Fans discuss their favorite episodes, with "The Boyfriend," "The Contest," and "The Chinese Restaurant" frequently praised; some highlight "The Library" and its memorable guest character Mr. Bookman.
My favorite would be "The Boyfriend." A very close second would be "Not that there's anything wrong with that" episode.
Which one is "The Alternate Side?" I don't recall that one.
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Estelle Westbury "Someday I hope to do it again." J. Seinfeld
Just in case it's not obvious: The ideas and opinions expressed herein are not those of BNR.
I agree with all of the other choices of "The contest", "The boyfriend", etc. BUT... I want to add "The Chinese Restaurant" (excuse me if thats not what its called =) ). I just love that line 'For fifty bucks I'd put my face in his soup and blow!'
-Dave
p.s. My friend sitting next to me agrees! =)
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********************************************************************************My vote for favorite Seinfeld episode is The Contest. The show went a long way toward demystifying a social taboo. I was surprised it got past the censors!
My favorite episode is 'The Library' or whatever it's called when Jerry is tracked down for a 20-year overdue library book.
How come no one has mentioned this? I thought Mr. Bookman was the funniest guest character they've ever had on there. Anyway, every episode is funny. The worst Seinfeld episode is probably better than the best episode of any other show on TV.
Interesting you compare this episond to "any other show" on TV. Personally, I think that it is sort of a low point for Seinfeld writing because the "oops I never returned that library book from 20 years ago" idea is one of the really overused sitcom plot devices. I vaguely recall it in several shows, but the only specific one I can think of right now is a Married with Children episode where Al gets caught with the overdue book.
Here's 2 good threads, not really related to Seinfeld: Name any other sitcom with the overdue book plot
Name some other good std. sitcom plots that have been used
from the Lucy Show or McHale's Navy or whatever right up through
several sitcoms today.
Dennis N.Well, as for "I Love Lucy", there was:
"The Cuban Restaurant" -- Lucy and Desi (and their new friend Georgi from the U.S.S.R.) go out to dinner at a Cuban restaurant (the best part is when the Maitre D gets a spy call for Georgi, but he mis-pronounces his last name as "Cartwright", so he doesn't get the vital information. Wacky stuff.)
"The Iron Lung Boy" -- Desi and Lucy go visit a sick boy who is a big fan of Desi's. He turns out not to be the innocent you would imagine him to be, *and* he cheats at Scrabble, trying to get a tripe-word score for "moops".
"The Lamme Jacket" -- Desi's new Gold Lamme jacket impresses everyone but Lucy's grumbly father.
"The Boy's Friend (parts I & II)" -- Desi meets up with a young Fidel Castro who was, at the time, trying out for the Washington Senators (again). Madcap hilarity ensues when Fidel gets a sudden desire for Lucy. And besides, Desi doesn't know if it's proper to help smuggle spy secrets for Fidel because, well, he just met him. If he does that heck, next thing you know Fidel will want Desi to take him to the airport...
"The Reel-To-Reel" -- Desi thinks he's in luck after finding a new baldness remedy (he can finally lose the rug), and Georgi's relationship with Lucy changes after he hears her comments at a show Desi was doing that ended up on a reel-to-reel audio tape.
"The Hoover Letters" Lucy finds some correspondance between Desi and a very young and randy J. Edgar Hoover after their Desilu Studios burn down. Georgi asks Desi for some more Cuban cigars.
"The Apple Dispenser" A friend of Desi's gives him an old 1 500 lb. apple vending machine which Desi drops on Lucy's legs as a joke, much to her chagrin.
And well, as for _McHale's Navy_:
"The Depth-Charge Dispenser" When Kramensky gives Jerry a surplus depth- charge dispenser for his birthday, nutbar adventure ensues while Jerry tries to find his watch which he inadvertantly drops off the side of the ship.
"The Dolphin Remark" where someone's unwitting remark precedes a tragedy at sea.
