100 best Seinfeld episodes of all time
NBC
100 best Seinfeld episodes of all time
Jerry wearing a ruffled shirt with Kramer behind him.
Throughout its nine-season run from 1989 to 1998, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s sitcom “Seinfeld” upended every conceivable norm that society could throw its way. A sitcom landscape once dominated by family-oriented fare was taken over by four perennially single friends—Jerry (played by himself), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards)—whose Manhattan-based misadventures made for some of television’s most memorable moments.
It’s no wonder the show still endures by way of reruns and streaming services like Netflix, which paid $500 million for the rights to “Seinfeld” for five years, starting in 2021, when Hulu’s $180 million deal expired.
Frequently advertised as a show about nothing, “Seinfeld” was, in fact, quite the opposite. Specifically, the 180-episode series knit together multiple seemingly unrelated storylines to masterful effect within any given episode, ultimately leaving no subject unexplored. One might even say that “Seinfeld” was so adept at layering plots within plots—and jokes within jokes—that it can be hard to remember which joke came from which episode.
Here, Stacker ranked the 100 best “Seinfeld” episodes of all time. The list was curated using IMDb user ratings as of November 2022; if two episodes have the same rating, the number of user votes is used to break the tie. Counting down from #100 to #1, here are the best episodes from one of the most celebrated television comedies of all time.
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#100. The Doorman
Jerry talks to a doorman.
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 6, episode 17
– Air date: Feb. 23, 1995
In this iconic sixth-season episode, Jerry and Elaine square off against a diabolical doorman (played by Larry Miller). It begins when Elaine is asked to house-sit for her boss, Mr. Pitt (played by Ian Abercrombie), who lives in a fancy building. Jerry comes to pick up Elaine for a movie and is convinced by the surly doorman to watch the lobby for a few minutes, only to abandon his post quickly. When a couch is stolen, Jerry and Elaine find themselves embroiled in the theft.
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#99. The Pledge Drive
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 6, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 6, 1994
When Jerry agrees to help with a volunteer PBS pledge drive, it brings to light that he never cashes his birthday checks from his grandmother, Nana, which outrages Kramer. Jerry decides to appease Kramer and cash the checks. But they were written from an old account that Jerry’s mass cash-in overdraws. A series of mix-ups and misunderstood hand gestures lead to Nana calling into the pledge drive and Kramer convincing her to donate $1,500.
This is also the episode that brought us the term “high-talker” (referring to Elaine’s friend’s high-pitched voice) and introduced us to the concept that class equates with eating a Snickers bar with a knife and fork (Ã la Elaine’s boss, Mr. Pitt).
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#98. The Gymnast
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 6, episode 6
– Air date: Nov. 3, 1994
This episode aired during what was billed as “Blackout Thursday,” when NBC’s Must See TV lineup—”Mad About You,” “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” and “Madman of the People”—were all supposed to center around a power outage in New York City. Always one to buck the trend, “Seinfeld” did not actually include a blackout in this episode. Instead, it centered on Jerry’s short-lived relationship with Katya (played by Elina Löwensohn), an Olympic gymnast who took home a silver medal in 1984, who Jerry believes will be equally as talented in the bedroom. Later, we learn she was only with him because she thought the same about comedians.
Meanwhile, George horrifies his girlfriend’s mother, Lindsay (played by Jessica Hecht), when he downs a partially eaten chocolate éclair from the trash. Later, he makes matters worse by entering her party shirtless. Elsewhere, Kramer passes a kidney stone, and a 3D painting causes Elaine trouble with Mr. Pitt.
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#97. The Ticket
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 4, episode 4
– Air date: Sept. 16, 1992
The fourth season of “Seinfeld” saw Larry David and company exploring new creative terrain, with Jerry and George pitching their own “Seinfeld”-esque show. In “The Ticket,” Jerry and George meet with NBC executives to discuss their sitcom idea. Along the way, they keep an eye out for Crazy Joe Davola (played by Peter Crombie), a pathological stalker who kicked Kramer in the head during the previous episode. As a result of the kick, Kramer now suffers from a temporary mental disorder.
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#96. The Dinner Party
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 5, episode 13
– Air date: Feb. 3, 1994
Ah, yes, the “Seinfeld” episode that introduced non-New Yorkers to the glory of babka, a Jewish dessert in which chocolate is the superior variety and cinnamon is, as Elaine says, the “lesser babka.” She and Jerry stop at a bakery to pick up a babka en route to a dinner party while George and Kramer head to a wine shop after Elaine says they can’t show up without cake and wine. Things don’t go as planned, and a black and white cookie, another Jewish delicacy, causes Jerry to end his nonvomit streak after 14 years.
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#95. The Opera
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 4, episode 9
– Air date: Nov. 4, 1992
As Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer head to a production of the Italian opera “Pagliacci,” the episode’s plot starts to mimic that of the opera. Elaine’s boyfriend, Crazy Joe Davola, starts to suspect she and Jerry are having an affair, and when she sees photos of herself from his investigation lining his wall, she maces him with cherry Binaca. Joe shows up at the opera in a full Pagliaccio costume and Kramer accidentally sells him one of their extra tickets.
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#94. The Parking Space
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 3, episode 21
– Air date: April 22, 1992
Everyone is supposed to be watching the big fight at Jerry’s apartment. Instead, all eyes are focused on a different kind of fight going down curbside. Specifically, George and a man named Mike Moffitt (played by Lee Arenberg) bicker over the rights to a parking spot, since one man was backing into the spot while the other was sliding in front-first. Every onlooker—including two police officers—take sides in the dispute, which was inspired by an incident that happened to writer Greg Daniels’ father.
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#93. The Alternate Side
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 3, episode 11
– Air date: Dec. 4, 1991
In this unforgettable episode, Kramer is cast in a Woody Allen movie and tasked with delivering one line of dialogue: “These pretzels are making me thirsty.” The film shoot takes its toll on George, who has agreed to park cars on behalf of the block’s residents to help them avoid tickets. Also featured in the episode is a famous sequence involving Jerry and a car rental agent, who doesn’t seem to have a car available even though Jerry made a reservation.
