Seinfeld is widely considered both one of the greatest sitcoms of all time and one of the most rewatchable shows ever. The antics of Jerry, George, Elaine, Kramer and the large collection of lovable side characters never get old, and one can always be dazzled by the incredible writing that sees the various stories surprisingly merge before the end of an episode – the best of the best episodes of Seinfeld being all-time classics.
As amazing as it is to watch all 180 episodes of Seinfeld, however, that takes a lot of time. That in mind, we’ve assembled this shortcut for you, allowing you to reflect on 32 of the funniest moments on the beloved series.
George Tries To Convince A Woman He’s Not Insane While Dressed As King Henry VIII (Season 7, "The Gum")
Here's a bit of free advice: if you're ever trying to convince somebody that you're not crazy, don't chase after them while wearing a King Henry VIII costume while screaming that the outfit came from "The Institute." It's a lesson George teaches us well in the final moments of "The Gum."
Elaine Gets Toilet Paper Revenge (Season 5, "The Stall")
While it's not a great way to go about building character, petty revenge can definitely be satisfying, and Elaine gets a hefty dose of it when she manages to strand Jerry's girlfriend in a public bathroom without toilet paper (realizing that the woman did the same thing to her earlier while they were unknowingly together at the movie theater).
Kramer Has A "Serenity Now" Freak Out (Season 5, "The Serenity Now")
As explained by Lloyd Braun in "The Serenity Now," bottling in your emotions can be a bad thing, as the bad feelings don't go away; they just stack up until you explode. Kramer demonstrates this quite vividly when his plans to turn his apartment into a suburban paradise goes awry. Not only does he go out of his mind, but he manages to destroy a number of computers that George is storing at his apartment.
George Leaps From The Bathroom To Stay On Unemployment (Season 3, "The Boyfriend")
George Costanza is many things, but laziness is a top quality. In fact, he will make great efforts so that he can do nothing at all. This dedication is on full display in "The Boyfriend" as he leaps from a bathroom with his pants around his ankles trying to get Kramer to support his lie about the existence of Vandelay Industries.
Elaine Snatches George’s Toupee (Season 6, "The Beard")
I think we can all relate to Elaine's actions in "The Beard." Wearing a hairpiece turns George into an even bigger jerk than normal, so she takes the only reasonable action available to her: she snatches the toupee right off his head and throws it out the window.
Jerry Becomes A Diva Director Shooting Bootleg Movies (Season 8, "The Little Kicks")
Jerry Seinfeld only recently made his feature directorial debut with the Netflix comedy Unfrosted, but he first showed hints of his filmmaking future all the way back in Season 8's "The Little Kicks." Jerry discovers an innate skill for making bootleg movies in the classic Seinfeld episode, and it's impressive how quickly his ego magnifies.
George Threatens Loud Jerks In A Movie Theater To “Show Them What It’s Like” (Season 5, "The Opposite")
I'd estimate that pretty much everyone reading this article has had to deal with an obnoxious person or group of people at a movie theater – and we all wish that we could display the guts that George demonstrates in "The Opposite." His rant is epic and worth memorizing: "Shut your traps and stop kicking the seats! We're trying to watch the movie! And if I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside, and I'm gonna show you what it's like, you understand me?!"
Elaine Gets Goofy On Muscle Relaxers (Season 3, "The Pen")
Anyone who has experienced back pain can sympathize with the suffering experienced by Elaine in Season 3's "The Pen." But hopefully not all of us can relate to what happens when she takes too many muscle relaxers. The medication turns her into the kind of total goofball who, given an opportunity to reference On The Waterfront, screams "STELLA!" so loud that it can silence an entire reception hall.
Kramer Tries To Get Rid Of Some Muffin Stumps (Season 8, "The Muffin Tops")
Would it actually be that hard to dispose of a bunch of muffin stumps as Kramer is employed to do in Season 8's "The Muffin Tops"? Probably not, but it sure is hilarious watching Kramer take his J. Peterman Reality Bus Tour passengers from dump to dump screaming to various managers about taking his complaints to business affairs.
George Has Jerry Call In A Bomb Threat To Yankee Stadium (Season 8, "The Nap")
The whole scene with George hiding under his desk from his boss in "The Nap" is comedy magic. The stressed phone call that he has with Jerry is amazing, as the stand-up comedian can't help but mess with his pal in his time of need, but you also have to love the interruptions from George Steinbrenner's grandson Brian and a very friendly dog.
