mossy, Jerry. My brain is mossy. Listen to this idea. A restaurant that serves only peanut butter and jelly." - Kramer "What d'you call it?" - Jerry "P B and J's. What d'you think?" - Kramer "I think you need more sleep." - Jerry
- "She's got everything, right? (counts on his fingers) She's intelligent, she's smart, she's got a great sense of humor." - George "Well, I dunno. I didn't really talk to her." - Jerry "Well, she's smart. You take my word for it." - George "Whatever." - Jerry "Hehee. W..we could be like the Gatsbys. Didn't they always like, you know, a bunch of people around, and they were all best friends?" - George "That doesn't sound right." - Jerry
- "How about these seats? Are these fantastic, huh? Huh? I feel like Lincoln." - George "Yeah. Well, let's hope this evening turns out a little better." - Jerry
- "Tell 'em I'll come down and talk to 'em. Okay, bye. Well, that was the Friars Club. D'you think they're gonna let a jacket-stealer join? I don't think so! They're gonna charge me eight hundred dollars for the jacket, and I gotta deal with Pat Cooper! What kinda show is that Sandos Brothers? They take your jacket, then they just throw it? I never heard of that!" - Jerry
- "Because if she gets it back, then you'll have no reason to be sour. You'll de-sour, right?" - George "I'll try and de-sour." - Jerry "Oh, that's not good enough! You don't try and de-sour. You have to sweeten too!" - George "I'll try! I'll try and de-sour and sweeten." - Jerry "I wanna get it back when we were the Gatsbys." - George "I still don't know what that means." - Jerry
- "Well, one of the gypsies took it." - Jerry "Aww, the gypsies took it! Of course, New York has a lot of gypsies! Oh, on every block there's a gypsy!" - Pat "Well, it's true. I saw it." - George "Excuse me, are you an entertainer? Are you in show business?" - Pat "No, I uh..." - George "Then what am I talking to you for?" - Pat
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Pat Cooper is a longtime comedian that played himself in this episode
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
We have seen some episodes like this before, where if it were on the standard sitcom scale, it would net a pretty solid grade, however with it being graded on the Seinfeld curve, it falls short in many areas. There were definitely laughs nuzzled in this one, and I thought Jerry mixing in even more deadpan comments was a good touch that I hope stays, but the stories just never connected or really hooked you in. Pat Cooper was tremendous and I wish he in it more because he could have definitely buoyed the grade, but as is this was as middling of an episode as we have seen in a while. Final Grade: 5/10
Best Character
There was no real standouts here, but I thought Jerry was really sharp throughout, hitting lots of good one liners and some real good deadpan comments to Kramer and George. Pat Cooper deserved more run too, he was great flipping out on both doofuses.
Best Storyline
By default, it is the jacket. Kramer's sleep issues didn't do much for me beyond his initial explanation and Elaine's story was not very inspired. Jerry and George trying to be the Gatsbys while chasing down the jacket brought the most consistent laughs.
Ethical Dilemma of the Week
Fuck the Sandos Brothers. A lot of trouble could have been saved if they didn't play dumb the night of the show. Jerry was really good in this one except when he was pouting over the jacket.