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#92. The Revenge
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 2, episode 7
– Air date: April 18, 1991
Showing an early knack for straddling multiple storylines before the narrative device was popularized, this episode finds George, Jerry, and Kramer plotting revenge against the people who wronged them. In George’s case, it’s his former boss, and for Jerry and Kramer, it’s a dry cleaner who may have stolen money. Newman is first introduced as a character in this episode; however, he’s voiced by Larry David and doesn’t appear on-screen.
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#91. The Deal
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 2, episode 9
– Air date: May 2, 1991
The romantic relationship between Jerry Seinfeld and Elaine Benes was purely the stuff of backstory over the course of nine seasons, with one notable exception: 1991’s “The Deal.” In this episode, the two formulate a plan to allow them to enjoy each other’s company as friends and lovers. Needless to say, the plan doesn’t work out as intended. Written by Larry David, the Emmy-nominated episode poked sly jabs at NBC’s request for more romantic friction between Jerry and Elaine.
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#90. The Pen
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 3, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 2, 1991
Jerry visits his parents at their senior community in Florida, where he meets an ill-tempered resident named Jack Klompus (played by Sandy Baron). When Klompus insists that Jerry take a beloved space pen as a gift, Jerry begrudgingly accepts, putting all sorts of problems in motion—some of which would play out over the course of future episodes. This was one of the only episodes not to feature all four of the show’s main characters.
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#89. The Note
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 3, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 18, 1991
The third season of “Seinfeld” opened with “The Note,” one of the few episodes that gave Jerry Seinfeld a writing credit. In the episode, Jerry, Elaine, and George have Jerry’s dentist forge a doctor’s note so that they can all get free massages. Jerry’s massage goes off the rails when he makes some inappropriate comments regarding child abduction, while George suffers a sexual identity crisis after becoming slightly aroused by the expert touch of his male masseuse.
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#88. The Jacket
– IMDb user rating: 8.2
– Season 2, episode 3
– Air date: Feb. 6, 1991
Audiences meet Elaine’s surly father for the first and only time. Played by Lawrence Tierney with perhaps a little too much authenticity, Mr. Benes doesn’t take kindly to Jerry or George and their light-hearted, humorous ways. According to legend, Tierney was originally supposed to have a recurring role on the show, but his bizarre behavior on set convinced the cast it was better not to invite him back.
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#87. The Wait Out
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 7, episode 21
– Air date: May 9, 1996
By the seventh season, any given episode of “Seinfeld” was straddling multiple storylines at once—”The Wait Out” is no exception. The episode begins with George’s off-hand comment—”You can do a lot better than him!”—to a recurring character who’s about to get married, prompting her to reconsider the engagement. Meanwhile, Kramer struggles to fit into a pair of jeans, invariably leading to at least two different situational mishaps.
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#86. The Sponge
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 7, episode 9
– Air date: Dec. 7, 1995
Elaine’s favorite contraceptive, the sponge, is being taken off the market in this classic episode. Elaine buys up every remaining sponge in the city to play it safe, then finds herself struggling to determine whether her new boyfriend is truly “sponge-worthy.” In the same episode, Jerry snags a woman’s phone number from an AIDS charity walk list, then works overtime to keep the information from George—who has a habit of sharing secrets with Susan.
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#85. The Pool Guy
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 7, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 16, 1995
Worlds collide in “The Pool Guy,” which sees Elaine forging a friendship with George’s fiancée, Susan (played by Heidi Swedberg). As George explains, Susan can never be part of their gang, if only because it ruins his ability to compartmentalize between “independent George” and “relationship George.” Meanwhile, Jerry has his own problems. Specifically, he can’t rid himself of the pool guy from his gym, who seems to be under the impression that the two are great friends.
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#84. The Little Jerry
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 8, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 9, 1997
Jerry bounces a clown-themed check at the local deli, which is then displayed for all to see. The only way Jerry can get his dignity back is if Kramer’s new rooster, “Little Jerry,” purposely loses its next fight. As if that weren’t ridiculous enough, George chances upon the stuff of his wildest fantasies after striking up a sexual relationship with a female prison inmate.
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#83. The Burning
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 9, episode 16
– Air date: March 19, 1998
George learns the value of leaving the room on a comedic high note. Elsewhere, Kramer and his friend Mickey Abbott (played by Danny Woodburn) fight over roles while acting out diseases for medical students. Speaking of diseases, Jerry’s girlfriend of the week believes she once contracted an STD after riding a tractor. Meanwhile, Elaine suffers deep disappointment upon discovering that Puddy is religious.
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#82. The Handicap Spot
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 4, episode 22
– Air date: May 13, 1993
The gang finds themselves in the crosshairs of an angry mob after George parks his father’s car in a handicap spot, inadvertently causing injury to a woman in a wheelchair. When it initially aired, this was the first episode to feature Jerry Stiller as George’s father, Frank Costanza. For continuity, the crew reshot scenes from previous episodes, substituting Stiller for his predecessor (actor John Randolph).
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#81. The Barber
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 5, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 11, 1993
Jerry agrees to participate in a bachelor auction for Elaine, who asks him to get a haircut for the occasion. Jerry hasn’t been thrilled by the work of his regular barber, Enzo (Antony Ponzini), so Kramer recommends Enzo’s nephew Gino (David Ciminello) on Enzo’s day off. Unfortunately, Enzo shows up anyway and gives Jerry a worse-than-usual haircut.
Kramer sets up a secret appointment for Jerry at Gino’s apartment to remedy the awful look. But again, Enzo turns up unexpectedly after Gino snips just one lock of Jerry’s hair, forcing him to hide in the closet. Enzo finds the hair on the floor and grows suspicious, bribing Newman to get a sample of Jerry’s hair to compare to the mystery strand. When they match, Enzo confronts them. Jerry, realizing who ratted him out, shaves Newman’s hair off completely.
Oh, and George gets a new job but quits only a week in after a series of miscommunications. That darn Pensky file.
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#80. The Trip: Part 2
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 4, episode 2
– Air date: August 19, 1992
Representing a radical departure for “Seinfeld,” seasons three and four delivered a three-part story arc in which Kramer moves to Los Angeles to pursue acting and ends up being mistaken for a serial killer known as the “Smog Strangler.” The action culminates in “The Trip: Part Two,” with Jerry and George trying to clear their friend’s name. Look for cameos from Larry David and writer and director Larry Charles, both of whom appear in the background during an apartment hallway scene.
