'Seinfeld' series now on Hulu: The 14 must-watch episodes
From left, George (Jason Alexander) consults with Jerry (Seinfeld) to strategize on how to retrieve an arcade game that lists him as the long-standing record-high scorer from a closing pizza parlor, on "Seinfeld." The complete series is now available to watch on Hulu. Credit: NBC
The entire, 180-episode run of "Seinfeld" is now streaming on Hulu. Here are my picks for the 14 episodes you MUST watch. (In no particular order.) And as a quick point of observation, these are merely my choices -- you may have another list altogether, no doubt you do. And if by some wild twist of TV fate you are new to "Seinfeld," Seasons 3 and 4 are the best, while Seasons 1 through 5 may be the five strongest consecutive seasons of an American TV comedy since "All in the Family," or possibly ever ...
"The Opera," Nov. 4, 1992, Season 4: Crazy Joe Davola (Peter Crombie) becomes particularly unhinged here -- dressing as the sad clown from "I Pagliacci," and follows Jerry and Elaine to the opera, where he plans to put the "kibosh" on Seinfeld. Joe also meets up with Kramer, who confesses his lifelong fear of ... clowns!
"The Bubble Boy," Oct. 7, 1992, Season 4: A sad father (Brian Doyle-Murray) asks Jerry to come upstate to visit his son, who is confined to a "bubble" due to an immunodeficiency disorder. Jerry reluctantly agrees -- when he finds out Bubble (Jon Hayman) lives near the cabin built by Susan's (Heidi Swedberg) grandfather in 1947. Long story shortened: George gets in a fight with the Bubble Boy, who throttles him over an argument concerning the words "Moops" and "Moors"; Kramer burns down the cabin.
"The Boyfriend," Feb. 12, 1992, Season 3: Less about the boyfriend, more about guest star Keith Hernandez, and Kramer and Newman's contention that he spit on them after a Mets game at Shea Stadium. Turns out the real spitter was Mets reliever Roger McDowell (Revealed in the second part of this classic two-parter).
"The Nose Job," Nov. 20, 1991, Season 3: Kramer inelegantly tells George's new girlfriend, Audrey (Susan Diol), that she needs a nose job. She gets one but it is a disaster; Kramer later comes to the rescue.
"The Chinese Restaurant," May 23, 1991, Season 2: On their way to see "Plan 9 From Outer Space," George, Jerry and Elaine decide to eat at a Chinese restaurant first. But they wait ... and wait ... and wait ... and wait for a table. Elaine is famished. A classic must-see "Seinfeld."
"The Marine Biologist," Feb. 10, 1994, Season 5: Jerry runs across an old friend of George's -- a high-school "A lister" whom George desperately wants to date -- so he tells her he's now a "marine biologist." The other story in the episode -- Jerry tells Elaine that the original name of "War and Peace" was actually "War: What is it Good For?" Oh, and George? He saves a whale, but before he does, this classic "Seinfeld" line from the new girlfriend: "Save the whale, George. For me."
"The Pilot," May 20, 1993, Season 4: The president of NBC, Russell Dalrymple (Bob Balaban), has fallen hopelessly in love with Elaine, which is problem for Jerry and George, who are about to sell him a pilot for a show about nothing. Elaine hates TV, and by association, poor Russell, who then joins Greenpeace to win her heart. It doesn't end well for poor Russell on the high seas, nor for the pilot. Larry David, by the way, appeared in this classic two-parter.
"The Cafe," Nov. 6, 1991, Season 3: Poor Babu Bhatt (Brian George) -- no one wants to eat at his new restaurant. Jerry convinces him to serve Pakistani cuisine; it does not go well. "You are a baaaad person," Babu tells Jerry.
"The Raincoats," a two-parter, April 28, 1994, Season 5: Jerry's parents arrive from Florida, en route to Paris, and Kramer learns of a "invention" -- the beltless raincoat, AKA, the Executive. But this episode is best known for the Close Talker, Aaron (Judge Reinhold), who gets thisclose to people's faces when talking.
"The Scofflaw," Jan. 26, 1995, Season 6: Kramer meets the cop with the patch who has been seeking his own "great white whale" for years -- a scofflaw who refuses to pay hundreds of tickets. He nearly catches the guy, when fate intervenes.
"The Junior Mint," March 18, 1993, Season 4: Well, there's a long sequence where Jerry tries to remember the name of someone he's dating (her name rhymes with a part of the female anatomy) and finally comes up with "Mulva." Oh, and a Junior Mint is tossed into the open abdomen of Elaine's former boyfriend, Roy (Sherman Howard) while he's on the operating table.
"The Fire," May 5, 1994, Season 5: George goes to a kids' birthday party, where a fire breaks out. He knocks people over -- including elderly ladies -- to get out first. A clown becomes angry. Also: Elaine's associate boos and hisses at Jerry's standup.
"The Soup Nazi," Nov. 2, 1995, Season 7: The title character (Larry Thomas) makes great soup, but he is also a difficult personality ("No soup for you!"). But Elaine finds his soup recipes, which has the effect of forcing him out of business.
"The Calzone," April 25, 1996, Season 7: George Steinbrenner (Larry David) orders George to bring him a calzone from Paisano's for lunch every day -- and then Costanza gets banned from the establishment, accused (wrongly as it turns out) for dipping into the tip jar.
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