"The Morse Message" where one of the guys who has a crush on another ship's petty officer gets up his courage and leaves him an "idiotic message" via the ships sentinel flags.
"The Docking Port" it's Saturday on mini-leave when all 3 600 guys aboard the ship go ashore, but none of them remember where the boat is parked and all end up incarcerated by the natives.
"The Submarine Way" all the guys go onto submarines in their latest training mission. Kramensky gets tipped off to some communist digressions, Cpl. Elainevelay inadvertantly goes to Haiti, a sub's captain picks up Georgevelay and Jerry makes friends with a naked guy.
"The Dry Dock Space" Kooky, madcap, nutbar laff-a-minit comedy ensues when the Captain and another ship battle for the perfect landing in dry dock.
"The Outing At Sea" Tim Conway is "outed" on the ship and is promptly beaten. A sad commentary for the times, especially since it was all a misunderstanding (All he did was wash his Navy whites with his lucky red cap by accident).
"The Contest At Sea" where, after so many months out of port, the guys see who can last longest without, well, you know. Ernest Borgnine wins with a staggering time of 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
That's all I can think of for now, but I guess you're right, Dennis. They've all been done before ;-).
Just wasting time, Scott --- By day, [email], by night, rec.sport.hockey Ottawa Senators Contact TODAY'S .SIG: [Pay heed, for this quote/word/fact may alter your very being!] "(Chad) Erickson was a complete joke. He will never play for us again. The guy who drafted him should be dead." -- Cincinnati coach Dennis Derosiers )-> In case it's not obvious, BNR and I may or may not share these views. <-(
Without a doubt, the winner of this must be
Two (or more) characters are locked in a room. Nobody is around to
let them out. (Double points if this is used as an excuse for
showing clips.)Off the top of my head: "The Brady Bunch" (meat locker), "The Jeffersons" (basement, double points), "The Bob Newhart Show" (basement), "Newhart" (duck blind), "Three's Company" (basement?), "All in the Family" (basement), "Get a Life" (meat locker, double points), "Get Smart" (safe), and just yesterday morning as I was passing through the channels (basement) on some sitcom I didn't recognize.
Notably missing: "Seinfeld", "Cheers".
[email] (Raymond Chen) writes:
Also coming to mind, "Family Ties" (basement).
I can't recall if the original article included this one, but the old Xmas time retelling of "A Christmas Carol" featuring the cast always keeps me yawning.
In its defense, however, the short-lived "Doctor Doctor" got some true laffs when they did this, because "Scrooge's" guide was none other than Bob Marley.
Well, Seinfeld may be exempt, but Cheers has skirted this issue on more than one occasion, most notably Rebecca "trapped" in Evan Drake's closet in "Let Sleeping Drakes Lie".
But also, Diane trapped in the floor vent to hide Shelley Long's pregnancy and Rebecca deliberately trapped in the wall vent by first Carla, and then Paul.
Agitator #->
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And, Sam and Rebecca trapped in Evan Drake's penthouse. (I think this is where it was.)
Also, Rebecca and Sam trapped in Robin C.'s place. It was the condo with the mega-security system: infrared beams, voice, etc. n Tom
Mad About You (bathroom).
John
It's usually the two opposing characters who decide they're not so bad after all (but somehow seem to forget that in next week's show :-)
Family Ties? Alex and Mallory.
Also, WKRP in Cincinatti (TOS :-). If you want to expand on the locked in the whatever to include "stranded", you can also use the ubiquitous MASH (both Hawkeye/Hotlips AND Major Winchester and Klinger get lost while on the road in different episodes), and Northern Exposure (Joel and Maggie in a downed plane) and Get a Life (again, stranded on the roller coaster).
In article [email] (Jonathan D. Trudel) writes:
Wasn't there an episode of "I Love Lucy" where Lucy got locked inside a meat locker?