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#79. The Keys
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 3, episode 22
– Air date: May 6, 1992
In the season three finale, the first of a three-part story arc, Jerry kicks off a series of mishaps after asking Kramer for his spare keys back. Feeling disillusioned by the ordeal, Kramer leaves New York for Los Angeles at the end of the episode. Consider it the closest “Seinfeld” ever got to a genuine cliffhanger.
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#78. The Red Dot
– IMDb user rating: 8.3
– Season 3, episode 12
– Air date: Dec. 11, 1991
George initially struggled to find work during the early seasons of “Seinfeld” before scoring a sweet job with the New York Yankees. In this episode, Elaine helps by getting George a job at her company, Pendant Publishing. How does George thank her? By buying her a defective sweater and sleeping with the cleaning lady, naturally.
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#77. The Slicer
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 9, episode 7
– Air date: Nov. 13, 1997
After losing his job with the Yankees, George is once again looking for work in season nine, potentially finding a new gig at a company called Kruger Industrial Smoothing. The only problem is that George and his new boss were involved in a contentious showdown at the beach years ago, and it’s only a matter of time before the boss remembers him.
Elaine, whose neighbor went on vacation and forgot to turn off the alarm, faces her own ordeal. After blowing the neighbor’s electrical fuse, Elaine discovers that she killed both the alarm and the automatic cat feeder. Enter: Kramer’s deli slicer, which she and Kramer use to slide meat under the neighbor’s door.
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#76. The Shower Head
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 7, episode 15
– Air date: Feb. 15, 1996
Playing out one of Jerry’s worst nightmares, this episode has the characters’ parents visiting New York and pestering him on a daily basis. Jerry resorts to shamelessly deceptive measures to get his parents back to Florida. The plan goes awry, however, after the Costanzas decide to move into the same Florida living community as the Seinfelds, prompting the Seinfelds to rethink their entire agenda. Meanwhile, Kramer and Newman buy super-powerful shower heads, and Elaine’s drug test comes back positive for opium.
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#75. The Andrea Doria
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 8, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 19, 1996
In “The Andrea Doria,” George is set to move into a new apartment until the building’s tenant association decides to lease it to a boat wreck survivor instead. Meanwhile, Elaine finds herself dating a man who’s notoriously bad at break-ups, with multiple injuries to show for it.
The episode also features Jerry’s neighbor and arch nemesis, Newman (played by Wayne Knight), who must deliver a massive volume of delinquent mail to secure a transfer to Hawaii. Seizing the opportunity to get Newman out of his life, Jerry delivers the mail instead. But the plan backfires after Jerry does the job a little too well.
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#74. The Secret Code
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 7, episode 7
– Air date: Nov. 9, 1995
The word “Bosco” never hit the same after this hilarious episode. More than a popular chocolate sauce, “Bosco” is George’s secret bank code, which he refuses to disclose to even his closest friends. In a moment of weakness, George tells the code to J. Peterman’s ailing mother, who utters it repeatedly before passing away. Peterman (played by John O’Hurley) becomes obsessed with the word, sending George into a panic.
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#73. The Muffin Tops
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 8, episode 21
– Air date: May 8, 1997
George is mistaken for a tourist by an attractive woman from the tourist bureau. When he decides to go along with it, the move ultimately costs him his cushy job with the New York Yankees. Elsewhere, Elaine and her former boss go into business selling muffin tops and end up with too many stumps on their hands.
There to help is Kramer, who’s started a reality bus tour after having all his life stories stolen by J. Peterman. Kenny Kramer, Larry David’s former neighbor, provides the real-life inspiration for Kramer’s tour (the real-life Kramer launched a similar enterprise when “Seinfeld” was at the height of its success).
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#72. The Dealership
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 9, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 8, 1998
Revisiting a tradition established during the early days of “Seinfeld,” this episode centers most of its action in an alternate location. As the title suggests, that location is a car dealership, which Jerry visits in hopes of getting a nice discount from Puddy, who works there. Joining Jerry for the occasion is Elaine—who fights with Puddy and George, who fights with an auto mechanic over candy bars. Meanwhile, Kramer pushes the concept of a test drive to its furthest limits, potentially costing a salesman his job.
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#71. The Voice
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 9, episode 2
– Air date: Oct. 2, 1997
Jerry and his friends poke fun at his new girlfriend’s navel, personifying it with a voice that says, “Helloooo! La la la.” When the girlfriend finds out, she delivers an ultimatum: either the voice goes, or she does. Jerry is suddenly confronted with a very difficult and very mature decision.
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#70. The Face Painter
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 6, episode 22
– Air date: May 11, 1995
One of the show’s most memorable guest characters was David Puddy (played by Patrick Warburton), Elaine’s on-again-off-again boyfriend during the later seasons. In “The Face Painter,” Puddy shows off his New Jersey Devils pride, traumatizing a priest in the process. Meanwhile, George boldly professes his love for a zookeeper, but can’t tell if she heard what he said. Also featured in the episode is a battle of wills: Kramer versus a monkey at the zoo.
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#69. The Butter Shave
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 9, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 25, 1997
Season nine opens with George on the hunt for a new job and Kramer on the hunt for a better shave. George ends up at a toy company, where he becomes persona non grata after faking an injury to use a better bathroom. Kramer ends up slathering himself in butter, lying on the rooftop, and overcooking himself.
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#68. The Raincoats
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 5, episode 18
– Air date: April 28, 1994
Another hour-long episode split into two parts, season five’s “The Raincoats” finds Jerry’s parents stopping in New York on their way to Paris. While in the city, Mr. Seinfeld returns to the raincoat business after discovering that a coat he once designed is surging on the secondhand market. In the meantime, the Seinfelds scheme their way out of dinner with the Costanzas, who they “can’t stand.”
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#67. The Smelly Car
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 4, episode 21
– Air date: April 15, 1993
“It’s a presence! It’s the beast!” declares Jerry in this episode. He’s describing the virulent, indestructible smell that a parking valet left in his car. Meanwhile, George bumps into his old girlfriend—and future fiancée—Susan, only to discover she’s now dating women. However, Susan ends up with her own relationship troubles once her girlfriend runs into Kramer’s arms.