Relationship Scale (Scale 1-10)
George and Susan need to throw in the towel. He is celebrating a delay in the wedding, neither have anything to say to each other, it is a dead, loveless affair that is going nowhere fast. Relationship Grade: 0/10
What Worked:
George's prancing through NYC was a strong way to open the show; Kramer explaining what Da Vinci means gets me every time, as does Jerry's "that must be some book"; Peterman giving up on Bob and giving Elaine his work was funny; Kramer saying he would come back for the milk and then stalking Jerry in his sleep because he is bored; Jerry was really sharp here with his deadpan one liners; Elaine dismissing Jerry after the failed attempt to talk to Bob; George's Gatsbys analogy was fantastic; Kramer's "Watch out, boy" when Jerry wakes him up; Jerry's line when George says they are like Lincoln; George and Susan sitting in the coffee shop in silence and then George yelling for the check; Jerry just watching Kramer get carried out in a sack and shrugging it off; Peterman buying into Elaine's bawdy talk to Bob; De-souring and sweetening; Kramer yelling "IN A SACK!"; Pat Cooper's rant is tremendous; Jackie Chiles as Connie's lawyer was a nice touch
What Didn't Work
How does George know to wear a jacket to the Friar's Club and not Jerry?; I also thought the dinner conversation between George and Jerry seemed very forced and abnormal for how they usual chat; Jerry also failed at talking to Bob at the urinal, why are you whispering? Just say hi!; George already reserving apartments for Jerry and Hallie, slow down bogambo; Sandos Brothers are assholes; Bob is real fucking weird; The episode kind of sputtered to a soft ending
Key Character Debuts
- Pat Cooper
Iconic Moments, Running Themes & Memorable Quotes
- "This is my lucky day." - George "Well, one outta twenty thousand. That's not bad." - Jerry
- "If this works out, forget about it. Vacations together, movies together, dinner together. It...it's almost as good
as if I didn't get married." - George
- "This is evolutionary. I been reading this book, on Leonardo de Vinci. See, that means 'from Vinci', d'you know that?" - Kramer "That must be some book." - Jerry
- "No, the stupidest thing you ever said was when you said Steve Kroft from Sixty Minutes is the same guy from *Seals and Croft*." - Jerry "You watch the old videos. I'm telling you, look at him." - Jerry
- "Oh, I'm percolating, Jerry. I'm telling you, I have never felt so fertile. I'm mossy, Jerry. My brain is mossy. Listen to this idea. A restaurant that serves only peanut butter and jelly." - Kramer "What d'you call it?" - Jerry "P B and J's. What d'you think?" - Kramer "I think you need more sleep." - Jerry
- "She's got everything, right? (counts on his fingers) She's intelligent, she's smart, she's got a great sense of humor." - George "Well, I dunno. I didn't really talk to her." - Jerry "Well, she's smart. You take my word for it." - George "Whatever." - Jerry "Hehee. W..we could be like the Gatsbys. Didn't they always like, you know, a bunch of people around, and they were all best friends?" - George "That doesn't sound right." - Jerry
- "How about these seats? Are these fantastic, huh? Huh? I feel like Lincoln." - George "Yeah. Well, let's hope this evening turns out a little better." - Jerry
- "Tell 'em I'll come down and talk to 'em. Okay, bye. Well, that was the Friars Club. D'you think they're gonna let a jacket-stealer join? I don't think so! They're gonna charge me eight hundred dollars for the jacket, and I gotta deal with Pat Cooper! What kinda show is that Sandos Brothers? They take your jacket, then they just throw it? I never heard of that!" - Jerry
- "Because if she gets it back, then you'll have no reason to be sour. You'll de-sour, right?" - George "I'll try and de-sour." - Jerry "Oh, that's not good enough! You don't try and de-sour. You have to sweeten too!" - George "I'll try! I'll try and de-sour and sweeten." - Jerry "I wanna get it back when we were the Gatsbys." - George "I still don't know what that means." - Jerry
- "Well, one of the gypsies took it." - Jerry "Aww, the gypsies took it! Of course, New York has a lot of gypsies! Oh, on every block there's a gypsy!" - Pat "Well, it's true. I saw it." - George "Excuse me, are you an entertainer? Are you in show business?" - Pat "No, I uh..." - George "Then what am I talking to you for?" - Pat
Oddities & Fun Facts
- Pat Cooper is a longtime comedian that played himself in this episode
Overall Grade (Scale 1-10)
We have seen some episodes like this before, where if it were on the standard sitcom scale, it would net a pretty solid grade, however with it being graded on the Seinfeld curve, it falls short in many areas. There were definitely laughs nuzzled in this one, and I thought Jerry mixing in even more deadpan comments was a good touch that I hope stays, but the stories just never connected or really hooked you in. Pat Cooper was tremendous and I wish he in it more because he could have definitely buoyed the grade, but as is this was as middling of an episode as we have seen in a while. Final Grade: 5/10
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