You Can’t Beat A Babka, It’s A Show About Nothing!

Ah, the 90’s...so nostalgic with it’s lack of airport security, bright neon colors, and, of course, ‘Seinfeld.’ It has to be said that Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld broke the mold in the sitcom world when the two created the now classic, ‘Seinfeld.’ And, that’s why I’ve been binge-watching it.

The richness yet dry wit of the series brings a warm yet palpable air to it — much like arriving in the middle of a heat wave in Phoenix for the first time. Some classic scenarios from the series, include:

The Show About Nothing

In this series of episodes during Season 4, George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld meet with the Exectives of NBC to discuss a Pilot they want to air. That is, a show about nothing. The Pilot Episode that airs during the series is about a guy, Jerry, who gets into a car accident. The guy at fault is then sentenced to be Jerry’s personal butler for a year. The pilot episode didn’t get approved all at once, smoothly, however. It wouldn’t be ‘Seinfeld,’ if a momentary fiasco didn’t occur. The slew of fiascos leading up to the eventual cancellation of the Pilot, include: George’s NBC Exec. Girlfriend, Susan, getting thrown up on by Kramer; Susan’s father’s cabin being burned down in the woods by Kramer; George kissing his exec. girlfriend inside a meeting with other NBC Execs., whereby ending Susan’s longstanding career; and, my favorite, the President of NBC falling for Elaine after she exposed her breasts to make up for the fact that George stared at the guy’s teenage daughter’s breasts. The one night stand between Elaine and the NBC President, Ryan, throws Ryan off so badly that he quits, joins Greenpeace, and drowns in the ocean, after Elain calls him, “boring.”

After all that, I think it’s safe to say we can move onto my next favorite episode, ‘The Babka.’

The Babka

The gang has been invited to a dinner party downtown. Elaine, in true Elaine fashion, is being insistent on bringing a dinner party contribution. After shooting down George’s idea of Pepsi and ring-dings, the foursome head across downtown in Kramer’s retired taxi to find the perfect dinner party contribution: wine and babka. In the bakery, Jerry and Elaine struggle to have their order placed because they didn’t “grab a number.” Once again in true Elaine fashion, Elaine approaches a couple that came in after they did to hand over their order number. After a brief argument between the two ladies, Elaine realizes that she and Jerry have met the couple before and are both headed to the same dinner party. Because this is ‘Seinfeld,’ this realization solves absolutely nothing except for giving the assaulted couple the gumption to order the last chocolate babka. Devastated, Jerry convinces Elaine that the cinnamon babka is a close second to chocolate and to go ahead and order it. Meanwhile downtown, Kramer and George have their own issues buying wine. In the usual ‘Seinfeld,’ way, George can’t receive change for a $100 bill without first purchasing a pack of gum, a newspaper, a Clark bar, and an Erotica book. Unable to leave to pick up Jerry and Elaine, Kramer and George wreck a wine store while Kramer nearly catches hypothermia. Waiting on the two men, Jerry and Elaine order a second babka after finding a hair on the first one; but only before Jerry vomits in the bakery, ruining his no-vomit streak since 1980, and Elaine gets her toe broken by a guy’s walking cane. Beaten up and defeated, the foursome finally make their way to the dinner party, only to drop the goods and leave.

What a night.

The Chinese Restaurant

In the later seasons, the crew attempt to go to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. As it turns out, disaster after disaster unfolds, leaving both the cast and the viewers frustrated and hungry, at the least. The entire episode is centered around this impossibly long wait in which the characters never enjoy their meal during airtime.

These are just a few of my favorite episodes, among many others that equal in humor, frustration, disappointment, and jubilee. Without ‘Seinfeld,’ society wouldn’t have the infamous phrases, “giddy up,” “no soup for you!” and, of course, “a Festivus for the rest of us!” So, if you’re interested in making Festivus an annual part of your holiday season, picking out a casino Indian, or are converting to Latvian Orthodox (whatever that is), ‘Seinfeld’ is your go-to guide. I promise it’s worth the binge.