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#66. The Lip Reader
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 5, episode 6
– Air date: Oct. 28, 1993
Jerry starts dating a lineswoman (played by actress Marlee Matlin), who is deaf with the ability to read lips. After George catches wind of her talent, he asks her to read lips on his behalf, hoping he can figure out why a former lover spontaneously dumped him. Series writer Carol Leifer came up with the idea after listening to deaf comedian Kathy Buckley tell a similar story on “The Howard Stern Show.”
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#65. The Glasses
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 5, episode 3
– Air date: Sept. 30, 1993
In this episode, poor eyesight strings together a series of comedic storylines. It all starts when George loses his glasses at the health club and sees who he thinks is Jerry’s girlfriend kissing Jerry’s cousin. Hoping to replace the glasses at a discount, George visits an optometrist who owes Kramer a favor, eventually walking out with a pair of women’s glasses. While tagging along, Elaine is bitten by a dog and soon begins to exhibit psychosomatic signs of rabies.
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#64. The Cigar Store Indian
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 5, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 9, 1993
Exploring themes of cultural appropriation and political correctness, Jerry buys a cigar store Indian in this episode, presenting it to Elaine as a gift. This doesn’t bode well for Jerry’s current crush, a friend of Elaine’s who happens to be Native American. The episode finds Jerry walking on eggshells as he tries to avoid common phrases that might be construed as racially insensitive. Things turn for the worse when the woman asks for her TV Guide back after telling Jerry he could keep it, which prompts Jerry to nearly utter a harsh colloquialism.
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#63. The Non-Fat Yogurt
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 5, episode 7
– Air date: Nov. 4, 1993
A nonfat yogurt trend has taken New York by storm in this episode. As it turns out, however, the yogurt might not be as free of fat as it purports. That might explain Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s high cholesterol. Well, that or the fact that a scientist tainted Giuliani’s blood while making out with Kramer.
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#62. The Pez Dispenser
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 3, episode 14
– Air date: Jan. 15, 1992
In this episode, a Pez dispenser causes Elaine to burst into laughter at George’s girlfriend’s piano recital. Luckily for George, his girlfriend doesn’t know where the laughter came from, at least not for the time being. When she eventually finds out, she breaks up with George, taking away his short-lived upper hand.
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#61. The Fix Up
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 3, episode 16
– Air date: Feb. 5, 1992
In this Emmy-winning episode, George reluctantly agrees to be fixed up on a date with Elaine’s close friend, Cynthia (played by Maggie Wheeler). While George initially fears the worst, he and Cynthia end up hitting it off, getting romantic in George’s kitchen. As it turns out, however, both parties didn’t necessarily see the date in the same light and the episode becomes an interesting play on perspectives.
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#60. The Cafe
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 3, episode 7
– Air date: Nov. 6, 1991
Jerry offers what he thinks is sage advice in this episode when a Pakistani man named Babu Bhatt (played by Brian George) opens a restaurant in the neighborhood. Taking Jerry’s suggestions to heart, Babu redesigns his menu and begins serving authentic Pakistani food. When the restaurant still fails, Jerry wonders if his pearls of wisdom weren’t so wise. Meanwhile, Elaine helps George cheat on an IQ test, only to botch the answers.
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#59. The Phone Message
– IMDb user rating: 8.4
– Season 2, episode 4
– Air date: Feb. 13, 1991
George is in quite a predicament upon leaving a series of awkward voice messages on a woman’s answering machine. Upon discovering that the woman has been away for a few days and presumably out of contact with her machine, George and Jerry concoct a scheme to replace the answering machine tape before she can press play. Larry David reportedly based this plot on a similar, real-life incident.
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#58. The Summer of George
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 8, episode 22
– Air date: May 15, 1997
It’s “The Summer of George” in the eighth season finale, which finds George receiving a severance package, setting proactive goals, and failing to achieve most of them. In the same episode, Kramer serves as a seat-filler at the Tony Awards and gets whisked on stage to accept an award he didn’t earn. As it turns out, Kramer can keep the award under one condition: he must fire the notoriously difficult Raquel Welch from a play. The episode climaxes with George slipping on the stairs and ending up in the hospital, mirroring the seventh season finale.
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#57. The English Patient
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 8, episode 17
– Air date: March 13, 1997
Another eighth-season classic, this episode finds Elaine at odds with just about everyone over her negative opinion of the award-winning film, “The English Patient.” Meanwhile, Jerry visits his parents’ gym in Florida, where he meets an uber-competitive 80-year-old man named Izzy Mandelbaum (played by Lloyd Bridges).
Izzy throws out his back lifting weights, and ends up in the hospital, soon joined by his own son and father. That’s bad news for the Mandelbaum crepe franchise, which now needs people to roll the crepes. There to fill the void are several Dominican cigar rollers sourced by Kramer. As if that wasn’t enough plot already, the episode also features a storyline where George begins dating a woman far out of his league after she mistakes him for a previous boyfriend.
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#56. The Comeback
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 8, episode 13
– Air date: Jan. 30, 1997
In this episode, George gets one-upped at a business meeting and refuses to let the insult go. Armed with what he thinks is the perfect response, he proposes all sorts of crazy business ideas to management in hopes of landing another meeting with the man who insulted him. When the moment finally arrives, George is one-upped again. Left with no other choice, George proclaims, “Oh yeah? Well, I had sex with your wife!” only to find out the man’s wife is in a coma.
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#55. The Label Maker
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 6, episode 12
– Air date: Jan. 19, 1995
Before earning accolades for his roles on shows like “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Breaking Bad,” actor Bryan Cranston played dentist Dr. Tim Whatley on “Seinfeld.” In this episode, Elaine discovers that Dr. Whatley regifted a label-maker she once gave him. When she confronts him about the gift, they end up making out on Whatley’s doorstep. Speaking of romance, George has found himself a new girlfriend, and she has a dream apartment featuring a luxe velvet couch. The only catch is that the girlfriend lives with a roommate who looks just like George.
