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Seinfeld is hands-down the greatest sitcom of all time. Just about every episode in the series is comedic perfection, and they’re still making audiences laugh today. And so, we’re taking a look at the Top 10 Best Episodes of Seinfeld.
(Spoilers Ahead!)
10. The Chinese Restaurant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAT7KzyQd34
This was arguably the first great episode of Seinfeld. When Jerry, George, and Elaine go to dinner at a Chinese Restaurant, they end up waiting longer than expected. This episode has been described as “the ultimate episode about nothing,” as it takes a simple premise with seemingly no story and turns it into a comedic masterpiece, even without Kramer.
9. The Bottle Deposit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGJZcHgqX1g
Kramer and Newman revive an old scheme to deliver plastic bottles to a recycling plant in Michigan for extra money. Meanwhile, Jerry’s obsessive mechanic steals his car when he refuses his demands, taking JFK’s golf clubs that Elaine bought at auction. This leads to Kramer crossing paths with the mechanic on the highway, and an all-out chase ensues. This episode takes us all on a silly and exciting adventure better than anything else on TV today.
8. The Hamptons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DoARSlv-HU
This classic episode taught us all about “shrinkage.” When the gang vacations at their friends’ house in the Hamptons, things go wrong as they usually do. Everyone sees something they didn’t expect, including George’s girlfriend topless, their friends’ ugly baby, and George with his pants down. “The Hamptons” is chock-full of sexual innuendos that display the comedic genius of its writers, showing why Seinfeld was so revolutionary in the first place.
7. The Dinner Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wH9bXy–lA
When the gang shops for gifts on their way to a dinner party, things do not go as planned. Jerry and Elaine can’t get the cake they wanted while Kramer’s car gets blocked in by a double-parker. Like “The Chinese Restaurant,” they end up waiting forever for things to turn around, and more and more obstacles get in their way. They also create some of the funniest moments in the show’s history, from Jerry vomiting a black and white cookie to George and Kramer meeting a fake Saddam Hussein.
6. The Fusilli Jerry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ97I9u1i7M
How do you combine sex, proctology, and a statue made out of pasta into a half-hour of television? Seinfeld shows you how with this outstanding episode. When Jerry’s mechanic steals his “move” and uses it on Elaine, Jerry is infuriated, and a battle of euphemisms ensues. Kramer also gets the vanity plates that say “ASSMAN,” and they bring him nothing but good fortune. That is until he encounters George’s father, which results in the funniest doctor’s apartment of all time.
5. The Opposite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SclV-UWM4Gw
When George realizes how awful his life has turned out, he decides to do the opposite of what he would typically do, and things amazingly change from there. He starts dating a beautiful woman, moves to a new apartment, and gets his dream job working for the Yankees. At the same time, Elaine’s life takes a downwards spiral, taking George’s place as the unfortunate one of the group. Kramer begins his tour for his coffee table book about coffee tables. The way things change for each of these characters are flat-out hilarious, showing how even the littlest things can have enormous consequences.
4. The Marine Biologist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRucRyLCms
How did George not receive an Emmy for this episode? When Jerry reunites with George’s college crush, he tells her that George is a marine biologist, and of course, he goes along with the lie. This episode is remarkably well-written, due to its numerous plot-lines which intersect to create many hysterical moments, with the story reaching its apex with George’s climactic encounter with a beached whale.
3. The Soup Nazi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNxl-lpOME
When an oppressive soup vendor takes New York by storm, Elaine clashes with the eponymous owner when he refuses to serve her. Meanwhile, everyone else submits for their soup, with Jerry becoming so addicted, he sold out his latest girlfriend for a bisk. The Soup Nazi is arguably one of the show’s funniest characters, and his catchphrase, “No soup for you!” has been engraved into the minds of millions.
2. The Puffy Shirt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMFY1cjt2yM
When Jerry agrees to sponsor a clothing line for Kramer’s “low-talking” girlfriend, he unwilling agrees to wear a puffy shirt on the Today Show. While Jerry has to deal with his ridiculous outfit, George surprisingly becomes a hand model while having dinner with his insufferable parents. He then learns the tale of his modeling predecessor, whose own hand lead to his absurd downfall. This episode is so iconic that the puffy shirt itself is on display at the National Museum of American History.
1. The Contest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGhg-htVnJ0
When George’s mom catches him entertaining himself, he and the gang bet on how long they can last without doing the deed. Numerous factors challenge their willpower: a naked lady across Jerry’s apartment, Jerry dating a virgin, Elaine meeting JFK Jr., and George witnessing a sponge bath next to his mother’s hospital bed. It comes to the point that they can’t even sleep at night, and seeing them all lose their minds from sexual frustration is just too funny. This episode took a taboo subject and made into a half-an-hour full of double entendres and hilariously iconic moments that changed television forever.
