Seinfeld's Jason Alexander Reveals The One George Line That's His Absolute Favorite
One of the most popular characters on the Emmy-winning series "Seinfeld" is, without a doubt, George Costanza. Out of 180 episodes, George is only absent for one, and despite being a very flawed character, some fans believe that Costanza is the real star of the show. Whether it's lying about winning a contest or setting up a fake charity, there is never a dull moment when George is around. The only thing more entertaining than his hilarious antics is the crazy stuff that comes out of his mouth.
Quotes like "George is getting upset!" and the constant and quite exuberant use of the word "baby!" are some of Costanza's signature catchphrases that fans know and love. After nine seasons, he has said so many side-splitting things that it's difficult for fans to pick a favorite. Some excellent examples include the epic tale he told about his efforts removing the golf ball from the beached whale in Season 5, Episode 14 ("The Marine Biologist") and his refusal to accept the "it's not you, it's me" routine, claiming he was the inventor of the concept in Season 5, Episode 6 ("The Lip Reader").
There is no shortage of utterly uproarious dialogue that comes out of George's mouth, and it could take days to list off each gut-busting phrase. But out of all the memorable lines Costanza blurted out over the years, Jason Alexander remembers one thing the character said that he regards as his absolute favorite.
George pleads ignorance about his inappropriate office behavior
In Season 3, Episode 12 ("The Red Dot"), Mr. Lippman (Richard Fancy), George's boss, confronts him about allegations the character had intercourse with the cleaning lady in the office. In classic George fashion, he responded, "Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorance on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first started here that that sort of thing is frowned upon... you know, cause I've worked in a lot of offices, and I tell you, people do that all the time" (via Quotes.net).
In an interview (via FoundationINTERVIEWS on YouTube), Jason Alexander revealed that the response is his favorite line. His love for the funny retort is because of how it brilliantly conveys the character's uniquely imperfect personality. He said, "You're always looking for, 'What can I learn about the character?' That to me told me so much about who this guy is... Only George Costanza would think that way."
The Times-Union once said George is "The selfish, petty and insecure guy who lives inside all of us." He may not be perfect, but he is hilariously relatable for all the wrong reasons, which is why it's easy for fans to agree with Ricky Gervais, who once said, "George Costanza is the greatest sitcom character of all time."