Seinfeld

Seinfeld has never looked this good! All 18 episodes from the first two seasons have been remastered in high definition for the best possible picture and sound quality. Including 2 versions of the pilot episode and approximately 13 hours of exclusive special features from the creative talents behind the show, this DVD is a must own!

For Seinfeld, the third season's--for want of a better word--the charm. The show has found its misanthropic voice (by season's end, a fed-up Elaine tells herself, "I gotta get some new friends"), the ensemble has a firmer grasp of their characters, and the writers rise to the occasion with episodes that have entered the Seinfeld pantheon, including the Seinfeld equivalent of a Very Special Episode, "The Boyfriend," with Keith Hernandez and the J.F.K. parody, "The Library," featuring Philip Baker Hall channeling Jack Webb as library bookhound Bookman, "The Pez Dispenser," and "The Keys," with an L.A.-bound Kramer winding up on Murphy Brown. Michael Richards, especially, comes into his own this season as Kramer. The first two seasons built up the mystique of this "man-child"/"parasite." So while he was absent in season 2's "The Chinese Restaurant," he is now out and about with the close-knit, albeit dysfunctional, trio. Julia Louis-Dreyfus has some of her giddiest golden moments, zonked on painkillers in "The Pen," or, as a bored party guest in "The Stranded," telling an obnoxious bride-to-be that "Maybe the dingo ate your baby." And don't get us started on Jason Alexander as George, series co-creator Larry David's neurotic and angst-ridden alter-ego. To paraphrase what Julia Roberts said of Denzel Washington, we don't want to live in a world where Alexander doesn't have an Emmy.

It's hard to believe, but for the first three seasons nobody really knew that Seinfeld was about, well, you know. It wasn't until season 4--unleashed here in a four-disc set that's equal in scope, quality, and quantity of bonus material to its predecessors--that the show really became something. In a series which can claim every installment as classic, the two-parter on disc 1 titled "The Pitch/The Ticket" truly stands out as a defining episode and, in retrospect, marked Seinfeld 4 as the breakthrough season. It's the one where (fake) NBC executives express their interest in working with Jerry Seinfeld on a TV show, then moves to the who's-on-first shtick of George successfully pitching Jerry on creating "a show about nothing." Scattered throughout the discs in commentaries by cast and creators and in numerous "Inside Look" documentaries, nearly everyone expresses some anxiety about the season having a story "arc" depicting Jerry and his "real" life becoming a sitcom. The show had been only marginally successful up to that point anyway, and with the edict, "no hugging, no learning," still in place, maybe messing with nothing was a bad idea. What makes the arc so arch is the self-reflexive way it details the reality of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David coming up with the concept and pitching it to (real) NBC executives as a show that really was about, well, you know. In one of the many informally informative interview segments, Jerry remembers hitting a stride during this time when a lot of crazy ideas started to make sense. "Everything was just a wild guess," he says, "and it takes a while to get confident that you're guessing pretty good. I think sometime in season 4 we realized we were guessing pretty good." Oh, that we could all be so good at nothing.

The fifth season of Seinfeld is without a doubt the series' best. By their fifth year, the Seinfeld gang had ironed out the bumps from the first two seasons, further developing characters. The loyal fan base that had been accumulating over the years was now more or less the entire nation’s viewing audience. The pressure was on to give this new, mega fan base a high dose of their unique, misanthropic comedy, and Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Kramer (Michael Richards) delivered in spades. Yes, other seasons may have funnier individual episodes, but as a whole season five consistently delivers the goods, including many of the show's all-time classic episodes. In the season opener, Jerry discovers the secret, sexual power of "The Mango." While vacationing in "The Hamptons" we not only learn that George’s date likes to sunbathe topless in front of his friends, but also that cold water has the power to shrink. In "The Stall’ Elaine is rejected while trying to share toilet paper only to learn that the selfish neighbor is Jerry’s girlfriend. In order to really make a life change, George decides to do "The Opposite" of all his instincts and surprisingly everything in his life falls perfectly into place. And of course, who can forget the ridiculous puffy shirt Kramer’s low-talking girlfriend talks Jerry into wearing on The Today Show. This box set also includes the featurette "Jason+Larry=George" explaining how Jason Alexander embodied Larry David’s alter ego to create George Costanza, plus deleted and behind-the-scenes footage and exclusive stand up footage of Jerry Seinfeld.