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#54. The Cadillac
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 7, episode 14
– Air date: Feb. 8, 1996
A special hour-long episode divided into two parts, “The Cadillac” follows Jerry as he heads down to Florida to gift his dad a fancy new car. However, the gift doesn’t exactly go as planned, with everyone in the neighborhood suddenly thinking Jerry’s dad is too good for them. Back in New York, George goes on a date with actress Marisa Tomei, even though he’s engaged.
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#53. The Pie
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 5, episode 15
– Air date: Feb. 17, 1994
Inspired by one of Jerry Seinfeld’s personal experiences, this episode finds Jerry on a date with a woman who refuses to taste a piece of pie and won’t say why. The episode introduces guest character Poppie (played by Reni Santoni), an emphatic restaurant owner with questionable hygiene. Also featured in the episode is a mannequin that bears a striking resemblance to Elaine.
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#52. The Pick
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 4, episode 13
– Air date: Dec. 16, 1992
Embarrassment abounds in this episode. Elaine sends out a personalized Christmas card that is a little too personal. Then, Jerry’s girlfriend thinks she sees him picking his nose, which more or less ends the relationship. That same girlfriend works at Calvin Klein, which has a new beach-themed fragrance on the market: Ocean. The only problem is Kramer thought of the idea first.
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#51. The Cheever Letters
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 4, episode 8
– Air date: Oct. 28, 1992
Jerry gives dirty bedroom talk his best shot and upsets his date in the process. Similarly out of her element is Susan, who discovers that her father once had a torrid love affair with author John Cheever. As luck would have it, the secret never would have come out had Kramer not burned down her father’s cabin in a previous episode.
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#50. The Library
– IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Season 3, episode 5
– Air date: Oct. 16, 1991
The closest “Seinfeld” ever got to “Rashomon” was this episode, in which Jerry swears he returned “The Tropic of Cancer” back to the library in 1971. After speaking with some people from his past, however, Jerry realizes his memory might not be as sharp as he thought. Putting on the pressure is a library cop named Sam Bookman, played by actor Philip Baker Hall. By the end of the episode, Jerry and George are no closer to finding out what happened to the book. Just before the credits roll, it’s revealed that the book ended up in the hands of their old gym coach, Mr. Heyman, who’s now homeless and living outside the library.
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#49. The Susie
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 8, episode 15
– Air date: Feb. 13, 1997
Larry David exited “Seinfeld” after the seventh season, but that didn’t stop the eighth season from churning out some of the show’s most iconic episodes. Among them was “The Susie,” in which Elaine gets mistaken by a co-worker for someone named Susie. Once the situation escalates, Elaine and Jerry realize they have no choice but to kill off the nonexistent woman. The episode ends at Susie’s funeral, where J. Peterman confesses that he and the actual Susie were once an item, and Jerry and Elaine are accused of murder.
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#48. The Package
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 8, episode 5
– Air date: Oct. 17, 1996
In this episode, Jerry and Kramer commit mail fraud, triggering an intense showdown with Newman at the post office. George and Elaine have their own respective adventures. For George, that means engaging in what he thinks is a tit-for-tat picture exchange with an attractive girl at the photo place. For Elaine, it’s searching all over New York for a doctor who will tend to her rash and coming up empty-handed after being labeled as “difficult” on her medical report.
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#47. The Hot Tub
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 5
– Air date: Oct. 19, 1995
Jeremiah Birkett plays Jean-Paul, a professional runner who once overslept on the morning of an important Olympic race, missing the event. Jean-Paul is now staying at Elaine’s for the New York City Marathon, but Jerry doesn’t trust Elaine with timekeeping duties. Taking the runner under his wing, Jerry gets increasingly paranoid that he’ll fail to get Jean-Paul up in time for the race. Practically ensuring as much is Kramer’s infamous hot tub, which blows a fuse in the building, setting back all the clocks.
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#46. The Caddy
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 12
– Air date: Jan. 25, 1996
In this episode, Kramer and Jerry get into a car crash after being distracted by Sue Ellen Mischke (played by Brenda Strong), a formerly braless candy bar heiress who now wears a bra—a gift from Elaine—as a top. With his golf swing compromised from the crash, Kramer takes Sue Ellen Mischke to court, where his caddy suggests that she try on the bra that distracted them. In an obvious nod to the O.J. Simpson trial, the bra doesn’t fit, and the lawsuit falls apart.
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#45. The Wink
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 4
– Air date: Oct. 12, 1995
A squirt of juice from a grapefruit causes George to develop an uncontrollable winking habit. Misconstruing one of George’s winks is Kramer, who consequently sells a birthday card signed by the New York Yankees, meant for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The card ends up in the hands of a little boy, who will give it back if Paul O’Neill hits two home runs in the next game.
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#44. The Engagement
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 21, 1995
The premiere of season seven presented viewers with long-term commitment, a concept they never expected to play out on “Seinfeld.” Specifically, the episode finds George proposing to former girlfriend Susan Ross, kicking off an arc that would run through the entire season. On the opposite side of the tracks is Elaine, who hires Kramer and Newman to kidnap a dog that’s been keeping her up at night, only to subsequently wonder if she has hit rock bottom.
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#43. The Gum
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 14, 1995
Lunacy is in the air in this episode, which sees the return of guest character Lloyd Braun (now played by Matt McCoy). Having just been released from a psychiatric institution, Braun seeks a mentor in Kramer, overseeing a revival movie theater reopening. George is experiencing his own mental breakdown and is convinced that a cashier at the diner shorted him $20. Jerry’s not having such a normal day either—he did just buy $100 worth of Chinese gum, after all.
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#42. The Bottle Deposit
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 20
– Air date: May 2, 1996
In another two-part episode, “The Bottle Deposit” follows Kramer and Newman as they embark on a cross-country journey in a mail truck, all to play the margins in a bottle deposit scheme—which, as it turns out, is illegal in real life. The plan is compromised when Kramer spots Jerry’s stolen car and hastily gives chase, only to have JFK’s golf clubs thrown at the mail truck windshield. Abandoning the truck, Kramer and Newman make their way to a farm, where chaos naturally ensues.
