Why The Magic Loogie Scene From Seinfeld Is Doubly Hilarious
Few sitcoms have as many iconic episodes or as many memorable gags as "Seinfeld." Having run for nine successful seasons before calling it quits, the comedy series was created by comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and was anchored by the clean, accessible stand-up material of the latter in each episode.
Still, even with all of the fantastic material that went into "Seinfeld" from its talented creators, episodes like the two-episode run of "The Boyfriend" Parts 1 and 2 are filled with gags that stand out as all-time favorites, even among the most hardcore members of the show's massive fanbase.
Just one of the beloved gags from the two-parter is a satire of one of the courtroom scenes from the Oliver Stone conspiracy thriller "JFK." As any "Seinfeld" fan familiar with the film will tell you, the scene in question, in which Jerry (Seinfeld) debunks Newman (Wayne Knight) and Kramer's (Michael Richards) story of being spat on by MLB legend Keith Hernandez, is an incredible satire of its source material.
Wayne Knight is actually in the film that Seinfeld is parodying here
The bit from "The Boyfriend" episodes of "Seinfeld," fondly remembered as "the magic loogie" by longtime fans of the series, is actually even funnier when you consider that Wayne Knight is actually in both the scene in the long-running NBC sitcom as well as Oliver Stone's "JFK" (via IMDb).
What makes the satire of the scene even more clever, though, is that Knight is actually in the same precise courtroom reenactment in "JFK" as well, where Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) uses him to show how impossible it is for the findings of the Warren Commission, e.g., that Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman) acted alone as the sole gunman in the assassination, are almost impossible to prove when demonstrated as they were written.
Of course, the satire is even more amusing for how it cuts back and forth between grainy footage of Kramer and Newman designed to look like the infamous Zapruder film of the real-life assassination as they retell their story (via Smithsonian Magazine).
Finally, the obvious silliness of a glob of spit, or a loogie, if you will, somehow spattering and hitting multiple people like a gunshot is the icing on the cake of the scene. Still, the fact that Knight happens to be a part of both scenes is a master stroke that adds an extra meta layer to the "JFK" satire in these "Seinfeld " episodes.