I've accomplished a (relatively) monumental task, that of watching all nine seasons of Seinfeld from start to finish. This monumental task is, actually, diminished by the fact that over the course of my life I have, at one point or another, watched every single Seinfeld episode ever made. There was not one episode in the entire collection that I did not recognize. I'm not sure what that says, or if it says anything, but the point is that I've always loved Seinfeld and I guess it shows.
In terms of the Seinfeld episodes, there was not much new for me to discover by watching the whole collection except for a couple of bits of information that I never quite pieced together before. These have added to my Seinfeld lore. For example, at the end of season two Jerry and Elaine reunite as a couple. This storyline was only there because the creators (Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David) were certain the show wouldn't be picked up for season three. But, it is not a storyline the creators wanted to pursue, which is why there is no continuity between seasons two and three. Also, I didn't realize David stopped writing for Seinfeld. Consequently, episodes from seasons 8 and 9 have a very different feel from what the beginning of the show was. In particular, I missed the opening bits of Seinfeld doing his standup comedy.
I also learned that Kramer's name was actually Kessler in the pilot, which connects to a subtle joke in episode 8 of season 9 (The Betrayal, the famous backwards episode) that has a scene where Jerry and Kramer meet for the first time and Jerry, trying to remember Kramer's name, says "It's Kessler, right?" Actually, I learned several other tidbits of information that I never knew, mostly from the DVD extras. My favorite DVD extra was the "Notes About Nothing." During the episodes, instead of subtitles, you can activate the notes, which contain trivia about the episodes, the storylines, the production, etc.
I also never quite realized how many jokes or situations from one episode resurface in later episodes. There are several running jokes like this that span entire seasons. It was also interesting to watch how much the show grew, from being on the brink of cancellation during the first few seasons to exploding into a huge hit. It went from being written solely by David (who really didn't want the gig to begin with) and Seinfeld to being written by a large team.
It's hard to pick favorite episodes but on the top of my list is The Opera, episode 9 from season 4. I think this one is my all time favorite because it has a creepy, suspenful feel to it with the stalker and the clown, and it also has Jerry doing a hilarious song and dance of the theme song from The Bugs Bunny Show, and Kramer singing bits from Pagliacci. From the "notes about nothing" I learned that the Crazy Joe Davola character was named after someone the writers actually knew. This is the character that stalks Elaine during the episode. In real life, Julia Louis-Dreyfus didn't know there was a real person named Joe Davola so she was seriously freaked out when the real Joe Davola introduced himself to her at a party, thinking it was a real stalker. The Betrayal is another really good episode, which can be watched forwards on the DVD (but it's better backwards). I also find that I've picked up quite a few Seinfeld lines that I say all the time: serenity now, look at it, these pretzels are making me thirsty, that's a shame, if that helps you.
I must acknowledge something that I knew back in 1998 when the episode first aired, and that is that the series finale was pretty bad. I'm sure the pressure was huge to end the series with a bang, and there's also the feeling that there just isn't a good enough ending to a show like this. But it went pretty bad there at the very end. I didn't have a problem with them ending up in jail and that part of the plot (that's actually not bad). And I also really liked that they brought back so many memorable guest characters. But the episode itself was too serious at times, and it was very fragmented, and some of the guest characters were not that funny. Worst of all, I was actually a bit bored. I had hoped that time would give me a different perspective, but I still think that was the worst Seinfeld episode. However, the hour-long clip show that preceded the series finale is another Seinfeld episode I would put at the top of my absolute favorites list. It certainly makes the list for best clip show for a sitcom, hands down.
I think the next DVD show I must compulsively own and watch is Stargate SG-1.
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