"Oh come on, we all have intense malaise. Let me tell you something, this is all in her mind. She's insane. She thinks I made her sick because I coughed on her doorknob, rubbed her stapler under my armpit, and put her keyboard on my butt. Yeah, she's wacko." - Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) on her germaphobe co-worker, Peggy
Seinfeld: Season 9 DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
In an earlier review, I proclaimed that "Seinfeld: Season 8 is the series' funniest." How does the show's final season measure up? Seinfeld: Season 9 is often maligned, mostly because viewers were disappointed by its finale. On second look, however, this season, too, is a must-see.
In season nine, Jerry Seinfeld is still a comedian; Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) continues her frustrating job at the J. Peterman catalogue; perpetual loser George Costanza (Jason Alexander) fakes a handicap to get a job with a toy manufacturer ("The Butter Shave"), tries selling computers from his father's garage ("The Serenity Now"), and finally gets a job with Kruger Industrial Smoothing, a company so incompetent he practically ends up running place; and oddball Kramer (Michael Richards) continues to...well...be Kramer.
We are also reintroduced to Elaine's sometimes boyfriend, David Puddy (Patrick Warburton). Their relationship is somewhat stormy-they break up in almost episode. On a twenty-two hour flight from Oslo, they bicker, fight, break up, and make up many times, much to the chagrin of their hapless seatmate, Vegetable Lasagna Guy ("The Butter Shave"). Elaine hates his insistence on high-fives ("The Dealership"), his "man fur" ("The Reverse Peephole"), and the fact that he turns out to be a religious nut ("The Burning"). This unlikely romance leads to many laughs, and Louis-Dreyfus and Warburton serve as a fun yin and yang.
Jerry also has relationship problems. One girlfriend becomes angry when he makes up a funny voice for her bellybutton and shares it with his friends ("The Voice"). He O.D.s another girlfriend on turkey and wine so that he can play with her vintage toy collection ("The Merv Griffin Show"). Another relationship fails because his potential mate can't tell the difference between good naked and bad naked ("The Apology"). He also dates his maid, leading to the debate of whether they are actually dating or he's just paying for sex ("The Maid").
Season nine practically revels in absurdity. Kramer attaches Frank Costanza's old screen door to his apartment, thus creating a faux front porch...and a passel of suburban problems ("The Serenity Now"). He finds the discarded set for The Merv Griffin Show in a dumpster, moves it into his apartment, and starts his own talk show with his friends as guests ("The Merv Griffin Show"). He finds all sorts of creative uses for a meat slicer ("The Slicer"). These concepts sometimes border on bizarre, and all are excruciatingly funny.
Some of the episodes especially stand out. In "The Apology," George wants an apology from a twelve-stepper (guest star James Spader), Kramer installs a garbage disposal in his shower, and Elaine deals with a germaphobic co-worker, Peggy. In "The Strongbox," Kramer buys a strongbox to store his valuables, but has problems finding a suitable hiding place for the key, Elaine dates a man who is either married or poor, and, in a quintessentially New York plotline, Jerry refuses to let a neighbor into the building because he looks suspicious. "The Burning" deftly ties several plotlines-Kramer and Mickey act out diseases for med students, religious Puddy tries to convince Elaine that she's going to hell, and Jerry's girlfriend has a secret "tractor story"-into a seamless funny treat.
My favorite episode, though, is "The Puerto Rican Day." When the quartet becomes stuck in traffic returning from a Mets game on the same day as the Puerto Rican Day Parade, chaos reigns. Elaine leads a Poseidon Adventure-like escape under the parade's bleachers, in an attempt to get home and unwind with her Sunday night tradition of watching 60 Minutes, Jerry spars with a fellow driver who he cut off on the interstate, George encounters a laser pointer-wielding joker who steals his thunder at a showing of The Hindenberg, and Kramer ends up being attacked by the crowd after accidentally setting the Puerto Rican flag on fire. This episode drew protests because of the flag-burning and was apparently pulled from syndication for a while. Give it a look-it's funny from start to finish.
The series came to an end with "The Finale," a highly anticipated and promoted event that was practically destined to disappoint. After all, everyone had their own idea of how the show should end. On second look, the final show isn't one of the series' best, but it is nevertheless worthy of the series' legacy. When the sitcom written by George and Jerry is finally picked up by NBC, the pals are offered a free trip to anywhere courtesy the network's private jet. Thanks to Kramer's shenanigans, the jet makes an emergency stop in New England, where the quartet get arrested based on a new "Good Samaritan" law when they witness a mugging and do nothing to help the victim. They even videotape themselves making fun of the rotund mark. What follows is a trial in which many past characters testify about what terrible people the friends are. The concept isn't quite pulled off, but the deleted scenes help to flesh out the story.
Familiar faces that pop up in season 9 include Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks), Warren Frost (Twin Peaks), Kristin Davis (Sex and the City), Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati), Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), Lori Loughlin (Full House), Phil Morris (Mission: Impossible 1988), Lloyd Bridges (Sea Hunt), Wilford Brimley (Our House), Jim Fowler, Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives), Brenda Strong (Desperate Housewives), Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle), Kathy Griffin, Paul Benedict (The Jeffersons), Illeana Douglas, Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Peter Stormare (Prison Break), Mario Joyner, and a host of characters from throughout the show's history.
The twenty-four episodes that make up Seinfeld's ninth season are divided onto four discs. The clean, elegant design of this set will be familiar to owners of the previous Seinfeld releases. The discs are housed in slim, clear keepcases. The front covers each feature a different publicity photo of one of the show's stars. The back covers include episode numbers, episode titles, and plot synopses. The double-sided coversheets show through to the insides of the cases and feature a photo of the trial. Each DVD is imprinted with a publicity shot of the same star depicted on its case. The four keepcases slide into two cardboard sleeves, both of which feature the same publicity photo of the cast members. A booklet listing the basic production credits for each episode is also included.
The menus are visually and navigationally similar to those in the previous releases.
