Hey guys, I could use a little help:
Which episode opens with George literally clicking his heels because his wedding to Susan has been postponed? George goes on to say that it feels as though he has been granted a stay of execution, at which point Jerry exclaims, "Dead Man Walkin' !!" Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael
It was The Friar's Club. That scene was one of the very few funny moments of what is considered to be the worst Seinfeld episode of the past 5 seasons.
In Robert Sacks writes:
It was no where near THAT bad! I don't even think it was bad at
all.
Why did everyone else hate it?-Simonfeld d:]
I can tell you why "The Friar's Club" is considered to be inferior. There were several good ideas that went totally unexplored. It was like the had a whole bunch of plot lines they didn't know what to do with and decided to dump them all into one episode.
(Bob Dylan has said that his song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" consists of opening lines of many songs he felt he would never have a chance to write before a nuclear holocaust. Leaving aside the fact that Bob is now pushing 60 and we haven't had that nuclear holocaust yet, the technique that made for a damn good song did not make for a damn good "Seinfeld.")
OK, you say, Salem, we've heard this from you before. You want examples? ("YOU CAN'T HANDLE EXAMPLES!") Here are several specifics:
1. The concept of Kramer sleeping only 20 minutes or so at a time had GREAT potential that was totally wasted! They had an improbable scenario of him falling asleep on top of his girlfriend and her mob friends coming in to dispose of the "body." You mean to tell me that he could be carried to a car and driven to the river and NOT WAKE UP?? Come on! Moreover, after he was dumped in the water, THERE WAS NO FOLLOW-UP! It had nothing to do with anything else in the story!
2. The build-up of the acrobats doing their acrobatic thing was a long set-up that led NOWHERE! After all that jumping and tumbling, I expected something hilarious to happen in the box. Instead, all the acrobat did was take Jerry's jacket and throw it into the crowd. Big whoop!
3. Rob Schneider's character was a big question-mark. Who was this guy? Why was he pretending to be deaf? He just seemed to be put in there to annoy Elaine. He had no interaction with any of the other characters or any of the other plot lines (such as they were). For contrast, compare it to the hilarious "Ball Man" episode, where Marlee Matlin as the deaf lineswoman COMPLETELY integrated into the plot and deafness was a theme that kept recurring in unexpectedly amusing ways throughout the show.
If anyone can refute these points and point out how ANY of this was humorous, I welcome your input!
guy? >Why was he pretending to be deaf? He just seemed to be put in there to >annoy Elaine. He had no interaction with any of the other characters or >any of the other plot lines (such as they were). For contrast, compare >it to the hilarious "Ball Man" episode, where Marlee Matlin as the deaf >lineswoman COMPLETELY integrated into the plot and deafness was a theme >that kept recurring in unexpectedly amusing ways throughout the show.
If anyone can refute these points and point out how ANY of this was
Well, it wasn't exactly humorous, but the Elaine plotline did tie in with the jacket plotline. Remember how Jerry and George run away and turn on the alarm, deafening Elaine who has been trying on the hearing aid?
Besides, if the deaf guy wasn't in there, everyone would have complained that Elaine "had nothing to do" in that episode.
But you're right - the plot wasn't all that funny, but then again, the funniest parts in "Seinfeld" are just about them talking. (IMHO)
-Simonfeld d:]
Maybe we've been spoiled by the usual high quality of the writing of the series and The Friars Club writing is definitely subpar. In most episodes of the show not a single scene or piece of dialogue is wasted, the show is usually so carefully scripted that every scene leads somewhere. The Friar's Club is an exception to this rule. Eg., the scene where Jerry tries to determine if Bob Grossberg is deaf by trying to get his attention while Grossberg is urinating goes nowhere. You can eliminate this entire scene and nothing would be missed.