"Seinfeld" The Baby Shower (1991)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tom Cherones

Writers:

Larry David (creator) &
Jerry Seinfeld (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Seinfeld" (1990)

Original Air Date:

16 May 1991 (Season 2, Episode 10)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Kramer convinces Jerry to get illegal cable. Elaine holds a baby shower for a former girlfriend of George, on whom he wants revenge for a callous incident. |

Plot Keywords:

Neurotic | Eccentric | Stand Up Comedian | Friendship | Neighbor

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

7:00 PM

TBS

The Baby Shower

#2.10

Cast

Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George
Christine Dunford	...	Leslie
Vic Polizos	...	Tabachnik
James Lashly	...	Assistant
Margaret Reed	...	Mary
George C. Simms	...	FBI Man
Marla Frees	...	Stewardess (as Marla Fries)
Don Perry	...	Passenger
Kate Mulligan	...	Party Guest
Audrey Frantz	...	Party Guest

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating)

Company:

Shapiro/West Productions

Trivia:

Christine Dunford figures twice into George's plot line--once as a pregnant ex-girlfriend who threw chocolate sauce on him, Leslie, in "The Baby Shower," and later as a European saleswoman in the store with the Elaine look-a-like mannequin advising him of an unadvertised sale on a "shooshing" suit.

Movie Connections:

References Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Sometimes the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason.

I didn't enjoy this one so much. It was entertaining sure, but it didn't make me laugh that much and certain scenes felt under-written, lacking any real punch. Charles does a good job handling characters and has a fairly good grasp on their personalities developed thus far, but there is a notable difference between this episode and the previous ones that is only explainable through David and Seinfeld's lack of involvement.

Perhaps the biggest gripe I have is the very anti-climactic resolution used to tie up George's story. It begins brilliantly and is developed well, ending up with George wearing his chocolate covered shirt and walking over to confront his problem. Unfortunately, the following scenes lack any real conviction, comedy or sufficient use of the character's personality. I also have a major gripe with the dream sequence which simply does not work and seems completely out of place in a show like Seinfeld. Taken in context of the entire episode, it just seems like a random signature of the writer included for the sake of it.

I found the way in which Charles managed to juggle three plots and eventually make them collide to be more of a hit than a miss, but it's clear that because of limited space, each separate plot doesn't get enough time to be at all memorable. The stand-up scenes too are less successful than others from the series; I really enjoyed the opening segment on switching channels, but everything else failed to strike even a smile. Elaine's plot I couldn't have cared less about, and for me it seemed to serve as a cheap way to intertwine the plots. Unlike the previous episode, she is definitely under-used here.

What I loved most about the show however was the involvement of Jerry, Kramer and the cable-guys. Even though Kramer's motivation for Jerry to get cable is unclear, it still provides some of the best scenes of the episode usually thanks to Richards' brilliant performance.

Overall, probably the worst episode I've seen so far, but not without it's silver lining.