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#41. The Stall
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 5, episode 12
– Air date: Jan. 6, 1994
Jerry’s girlfriend Jane (played by Jami Gertz) won’t share her toilet paper and doesn’t have a “square to spare” when Elaine begs for one from the adjacent bathroom stall. To avoid a potential disaster, Jerry goes to great lengths to keep Jane and Elaine apart. Speaking of disaster, George and Kramer go rock-climbing with Elaine’s boyfriend, Tony, who ends up falling and smashing his handsome face.
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#40. The Fire
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 5, episode 20
– Air date: May 5, 1994
Starring Jon Favreau as Eric the clown, this episode takes George’s self-centeredness to some truly shameless heights. It begins when a fire breaks out during a boy’s birthday party. George—who’s dating the boy’s mother—swiftly adopts an “every man for himself” attitude, pummeling both old women and young children on his way out the door. In other words: classic George.
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#39. The Pitch
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 4, episode 3
– Air date: Sept. 16, 1992
While the “Seinfeld” writers frequently modeled their story ideas after real-life experiences, Larry David took that concept to the next level in season four, when he incorporated a story arc based loosely on the show’s own origins. Kicking off the arc is “The Pitch,” in which George and Jerry put together a sitcom “based on nothing.” The sitcom television landscape—and “Seinfeld” itself—was never quite the same.
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#38. The Pilot
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 4, episode 23
– Air date: May 20, 1993
Not to be confused with the show’s actual pilot, season four’s hour-long episode “The Pilot” sees Jerry and George’s sitcom finally hitting the airwaves. No longer exclusively a show about nothing, “Jerry” stars Jerry himself in the lead role: a middle-aged New Yorker who ends up with a court-ordered butler on his hands. After being viewed by a swath of “Seinfeld” characters, NBC cancels the pilot abruptly. Thankfully, “Seinfeld” didn’t suffer a similar fate when it first aired in 1989, despite suffering low ratings at the time.
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#37. The Mango
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 5, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 16, 1993
In the season five premiere, Jerry suffers a sexual identity crisis when Elaine reveals that she faked pleasure during some of their previous encounters. To make up for it, Jerry persuades Elaine to give him one last chance in the bedroom, where he struggles to perform. Perhaps one of Kramer’s mangos, supposedly an aphrodisiac, will help.
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#36. The Invitations
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 7, episode 22
– Air date: May 16, 1996
Season seven ended on a rather dark—albeit thoroughly comedic—note with “The Invitations.” In the episode, George is crippled by stress over his upcoming wedding, then granted a last-minute reprieve when Susan spontaneously passes away. The cause of her death? Licking the poisonous envelopes for their wedding invitations, naturally. Not including the series finale, this was the last episode written by Larry David before he exited the show.
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#35. The Implant
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 4, episode 19
– Air date: Feb. 25, 1993
In this episode, Jerry has mammaries on his mind as he struggles to figure out whether or not a girl named Sidra (played by Teri Hatcher) has breast implants. To get to the bottom—or top—of things, he enlists help from Elaine, who accidentally lunges at Sidra’s bosom in the gym sauna. Despite the encounter, Elaine’s diagnosis remains inconclusive. When Jerry’s plot is eventually exposed, Sidra heads out the door, but not before informing Jerry that “they’re real, and they’re spectacular.”
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#34. The Chinese Restaurant
– IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Season 2, episode 11
– Air date: May 23, 1991
Reportedly inspired by Larry David’s own experiences waiting for a table at Los Angeles restaurant Genghis Cohen, this groundbreaking episode finds Jerry and the gang waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant. And that’s pretty much the whole premise. For somewhat obvious reasons, NBC initially balked at the idea, until David threatened to quit the show. In the end, David won, and television history was made.
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#33. The Pothole
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 8, episode 16
– Air date: Feb. 20, 1997
Future “Sex and the City” star Kristin Davis appears as Jerry’s girl of the week, Jenna, in this episode. What could be a slightly longer relationship is derailed after Jenna uses a toothbrush that falls in the toilet. For Jerry—a perpetual neat freak—it’s simply too much to handle. The tables are turned, however, when Jenna puts something of Jerry’s in the toilet and doesn’t tell him what. When both parties agree to move past the issue, the relationship finally seems back on track until Jenna’s sewage pipes explode while she’s in the bathroom.
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#32. The Nap
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 8, episode 18
– Air date: April 10, 1997
George Costanza might be a lazy sociopath. But that doesn’t mean he can’t experience the occasional flash of brilliance. Proving as much is “The Nap,” in which George has a special compartment built into his office desk, allowing him to take midday naps without getting caught. The plan goes awry when Steinbrenner plants himself in George’s office and refuses to leave until George appears.
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#31. The Fusilli Jerry
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 6, episode 20
– Air date: April 27, 1995
The first episode to feature David Puddy as Elaine’s boyfriend, “The Fusilli Jerry” has Puddy imitating one of Jerry’s sexual “moves.” Feeling like he’s had material stolen, Jerry demands that Puddy stop using the move. In response, Puddy comes up with his own move, described by Elaine as a “big-budget movie with a story that goes nowhere.” Meanwhile, Kramer makes a name for himself as the “A**man,” and also makes a pasta statue of Jerry that ends up in Mr. Costanza’s rear end.
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#30. The Frogger
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 9, episode 18
– Air date: April 23, 1998
George and Jerry visit a pizza place they used to frequent as teenagers. Once there, they discover that the place is about to go out of business, taking George’s top Frogger score along with it. To save the top score, George finds himself playing a game of real-life Frogger as he navigates the arcade machine through traffic.
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#29. The Calzone
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 7, episode 19
– Air date: April 25, 1996
In this episode, George spontaneously finds himself on Steinbrenner’s good side, thanks exclusively to the calzones they both eat for lunch daily. However, once a tipping fiasco gets George banned from the Italian restaurant that makes the calzones, George turns to Newman and then Kramer for help. As one might expect, things don’t go exactly as planned, especially after Kramer shows up at the restaurant with a sack full of pennies.
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#28. The Strike
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 9, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 18, 1997
While called “The Strike” in honor of Kramer’s temporary job—and subsequent strike—at a New York bagel store, this episode is better known for introducing the world to Festivus. It’s a holiday that George’s father invented involving bizarre rituals, including wrestling matches known as “feats of strength.” As Elaine says with regard to George’s often inexplicable personality: “another piece of the puzzle falls into place.”