Kramer Drops A Junior Mint Inside A Patient Mid-Surgery (Season 4, “The Junior Mint”)
Seinfeld features a number of darkly hilarious storylines during its nine-season run, but one of the darkest is kick-started when Jerry and Kramer nearly inflict accidental homicide by dropping a Junior Mint into the body of a patient during surgery in an operating theater. While on the subject: has anyone done any serious research related to the potential life-saving qualities of Junior Mints since the airing of this episode?
Frank Costanza Falls Onto A Fusilli Jerry During A Fight With Kramer (Season 6, “The Fusilli Jerry”)
The Fusilli Jerry just seems like an odd Kramer creation when it is first introduced as a gift to Jerry on Seinfeld, but even awareness that it is the eponymous subject of the episode in which it's featured doesn't prepare you for how it ends up playing into the climax. A million-to-one shot, doc! Million to one.
George Desperately Excuses His "Shrinkage" (Season 5, "The Hamptons")
George Costanza has a number of memorable freakouts in Seinfeld, but no one who has ever seen "The Hamptons" will forget his arm-flailing desperation as Jerry's girlfriend walks in on him while he is naked and he loudly exclaims, "I was in the pool!!" Of course, this also led to the creation of the term "Shrinkage," which is one of the great Seinfeld-isms.
Elaine Gets Revenge Against The Soup Nazi (Season 7, "The Soup Nazi")
As great as the Soup Nazi's cooking may be, he has no right to treat his customers as he does. Jerry and George don't have the spines to confront his problematic behavior, and Kramer is disturbingly sympathetic to it. That just leaves it to Elaine to right the wrong, and she does so in brilliant fashion by destroying his business and forcing him to flee to Argentina.
Newman’s Gets Set On Fire (Season 8, "The Pothole")
Newman is only off-handedly mentioned early in "The Pothole" (Kramer notes that he does surreptitious fish deliveries with his mail truck), but he ends up being a brilliant part of the episode's climax. The combination of Kramer spilling paint thinner on the highway and Elaine letting a sewing machine fall out of her car while driving sets up a dangerous, explosive combination that sees Newman as its victim. Oh the humanity indeed.
George Meets Corbin Bernsen And George Wendt Behind The Scenes Of The Tonight Show (Season 4, "The Trip: Part 1")
Everyone wants to be impressive when we meet impressive people, but boy does George swing and miss while talking with both Corbin Bernsen and George Wendt in "The Trip: Part 1". His ideas for both L.A. Law and Cheers are individually so wretched that they inspire the actors to drag him in front of an audience of millions watching The Tonight Show. They don't mention his name, but that just means that it's George's private utter humiliation.
Jerry Makes Out With His Girlfriend While Watching Schindler’s List (Season 5, “The Raincoats”)
It is practically impossible to think of a worse make-out movie than Steven Spielberg's devastating holocaust drama Schindler's List... but that's really just what makes this scene so perfect (with Newman's display of utter disgust being the cherry on top).
George And Jerry Team Up To Replace A Marble Rye (Season 7, "The Rye")
When you think about it, George simply asking for Susan's help trying to create peace between their parents in "The Rye" would totally solve the issue of the stolen marble rye... but if that were the case, we wouldn't get the brilliant image that is George holding up the bread on a fishing hook like the prized catch of the day.
Elaine Internally Freaks Out On The Subway (Season 3, "The Subway")
It is a miserable experience to be packed into a subway car among a bunch of random strangers for any amount of time – but it is a true nightmare when the underground transportation stops with no explanation. All this in mind, Elaine's internal monologue in "The Subway" is absolute perfection. No notes.
Kramer Goes Undercover For A Sting Operation (Season 5, "The Sniffing Accountant")
Michael Richards performs some miraculous physical comedy playing Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, but I would make the argument that the greatest achievement of his career is featured in "The Sniffing Accountant" when he manages to smoke a cigarette and chug a mug of beer simultaneously.
Newman Hallucinates Kramer As A Turkey (Season 9, "The Butter Shave")
Newman has an extended history in Seinfeld of being a slave to his appetites, but no episode features a more extreme example than "The Butter Shave," which has the merry post office employee nearly driven to cannibalism when Kramer accidentally cooks himself while tanning with butter.
