The Gymnast
Aired Thursday, November 3, 1994 · 30 min

George's girlfriend's mom thinks he is a bum when she catches George eating an éclair out of the trash can, among various other coincidences. Jerry dates a woman who is a former Olympic gymnast and ventures into the territory of sexual pleasures that most men dare not dream of. Elaine tries to pry Mr. Pitt away from looking at Kramer's new 3-D art poster. Meanwhile, Kramer gets a kidney stone.
Posts per day after the first airing
The morning after
Viewers discuss why George exits a bathroom shirtless in the episode, with confusion about plot explanation; discussion veers into unrelated tangent about characters' religious backgrounds.
Posters discuss personal bathroom habits and hygiene among friends and roommates, with critical reactions to someone's poor practices.
Fans praise the episode for George's hilarious scenes, particularly the moment he eats éclair from the trash can, calling it classic and one of the funniest ever.
Readers clarify the difference between kasha (a buckwheat food) and kosher (food preparation standards), with one dismissing further discussion of Jewish terminology.
Fans criticize what they view as inappropriate or blatant product placement involving Elaine's appearance in The Gymnast episode.
Fans praise "The Gymnast" episode, highlighting Kramer's memorable line about sex and Jerry's trash-talking joke, though some find the kidney stone subplot weak.
Viewers find the episode distasteful, particularly objecting to George eating candy from garbage and returning shirtless to a party, with one poster arguing the show has declined creatively.
Best of the morning after
“The Seinfeld Show, no commercials, er, almost.”
“Those people (probably ALL of the Seinfeldians, but certainly the Costanzas) are from otherwhere, otherwhen, otherwhy -- an alternate universe of truly odd dimensions...”
“"Yes, and his buttocks are sublime."”
“What's pretty disgusting is the image I have of why YOU need to.”
“Seinfeld certainly is about nothing, and maybe that premise has worn too thin.”
“And since she is so shallow, she HAD to ask.”
Over the years
Fans debate whether Jerry had sex with the gymnast from the episode, with disagreement about whether the encounter actually happened.
Fans discuss whether George takes his shirt off when he urinates, with some suggesting he was distracted by a 3D picture in a bathroom during a party scene.
Viewers recall whether a scene in "The Gymnast" featuring Mr. Pitt accidentally dressed like Hitler also appeared in another show or movie, with one suggesting a Louis de Funes film from the 1970s.
Fans discuss where Kramer passed a kidney stone, with answers pointing to Madison Square Garden's restroom causing a Russian acrobat to fall.
Fans try to identify a scene where George says "No, no, no" with a specific tone and facial expression, debating whether it's from "The Gymnast" or another episode.
Thread discusses how a Romanian gymnast could have competed in the 1984 Olympics despite the Soviet bloc boycott, with the answer being that Romania uniquely chose to participate.
Fans identify a quote from "The Gymnast" where Elaine confuses the name of a spring water brand, Moland Springs.
Posters identify the episode where George eats an éclair from the trash and gets caught by his girlfriend's mother as "The Gymnast".
Volunteers are sought to transcribe Seinfeld scripts; The Gymnast script has been added to the scripts page with about 149 scripts completed and 30 more needed.
Fans request the complete dialogue from Katya's final scene with Jerry in "The Gymnast," specifically wanting the full text of her closing insult about him not being a real comedian.
Fans identify which episode featured Mr. Pitt with a mustache-like ink mark on his upper lip.
Fans discuss why the Romanian gymnast criticizes Jerry as not a real comedian, debating whether it stems from his "break a leg" comment or disappointment with their sexual encounter.
Viewer asks for identification of episode where George comes out of bathroom shirtless at dinner party after looking at 3D picture; thread identifies it as The Gymnast S06E06.
A viewer describes how The Gymnast episode resonated with him personally when George revealed he removes his shirt in the bathroom, a habit the viewer shared, which sparked his interest in the show.