Seinfeld is one of the most popular TV shows of all time. In fact, Rolling Stone listed it as the third best sitcom in TV history, behind Cheers and The Simpsons. Although the series ended over 25 years ago, devoted fans still stream it on the regular. Nevertheless, what fans will tell you is that not all episodes are worth watching. Some truly don’t live up to what you expect from such a series. These are 12 of the worse Seinfeld episodes you may want to skip the next time you’re watching the series.
Table of Contents
The Chronicle
The penultimate episode of the series, episode 21 of season 9, is a basic clip show. Yes, they break the clips into several categories. And, yes, it gives you all the feels.
However, it comes off as lazy as it aired the same night as the finale. If you’re new to Seinfeld, there’s no honest reason why you should watch this one.
The Friars Club
This Season 7 episode has all the makings of a time-tested Seinfeld classic, but it’s a clunker. Elaine goes over the top to make fun of a co-worker unable to hear and Jerry struggles to get his borrowed jacket back.
Kramer is the saving grace with his being thrown in the Hudson River because he fell asleep on his girlfriend. Of course, it happened because of the new sleeping regimen.
The Dog
This Season 3 clunker always makes me wonder what the writers were thinking. The previous episodes saw them have George and Elaine bond, to some success. In this episode, they make it a point to say they can’t spend time together without Jerry.
Farfel does provide some comedic fun, but it falls flat today.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade
Seinfeld made its hay by communicating how much the four characters were selfish and, often, offensive. This episode was so bad that NBC had to apologize for it after its airing.
In short, the episode just isn’t funny. It’s not what we came to know as a classic sitcom. I skip it every time it comes up in the queue on Netflix.
The Finale
People either love or hate the final episode, and that’s not uncommon with popular series. However, many people simply don’t like it.
They argue it didn’t have the typical Seinfeld feel and simply didn’t flow right.
The Outing
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that” is a saying many Seinfeld fans know and love. It comes from this Season 4 episode.
The episode has its fair share of homophobia that hasn’t aged well.
The Highlights of 100
Thanks to syndication rights, it’s typically an achievement for a sitcom to reach 100 episodes. It’s commonly a memorable episode. That wasn’t really the case for Seinfeld.
Instead, producers opted for a clip show. They even chose to run it for an hour, instead of the typical 30 minutes. It’s not that it’s a horrible episode, it’s just not memorable. Even first-time viewers will get more out of watching the series instead of the clip show.
The Betrayal
Many TV shows like to trot out a backward episode as a plot device. That was the premise of this Season 9 episode.
All of a sudden, we’re supposed to believe that Elaine and Sue Ellen have made up enough for the former to be in the latter’s wedding. The attempt is decent but often falls as not terribly funny.
The Deal
Rumors have it that this Season 2 episode was written to make NBC execs satiated around a potential reunion between Elaine and Jerry.
Jerry giving Elaine $182 in cash for her birthday is good for some laughs, but we don’t want to see them trying to get back together. There’s too much fun in watching them in their dealings with numerous other potential suitors.
Male Unbonding
This Season 1 clunker has a few firsts for the series. It’s the only episode that doesn’t start with “The” in the title. It’s also our first real introduction to Elaine.
As interesting as it is to watch Jerry try to avoid Joel Horneck, it’s a ho-hum episode.
The Jacket
This Season 2 episode introduces us to Elaine’s father. However, much of the episode is Jerry and George awkwardly sitting with him in a hotel lobby. It’s fairly boring and doesn’t truly encourage a repeat viewing.
Although, meeting Elaine’s dad does shed light on a few things about her character.
The Chinese Woman
Some will argue that Seinfeld is a show that could not be made today. Those that feel that way may point to an eposide such as The Chinese Woman.
Jerry begins dating a woman with the last name of Chang because he has never dated someone from the Pacific Rim – his words. Of course, hijinks ensue but it feels forced to many. One stand out from this episode is Larry David as a cape-draped lawyer for Frank Costanza as he and Estelle are considering getting a divorce.
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I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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