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#27. The Junior Mint
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 4, episode 20
– Air date: March 17, 1993
Elaine visits an ex-boyfriend named Roy in the hospital to find he’s whipped himself into shape since they broke up. They make plans to get together after Roy’s surgery, but things take a turn for the worse after Kramer and Jerry—who are watching the surgery from a viewing deck—accidentally drop a Junior Mint into Roy’s body. Meanwhile, Jerry has his own problems in that he can’t remember the name of the girl he’s dating, despite her clue that it rhymes with a female body part.
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#26. The Tape
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 3, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 13, 1991
George orders an experimental cream from China to reverse his baldness. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. As for Jerry, he’s preoccupied with a tape he recorded during his most recent stand-up routine, which features seductive utterances from a mysterious woman. As it turns out, the woman is Elaine, who was completely joking when she made the recording. Nevertheless, Jerry, George, and Kramer suddenly become infatuated with their dirty-minded friend.
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#25. The Boyfriend Part 1
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 3, episode 17
– Air date: Feb. 12, 1992
Sparks fly in “The Boyfriend Part 1,” first between Jerry and former Major League Baseball star Keith Hernandez, then between Hernandez and Elaine. Suddenly, Jerry and Elaine find themselves battling for his affection. Meanwhile, Kramer and Newman discuss the time Hernandez hit them both with a single loogie, wondering aloud if there was, in fact, a second spitter.
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#24. The Subway
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 3, episode 13
– Air date: Jan. 8, 1992
Another episode largely centered around a central location—or in this case, four separate locations—”The Subway” chronicles the misadventures of the show’s four main characters as they ride four respective subway cars. For Jerry, that means sitting across from a naked man. For George: getting swindled by a subway siren.
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#23. The Bubble Boy
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 4, episode 7
– Air date: Oct. 7, 1992
In this legendary episode, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Susan head up to Susan’s family’s cabin, but not before stopping at a house along the way. Residing in the house is a young boy named Donald, a huge fan of Jerry’s who happens to live in a plastic bubble for medical reasons. After losing Jerry on the road, George and Susan arrive alone at Donald’s house, where a bitter match of Trivial Pursuit ensues.
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#22. The Parking Garage
– IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Season 3, episode 6
– Air date: Oct. 30, 1991
Another episode in the location-based tradition, “The Parking Space” finds Jerry and the gang lost in a mall parking garage. While trying to remember where they parked, Jerry gets caught publicly urinating, and Elaine’s goldfish dies. At the end of the episode, they finally find the car, only to discover that the engine won’t start.
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#21. The Rye
– IMDb user rating: 8.8
– Season 7, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 4, 1996
Representing a bonafide recipe for disaster, George’s parents come over for dinner at Susan’s parents’ apartment, bringing a loaf of rye bread as a gift. When they realize the bread was not served, the Costanzas take it back, causing George to look bad by association. Eager to make it appear as if the loaf never left the apartment, George and Jerry concoct a scheme involving a fishing rod and Kramer’s horse. What could go wrong?
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#20. The Serenity Now
– IMDb user rating: 8.8
– Season 9, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 9, 1997
Most characters on “Seinfeld” could use some good old-fashioned relaxation. As this season nine episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, repeatedly chanting “serenity now” is not that therapeutic. The technique doesn’t work for Lloyd Braun or Mr. Costanza, and it certainly doesn’t work for Kramer, who destroys a bunch of computers in a fit of cathartic rage. Unfortunately, those computers belonged to George, who was hiding them from his father after claiming he sold them to nonexistent customers.
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#19. The Little Kicks
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 8, episode 4
– Air date: Oct. 10, 1996
Elaine might not be aware of it, but she’s quite possibly the world’s worst dancer. George discovers as much in this episode, when he attends Elaine’s office party and witnesses her dance moves with his own eyes. Meanwhile, Jerry is forced by Kramer’s friend into a career as a movie bootlegger. This is one among many “Seinfeld” episodes to feature made-up films like “Cry, Cry Again” and “Death Blow.”
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#18. The Chicken Roaster
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 8, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 14, 1996
In this episode, a Kenny Rogers Roasters moves in next door to Jerry and Kramer’s building, and the restaurant’s glowing red sign keeps Kramer up at night. As a result, he and Jerry switch apartments … and personalities in the process. Jerry forces Kramer to move back upon finding out that Kramer is hooked on the chicken. Unfortunately for Kramer, however, the restaurant shuts down after Jerry distributes rat fur all over its interior.
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#17. The Switch
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 6, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 5, 1995
This iconic “Seinfeld” episode is considered downright essential for two reasons. The first is the delivery of one of George Costanza’s most diabolical schemes, which involves having Jerry make a lewd suggestion to his girlfriend of the week to allow Jerry to start dating her roommate instead. The other reason is the reveal of Kramer’s elusive first name: Cosmo. Cosmo?! Cosmo.
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#16. The Jimmy
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 6, episode 18
– Air date: March 16, 1995
While at the gym, Jerry and the gang meet an interesting basketball player named Jimmy. While Jimmy is a rock star on the court—until he gets injured, that is—he has the idiosyncratic tendency to refer to himself in the third person. That’s a problem for Elaine, who thinks Jimmy’s setting her up on a date with a guy named “Jimmy,” when he’s asking her out himself.
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#15. The Race
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 6, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 15, 1994
Like something out of his wildest “Superman”-based fantasies, Jerry starts dating a dark-haired girl named Lois. There’s just one major problem: Lois’ boss is Duncan Meyer, an old rival of Jerry’s who insists correctly that Jerry once cheated in an important high school race. Rather than clear up the matter with another showdown, Jerry boldly declares, “I choose not to race.” After Duncan threatens to fire Lois, however, Jerry is forced to prove himself a worthy runner again.