By Season Six, the Seinfeld crew had their formula and character development down pat making it easy to churn out one classic episode after another. Not only do we learn a lot about Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Kramer (Michael Richards) in Season Six, but we also learn wealth of life lessons. For instance, just because you wear a toupee doesn’t mean you won't be rejected by bald women ("The Beard"). If you think everyone is giving you the finger, they probably are ("The Pledge Drive"). As ridicurous as is sounds, just because a woman has a Chinese name doesn't make her Chinese ("The Chinese Woman"). Eating out of trash is AOK, as long as your girlfriend's mother doesn't catch you ("The Gymnast"). If you try to make the "switch" and date your girlfriend's room mate, you just may get more than you bargained for ("The Switch"). If someone offers you an Armani suit in exchange for a meal, make sure you tell them that soup is indeed a meal ("The Soup"). Just because you are a "beard," doesn't mean you are dating ("The Beard"). Bringing crib notes in the bedroom may not be the best idea ("The Fusilli Jerry"). And just because Mel Torme sings to you, doesn't make you "special" ("The Jimmy"). We also learn phrases such as "re-gifting," and are introduced to new characters like Elaine's new boss J. Peterman (John O'Hurley) and boyfriend, and face painter, David Puddy (Patrick Warburton). In addition to being able to watch these original network versions (1-2 minutes longer then on syndication) and cast member commentaries, this set includes three of Eric Yahnker "Sein-Imation" - classic Seinfeld scenes reimagined in animation

By the time Seinfeld reached season 7, it was already firmly established as one of the top shows on TV. But Jerry Seinfeld and series co-creator Larry David still had plenty of stops to pull out to keep the show at the top of its form. This is the season where George--yes, George (Jason Alexander)--gets engaged. Elaine (Julia Louis Dreyfuss) judges her dates to see who is "sponge-worthy." Jerry deals with low-flow showerheads, buys Chinese gum, and tries to date Debra Messing. And Kramer (Michael Richards) solidifies his own essential Kramer-ness by putting a hot tub in his living room, going around town in Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, buying jeans so tight he can’t take them off, and taking advice on court strategy from his caddy. If there is a unifying theme in this season, it would be growing up (or rather, futile attempts to grow up), as Jerry whines to George right off the bat, "What are we doing? What kinds of lives are these? We’re like children, we’re not men." As a result, marriage emerges as a theme, and George proposes to Susan (Heidi Swedburg) in episode 1. And because George is, well, George, things inevitably go downhill from there. But it’s not all navel-gazing. After all, this is the season that gave us "The Soup Nazi," and years later, "no soup for you" is a still a pop-culture touchstone.

After seven seasons of groundbreaking comedy, what could possibly be left to accomplish in season 8 for Seinfeld and company, especially in this, the first season without co-creator Larry David at the helm? Plenty, as it turns out. This is the season that gave us some of the most memorable episodes in the entire series, including "The Muffin Tops," "The Bizarro Jerry," and "The Yada Yada," the episode that proved you can "yada yada" anything in life. Fortunately by this point in the series, the comic formula that sustained the show throughout its run had not yet begun to get tired, and the writers proved that they could continue to pull a whole lot of something out of the show about nothing. Case in point: "The English Patient," where they created an entire story line out of Elaine's hatred for the award-winning film. In "The Chicken Roaster," one of Seinfeld's most underappreciated episodes, Kramer switches apartments with Jerry and wages a one-man crusade against a Kenny Rogers' Roasters, only to becomes like Jerry and become undone by Newman. George continues to, well, be George. He habitually shoots himself in the foot as he continues life without Susan, only to find out marrying her would have made him rich ("The Foundation"). And Elaine gets her kicks, literally, horrifying her co-workers with her terrible dancing, spinning moves so bad they've actually become one of the show's most popular punch lines (go on any dance floor and you'll see someone doing "The Elaine" as a joke, it seems). Season 8 also continues the Seinfeld tradition of loading up the DVD sets with plenty of special features, including an illuminating documentary detailing how Jerry juggled his act as star and show-runner after Larry David's departure, and all new interviews with the cast. All in all, it's good stuff for fans, and there's plenty here for the casual viewer to enjoy as well.

Seinfeld's final season seems to take its cue from a little piece of "showmanship" advice that Jerry offers to the hapless George (Jason Alexander) in the episode "The Burning": "When you hit that high note, say goodnight and walk off." In television, as in comedy, timing is everything, and that's what Seinfeld, No. 1 in the ratings, did. The show that TV Guide would later rank the greatest of all time, left the stage, perhaps not at the top of its game, but at least on its own terms. To the end, Jerry, George, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards) remain true to the show's misanthropic muse. In the episode "The Merv Griffin Show," Jerry induces sleep in his new girlfriend so he can have his way with her retro toy collection. In "The Apology," George relentlessly badgers an old acquaintance (James Spader) now in AA, for a Step Nine apology over a long-ago insult. At one point, Elaine resumes her on again-off again relationship with Puddy (Patrick Warburton) because she needs a bureau moved. In the end, it all comes crumbling down for the so-called "New York Four" when they are put on trial in a Massachusetts courtroom for violating a Good Samaritan Law after not coming to the aid of an obese carjack victim. A parade of lack-of-character witnesses spanning the series' near-decade-long run, from Mabel Choate, the Marble Rye Lady, to Babu and the Soup Nazi testify how they were "abused, wronged, deceived, and betrayed" by Jerry and company. Anyone expecting Seinfeld or Larry David to apologize for this bitter, and not at all sweet, finale, can just stuff those sorrys in a sack, mister. In "The Last Lap," a bonus featurette about Seinfeld's decision to end the series despite unprecedented offers from NBC brass to continue, they acknowledge the episode's "mixed reaction," but remain defiant. As Alexander notes, nothing could have lived up to the massive hype the episode received.