Seinfeld Fans Weigh In On The Cartooniest Moment Of The Series
When you take a look at the entire series of "Seinfeld," which ran for nine seasons, there are just too many funny moments to count. The towering pile of hilarious dialogue and head-shaking situations was exactly what made the show so popular from when it started, back in 1989, all the way to its finale nine years later. Of course, with so many fans still watching eternal reruns and continuously discussing the show online, there are plenty of classic comedic moments that will always be brought up.
There are still enough "Seinfeld" fans out there to have countless debates on what the best and worst moments of the show are. As different as some of these opinions are from each other, there are certain scenes that seem to always find a way to the top of most lists. For example, fans may never stop talking about a moment in Season 4, Episode 11 ("The Contest") when Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) slaps his money down on the diner table because he couldn't hold out on performing a certain act on himself. There's also when Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) attempts to dance in Season 8, Episode 4 ("The Little Kicks"), and of course, the Junior Mint incident in Season 4, Episode 20 ("The Junior Mint"), when we learn that there are other ways for candy to get inside you besides eating.
However, for fans of such a beloved, long-running series, there are favorite episodes and, of course, a few duds. These installments may contain moments that just don't work for the average fan. Such scenes may feel repetitive, fall flat, or in some cases, seem a bit cartoony — and not in a good way.
The scene fans found too cartoony
"Seinfeld" is just one of those shows where when you ask multiple fans to list their personal favorite moments, the choices tend to be totally different, depending on who you ask. That's because the show gifted us too many hilariously classic scenes to count. However, there are some scenes that took reality one or two steps over the line. These cartoony scenes have fans on Reddit agreeing that sometimes, the writers reached a little too far.
An example of this comes in Season 9, Episode 18 ("The Frogger"), when George Costanza (Jason Alexander) attempts to preserve his high score by purchasing the Frogger arcade machine before being shut down. With only a few minutes of battery life, George must carry the heavy machine to the other side of the street, paralleling the frog's goal of the arcade game itself by not getting squished by a car. u/DontAskTheQuestion complained, "These people are just going to slowly drive over a man in the street and not stop? Really?"
But there's one moment in "Seinfeld" that many fans agree is one of cartooniest of them all. In Season 9, Episode 6 ("The Merv Griffin Show"), Kramer stumbles upon broken-down pieces of the set from the classic talk show, "The Merv Griffin Show," and decides to recreate it in his living room. With Newman as his sidekick, Kramer has Jerry on as a guest — in front of no audience. Although fans still found the situation humorous, it also felt like an over-reach by the writers. "It's so unbelievably stupid and unrealistic (even for a Kramer plot), but it's great fun watching him do it," said u/Broadnerd.
Seinfeld knew when it was time to walk away
It may not have been a coincidence that this "Merv Griffin" series moment occurred right around the time the cast started to realize it was time to step away from the show. In an interview with Esquire, Seinfeld revealed that it was during this same 9th season when the idea of ending the show crept into his mind. He reveals, "I remember when I was in the 9th season, and I was thinking maybe it's time to wrap this up ... We've had a lot of good fortune here. Maybe we shouldn't push our luck too far. And we all agreed that this was the right moment. And I remember it's the only time we all got together in a dressing room, the four of us, to make that decision. That was powerful."
Although Seinfeld doesn't point to any specific series moments that directly link to the decision to end the show, plot lines for episodes such as "The Merv Griffin Show," which some fans find the most cartoonish, may have pushed the comedian to convince the rest of the cast that the finale should come sooner rather than later. And despite these cheesy "Seinfeld" moments continuing to cause debates amongst fans, they will all still live on within one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.