BTW -- both "The Brady Bunch" and "Diffrent Strokes" had episodes in which one brother "saved" another one's life -- then the one who had his life saced feels he has to save the other one's life in return.
Don't forget the great episode of "Happy Days" where Richie, Potsie, Ralph, The Fonz, and a couple of bimbos get trapped in the basement of what I believe is the hardware store. The Fonz had come to rescue them and he got stuck also. Correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't seen that particular episode in probably ten years.
If memory serves, Jennifer and Herb get stuck in an elevator when the building was on fire. And, oddly enough, Jennifer finds out Herb isn't so bad after all and actually loves his wife, played by Edie McLurg who does the voice of Mrs. Oliver in the Seinfeld episode "The Old Man" (just *had* to get that ObSeinfeld in there...)
Anyway, just avoiding any real work, Scott --- By day, [email], by night, rec.sport.hockey Ottawa Senators Contact TODAY'S .SIG: [Pay heed, for this quote/word/fact may alter your very being!] "(Chad) Erickson was a complete joke. He will never play for us again. The guy who drafted him should be dead." -- Cincinnati coach Dennis Derosiers )-> In case it's not obvious, BNR and I may or may not share these views. <-(
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"Family Ties" (basement); unsure about double points.
"Cheers" HAS done this.
Sam and Rebecca were trapped in Robin Colcord's apartment by the security system.
In article , [email] (Dan Thedens) writes...
Also, Cliff and Carla stayed overnight at a house Carla bought that was built on top of an old graveyard. Carla was thrilled to find out that it was cheap not because haunted, but because it was near an airport. I also vaguely remember an episode where two cast members were trapped in the basement of Cheers. I don't remember who it was (maybe Carla and Woody) but I do remember that the basement door is near the stairs to Melville's. Alex
The "Brit-com" _Are_You_Being_Served_ used this device a lot,
by trapping the whole crew in the store overnight (camping out
in the store, Ms. Slokum's "apartment" inside the store, etc.)
And there was a story told about Mr. Grace, Ms. Slokum, and
Ms. Brahms (sp?) being trapped in an elevator.In article ,
I hate to say this to you, Dennis, but there are only so many story lines in all the forms of story telling, TV, Movies, radio, books, fairytales, mythic tales. One of the sure signs of getting older is to have younger people tell you how fresh the plot was of some movie or sitcom and you can think of more than one time where you remember someone or something using it before. Actually, I think that Hollywood has totally given up on trying to acquire new material. Everytime I see a trailer on TV, it seems to be a remake of a movie I saw as a kid. I have heard that they are now troughing thru the french movies for new twists on old plot lines and seeing the American version of that french film about the woman who is trained to be an assassin tends to make be believe this bit of gossip. I mean how old was that french version, a year; a year and a half. That's fast. They at least waited a few years before they made the aAmerican version of three men and a baby.
If you read Homer's tales, Shakespeare, Chaucer, all the greek myths, bible, collected tales in Campbells books and categorized them, I doubt if you could find any plot line not covered with contemporary trappings dressing the core of the plot.
Just for giggles, try remembering all the common traits and trappings of the Columbo series. Then watch "Dial M for Murder" Hitchcock version. You will then see where the whole basic idea for Columbo came from.
In article [email] writes:
Yeah, "The Librarian's Tale" was always my favorite Canterbury Tale. And it's not often that you're lucky enough to catch a really top-notch production of "Much Ado About An Overdue Book".
--Andy
Not that I go out of my way to watch this or anything. (Its on in the morning while I'm eating breakfast, I swear) On Leave It To Beaver (the original series), poor little Beav lost a library book and someone put into his head the idea that his dad would be sent to jail.
I wish I had a gun and lived back in that era. :-)
Bryce
In article , [email] (Bryce Jasmer) wrote:
In MWC, Al Bundy forgets a library book and is forced to return it.
Ariel
In article , [email] (Bryce Jasmer) writes...