George Pretends To Be A Marine Biologist And Saves A Whale (Season 5, “The Marine Biologist”)
The history of Seinfeld has a number of genius punchlines, but is there anything better than the end of George's story about saving a beached whale being the revelation of a golf ball? Kramer practicing his drive at the beach in "The Marine Biologist" seems like a total non sequitur for the majority of the episode, but it sneaks up and provides a brilliant setup for a long-play joke.
Elaine’s Intelligence Takes A Dip Due To Celibacy (Season 8, "The Abstinence")
Of the four main characters on Seinfeld, Elaine is arguably the smartest, but it's absolutely wonderful to see her IQ dip a few dozen points when she is practicing abstinence so that her med school boyfriend can focus on his MCAT studies. It's delightful to witness her giddy excitement as a bunch of tires spin around outside of a mechanic's garage.
Jerry Wins A Race Against His High School Rival (Season 6, "The Race")
Jerry Seinfeld's deep love of Superman is reflected throughout the full run of Seinfeld (the comic book hero is either referenced or visually represented in nearly every episode), but there is no better, more hilarious tribute than the finale of "The Race," which sees Jerry triumph over his high school rival in a footrace while John Williams' iconic score from Superman: The Movie plays non-diegetically.
George Eats Some Trash (Season 6, “The Gymnast”)
George comes oh-so-close to impressing his new girlfriend's family in "The Gymnast," making light jokes and being effortlessly affable... but then he makes the classic mistake of taking a partially eaten eclair out of the trash and chowing down (and by "classic mistake" I obviously mean "classic George mistake").
Elaine Does Her Little Kicks At A Work Function (Season 8, "The Little Kicks")
When characters sing and dance on television shows, it's often an excuse for the production to showcase some extra special, untapped talents possessed by the stars. That's not the case with Seinfeld. Instead, the greatest example of someone cutting a rug on the sitcom is Elaine doing her "little kicks" at an office party, and to quote George, "Sweet fancy Moses!"
Elaine Becomes Convinced That She Has Rabies (Season 5, "The Glasses")
Here's a "fun" fact about rabies: as soon as a person starts showing symptoms, there is a 100 percent fatality rate. As such, we can assume that Elaine is just experiencing a hypochondria attack in Season 5's "The Glasses," but it's a super funny one that sees her going from raging out at Kramer to foaming at the mouth.
George Double Dips A Chip And Stirs Chaos At A Funeral (Season 4, “The Implant”)
While trying to advance his latest romantic relationship, George makes mistake after mistake in "The Implant," but none is greater than double dipping his chip in front of his girlfriend's brother at a funeral. It's definitely uncouth behavior, and his obstinate behavior ends up costing him hundreds of dollars as he is unable to get a bereavement discount on his flight.
Elaine Reveals She Knows About "The Panty Remark" (Season 4, "The Cheever Letters")
In "The Cheever Letters," Jerry has to make special efforts to try and avoid Elaine learning about his odd dirty talk during a romantic session with her former assistant... but, of course, all of that effort is actually just service to set up a punchline. Elaine revealing that she knows Jerry's secret is among Seinfeld's best final moments.
Elaine Realizes She Has Turned Into George (Season 5, "The Opposite")
While George is typically the character who the universe bullies on Seinfeld, Elaine gets a sufficient dose of the Costanza Experience in "The Opposite," and it is brutal/hilarious. While George is off living his best life while ignoring all of his natural instincts, her life becomes chaos (she manages to lose her job and her boyfriend in quick succession), and her realization that she has become like her bespectacled, bald friend is comedic gold.
Kramer Makes A Deal With A Sick Kid For George Steinbrenner’s Birthday Card (Season 7, "The Wink")
Not many TV characters could get caught up in a plot that sees them needing a professional baseball player to hit two home runs so that he can get an autographed birthday card from a sick kid in the hospital, but Cosmo Kramer is definitely an exception, and his exchanges with said kid in "The Wink" are priceless.
Frank Costanza Hosts Festivus Dinner (Season 9, "The Strike")
Let's be real: Festivus is a crazy holiday, as there is no seasonal celebration that should feature an aluminum pole as a principal decoration and conclude with a wrestling match between father and son. That said, it makes for classic, unforgettable television.