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#14. The Puffy Shirt
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 5, episode 2
– Air date: Sept. 23, 1993
In this brilliant episode, Kramer is dating a “low talker,” meaning a woman who speaks with a very soft voice. That makes it hard to hear what she’s saying during dinner with Jerry and Elaine, who find themselves nodding reflexively. As it turns out, Jerry agreed to wear a puffy-sleeved, pirate-style shirt on an upcoming TV appearance, a move that could have disastrous consequences. Meanwhile, George rises to success—and then quickly flames out—as a well-paid hand model. As for the puffy shirt, it’s on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
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#13. The Airport
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 4, episode 12
– Air date: Nov. 25, 1992
Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up routines frequently skewer airlines, yet his character has no complaints when flying first class in this episode. On the other hand, Elaine has a miserable experience back in coach, prompting her to try and sneak into first class no matter how desperate her attempts may seem. Over at the airport, Kramer and George have their own misadventures as they wait for Jerry and Elaine’s plane to arrive.
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#12. The Betrayal
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 9, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 20, 1997
“Seinfeld” fans thought they’d seen it all by season nine, and then “The Betrayal” came along. This boldly experimental episode starts at the end and journeys backward, making it truly unique in the annals of television. Most of the plot centers on Sue Ellen Mischke’s wedding in India, though it’s really the show’s backward execution that continues to impress viewers to this day.
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#11. The Limo
– IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Season 3, episode 18
– Air date: Feb. 26, 1992
An episode few “Seinfeld” fans are likely to forget, “The Limo” dives into spy thriller territory, complete with mistaken identities and lethal handguns. It begins when George pretends to be a man named Mr. O’Brien, so he and Jerry can steal O’Brien’s limo ride from the airport. As it turns out, however, Mr. O’Brien is a notorious neo-Nazi, in town for a major speech at Madison Square Garden.
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#10. The Abstinence
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Season 8, episode 9
– Air date: Nov. 21, 1996
In this episode, George is forced to give up sex for six weeks, and the experience opens up new pathways in his previously preoccupied brain. On the flip side of that coin is Elaine, who also gives up sex, only to discover that it plunges her into a dim-witted stupor. Meanwhile, Jerry is bumped from a gig at his old junior high school, and Kramer becomes the new Marlboro Man.
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#9. The Yada Yada
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Season 8, episode 19
– Air date: April 24, 1997
Giving “Seinfeld” one of its most enduring colloquialisms is this season eight episode, in which George’s girlfriend “yada-yadas” through every story, cutting right to the chase. At first, George is delighted with the technique until she potentially “yada-yadas” over an affair with her ex-boyfriend. Tormented by the prospect, George asks her to go back and elucidate on her previous stories. The good news is she didn’t sleep with her ex. The bad news, however, is that she’s a kleptomaniac.
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#8. The Merv Griffin Show
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Season 9, episode 6
– Air date: Nov. 6, 1997
Kramer finds discarded set pieces from “The Merv Griffin Show” sitting out by the trash, and proceeds to create a talk show in the middle of his apartment. At first, Kramer and his sidekick Newman adopt a wholesome, traditional approach, but then they decide to mix up the format, mirroring shows like “Jerry Springer” instead. That doesn’t bode well for Jerry, who’s been secretly drugging his girlfriend in order to play with her vintage toys. Jerry admits as much on Kramer’s show, just before the girlfriend emerges from backstage.
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#7. The Hamptons
– IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Season 5, episode 21
– Air date: May 12, 1994
Few “Seinfeld” episodes pack in as many jokes per scene as “The Hamptons.” In the episode, Jerry and the gang visit a couple’s beach house, where the couple introduces their ugly baby. Soon after, Jerry’s girlfriend walks in on George in a state of undress. Normally, George wouldn’t mind, but in this particular instance, he’d just been in the pool—where the water was cold.
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#6. The Bizarro Jerry
– IMDb user rating: 9.1
– Season 8, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 3, 1996
Like something from a “Superman” comic book, this episode finds Elaine making three new friends, each representing a “bizarro” version of Jerry, George, and Kramer. Meanwhile, George finagles his way into a secret underground club filled with gorgeous models. Having slightly less luck is Jerry, who’s dating a woman with oversized “man hands.”
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#5. The Marine Biologist
– IMDb user rating: 9.2
– Season 5, episode 14
– Air date: Feb. 10, 1994
Presenting a monologue for the ages is this episode, in which George pretends to be a marine biologist to impress a woman he’s dating. The ruse is going well enough until the two come upon a beached whale with breathing problems, whom only a marine biologist can save. As George explains in the historic closing monologue, the sea was angry that day, “like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli.” After a wave launches him atop the whale’s back, George reaches into the blowhole to withdraw the obstruction: one of Kramer’s golf balls.
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#4. The Outing
– IMDb user rating: 9.4
– Season 4, episode 17
– Air date: Feb. 11, 1993
In this classic episode, Jerry and George are mistaken for a gay couple—”not that there’s anything wrong with that”—by a local reporter. After the Associated Press picks up the story, Jerry must clear things up with friends and family. On the other hand, George decides to go along with the story, using his presumed homosexuality as an excuse to break up with his girlfriend.
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#3. The Opposite
– IMDb user rating: 9.5
– Season 5, episode 22
– Air date: May 19, 1994
Things finally start going George’s way in this episode, in which he does the opposite of everything he would normally do. Not only does such a maneuver land him a hot date, it eventually scores him a job with the New York Yankees. Making his grand debut as the voice of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is none other than series co-creator Larry David.
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#2. The Soup Nazi
– IMDb user rating: 9.5
– Season 7, episode 6
– Air date: Nov. 2, 1995
Inspired by a real-life—and now bankrupted—operation, “The Soup Nazi” centers on a chef with a very strict ordering-out policy. When a customer fails to abide by the policy, the man retracts the order, famously shouting, “No soup for you!” The episode is so enduring and iconic that actor Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi, claimed he’s recognized more for the role nowadays than when the episode first aired.
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#1. The Contest
– IMDb user rating: 9.6
– Season 4, episode 11
– Air date: Nov. 18, 1992
It’s no secret “Seinfeld” co-creator—and real-life George Costanza—Larry David based numerous storylines on his personal experiences. And nowhere does this personal connection work to the show’s advantage more than in “The Contest.” This edgy, Emmy Award-winning episode finds Jerry and the gang making a bet to see who can be “master of their domain.”
The result was must-see TV at its finest and a major contributor to the show’s historic success. In 2009, TV Guide named it the best TV episode of all time, and rightfully so. It’s also the #1 “Seinfeld” episode based on IMDb user ratings when paired with the number of votes.
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