BETRAYAL THE

After watching Seinfeld last night I now have a new favorite episode! In fact, that's one of the greatest events I have ever had the fortune of witnessing on television. Beginning with the CastleRock Logo, followed by a freeze frame was great. Then running the credits in reverse order at the end of the show was great. I think actually seeing Susan at the very end was tops. But the entire idea of running the show backwards was brilliant! The episode would not have been half as funny in the usual order, (although it still would have been good) and the jokes were so much funnier when you had no idea what the punchline meant until hearing the joke for it a few seconds later. I wonder if the episode was written backwards, or if it was just rearranged that way after it was taped? I do have one regret. That is that something this amazing would have been great for the final episode. Now that it's been done they can't do it again. (It wouldn't be as amazing the second time) They'll have to find a way to top this. Also, when this hits syndication, will it be edited like every other episode, because if it is so much would be lost. I hope Jerry uses his influences to keep this from happening.

I would say they created the plot and wrote the original script in the forward, normal direction. Then they re-wrote the script backwards since that would allow them to "see" and add jokes unique to the backwards premise (like Kramer's cereal spill, etc.). How they shot it doesn't really matter since they can just edit the show into the final product.

"D. Unks" wrote:

I'm sure it was written to be played "backwards," the lollipop getting larger and the sneeze wouldn't be funny in forward time. Even the cereal in the drawer wouldn't be as funny, no sense of bizarreness in Jerry finding milk and cereal in the drawer. I do agree with a previous comment that the Right-wing rally episode would be especially suited to this. I think a big, dramatic ending/outcome to a minor plot twist in the front lends itself to to a reversal.

By the way, the was done before on television. The China Beach series had an episode where the Rikki Lake character gets pregnant and has an abortion that was played in reverse time with subtitles setting the time.

In a previous article, [email] (Single White Male) says:

I must first apologize for rarely dropping by this News Group, and secondly, I really do try to watch the Seinfeld show when I can; that said, I must state that --- upon seeing The Betrayal without knowledge of whether this was to be last show ever ---- I actually /did/ think it was the last show ever! I should think many other "ordinary viewers" (who, like me, have heard that Jerry Seinfeld wanted out of the show) immediately concluded THIS episode was the very last one to be played!

Filming it "backwards" (without actually running the film backwards) was a LITTLE unsettling, but not necessarily TOO MUCH so. I don't consider it as "brilliant" as others have deemed it; most collectors will just re-hash their video-recordings in a forward manner, anyway, and defeat the creative juices of the writers.

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As I am new to this News Group, can anybody answer the following questions:

1)  What ever happened to Poppy?  The last show I managed to see, he
    peed all over Jerry's couch.  Did he die since then?
2)  The Japanese tourists that slept in Kramer's dresser ---- did any of
    them have friends or relatives that showed up in subsequent Seinfeld
    episodes?
3)  The girl that was a member of some strange Greek Slavic Unorthodox
    religion.  The one that George was willing to abstain for, in order
    to marry, what ever happened to her?
4)  What ever happened to the police investigation in California that
    had something to do with serial murders perhaps connected with
    Kramer et al.?
5)  Elaine's rabbi ---- the one that blabbed about Elaine wanting to
    get married ---- wasn't he part of the Cast for FRIDAY's once
    upon a time?  Did he ever come back and do another Seinfeld episode?
6)  The dentist that got naked with his assistant while Jerry was "under"
    the gas ---- what happened to him?  Did he ever get his license
    revoked under some kind of scandal?
7)  And that "psycho-clown" episode --- my mom feels it ended as though
    it were the first part of a two-parter.  Who is right?

Since I am just an ordinary television viewer, I'll leave it to the rest of you to answer these very confusing questions!

I agree!

I don't know, they can't bring back all their recurring characters, with the exception of Newman, of course!

I don't think so.

I don't know, i don't even remember seeing that episode.

They never said anything more about it.

I don't know, and no he never came back.

I doubt it, this is Seinfeld.

Nope, it wasn't a two-parter, it just ended like that, nothing more said.

Sorry someone else can probabl answer them better than I did!

DLegler wrote:

The Rabbi was played by Bruce Mahler, and he was on FRIDAYS (like Michael Richards). He plays a Rabbi that happens to live in Elaine's building and Elaine consulted him earlier this season when she had "shicksappeal" to a Jewish father/son combo. The Rabbi also made a pass at her. (And who could blame him?)

Yes, and not only was BM on Fridays but he and Larry David had a running bit where they were orthodox Rabbis and they were hosting some sort of mock TV show. Like almost everything on that show, it was several galaxies from being funny.

Bye.