The Pilot

An episode, season finale about George and Seinfeld filming their pilot episode for NBC. What could go wrong?

The whole season was why this 2 parter episode worked so well. From S4 Ep 1 to the finale of season 4. The whole season was about Jerry and George coming up with a script with NBC. It was the best season in my opinion.

A lot of laughs. George was iCONIC in this. Kramer's part was a bore. Elaine's part was the game changer and Jerry was Jerry. It was fun to see the Dopplegangers. George's antic about the raisins was hilarious.

Overall great season and episode.

What can be learned? Don't be too charming.

Verdict: Funny episode

I like how George was worried about the discolouration on his lip

This is an incredibly funny episode. It begins when the pilot for the show is being taped before a live audience. Leading up to this we have the auditioning of the parts for the show. The people are pretty great. Jerry plays himself. Once again, George can't keep his nose out of everyone's business. He has a series of confrontations with the guy who is playing Kramer. Most of it involves a box of raisins that the guy took off a table. He also butts in, giving advice to everyone. A significant subplot concerns Russell, the head of NBC, who has fallen for Elaine. She, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with him. He has dropped into morbid depression. A hilarious series of scenes involves Kramer, becoming totally constipated and trying to get some relief. He runs all over New York, looking for a bathroom. Finally, Russell pays dearly for his unrequited love.

Watching back over this show some seventeen years after it was first screened, season four marks a point where the quality is suddenly just that little bit higher than before and the season is a little bit more consistent than previous ones. This is not to say that there was anything wrong with the first three seasons, but just that season four has so many great episodes that are memorable amongst the many, many episodes made of this show. With previous seasons I had felt that the show had perhaps been dated a little bit by time and the comparison to those shows that exist because of it but are able to push the envelope further and be sharper and funnier – after all, Seinfeld's structure was new and fresh at the time but its success has meant that it seems more "normal" when viewed alongside all the other shows doing this now – it seems a long time since the Cosby Show structure was all there was for sitcoms. However, this was not the case with season four because I never felt that way once.

The main reason for this is the improved sharpness and determination for the show. As with Curb, the show benefits from a season-long structure provided by the NBC pilot of the show Jerry. It is not a factor in every episode but it does provide a linear movement in terms of time but also the characters that makes it feel a little stronger and less like you could watch the episodes in any order you want as if you were watching sketches in a sketch show. The sharpness in the writing is key though, not the specific dialogue, which has always been good but rather the scenarios. While Jerry and George may struggle to come up with one for their pilot, the actual show has lots of great scenarios that play out really well. The conclusion of the pilot plot is once example (which deserves credit for doing what it did in the early 90's – a period I do not look back on for innovative television) but there are plenty others. Like everyone else, my pick would have to be The Contest, not only because it is very funny indeed but also for the sheer chutzpah of a primetime network show doing an episode all about masturbation. Each episode hangs on the season line but within each specific episode there is so much going on with each character that each episode feels full. This allows simple ideas to be honed down to their basics so that each quick-hit works, Kramer is the best example of this, he never leads an episode but his asides are always hilarious.

The cast were already very good but the tweaks and the tightening in this season makes them really stand out. Seinfeld himself is given more to do in terms of comedy and he is less the "stable one" than before. Of course this is all relative because Alexander is on great form as George, a mess of worry and stress, he is hilarious in his total lack of self-awareness and for me he is the heart of the show. Richards gets the applause whenever he comes on first and this is understandable as he is a great comedy creation and he is great at the physical comedy. Louis-Dreyfus is very funny even without the colour of the characters given to the others; she has plenty to do in this season and she returns the favour well. The various guests include Piven and Hatcher and are well used, although I must admit not always knowing if they were famous at the time or have become so since. As always Wayne Knight is great fun added to the Kramer character.

Overall season four is a very clever, very daring and very funny season and easily the strongest of the show up to this point. There's not really a weak period in the season, far less a weak episodes and the scenarios are strong and well fleshed out to make many of them classics. A great season.

The finale of Season 4 thankfully meets its season high standards. Larry David had a lot to do on this episode: finish the pilot arc (with closure or not) and deliver an episode that's good in itself. And he delivered.

Along Season 4 the pilot arc came and went. Some episodes would go without even mention the arc but thankfully other developed it. Here we get the realization of the show and its airing. I love the scene when the show gets finally aired and the audience gets a round up of mostly every character that has had a part in this season. It helps end this season with a nice bow.

Getting specific, we have 3 stoylines this time. Jerry and George with the pilot, Elaine with the waitress problem and Kramer with his intestinal situation. The pilot story is of course the more developed and maybe the funniest. We get to meet the cast and the three of them are fantastic. We also get a lot of easter eggs of the real set and get to the Tom Cherones!

The Elaine story is actually two things: her situation with Dalrymple and the Monks thing. The Dalrymple stuff is really boring. Actually, everything involving him is what drags this episode down. Bob Balaban actually gave good performances is the other episodes he was involved, but here he gives a very out of place performance. It's overly serious and the contrast with the show's light tone just rings awkward. It's also ridiculous the amount of screen time they spent on this subplot. Back to the Elaine story, when the Monks incident starts, that's when this story gets better. A story so true to the Elaine character (or at least the one they wrote for the first half of the series) and also a really entertaining one. We get a look at the Equal Employment Office (again, David with the social issues) and Elaine as a strong female character.

And Kramer's story is just really funny. I mean, it's all Richards. He gets the perfect material to shine and, again, something that has happened to everybody. As I said in other reviews, the best Kramer stories are the ones everybody can relate and when we get to see his eccentric persona react to normal events.

On a side note, there are some odd directing choices, mainly Davola's freezeframe and the weird pilot-floating-in-the-sea final shot. Nevertheless, the pace is good and the rest is just fine.

Overall, it's a nice way to end an amazing season.