"Seinfeld" The Busboy (1991)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Tom Cherones

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Seinfeld" (1990)

Original Air Date:

26 June 1991 (Season 2, Episode 12)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

George tries to apologize to a busboy after one of his comments got him fired, but he only makes things worse. Elaine tries to get one of her male friends out of her house. |

Plot Keywords:

Neurotic | Eccentric | Stand Up Comedian | Friendship | Neighbor

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13

7:00 PM

TBS

The Busboy

#2.12

Cast

Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George
David Labiosa	...	Antonio
Doug Ballard	...	Eddie
John Del Regno	...	Manager

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG (video rating)

Company:

Shapiro/West Productions

Trivia:

This is the only episode which does not include a story for Jerry. The supporting cast appreciated Seinfeld's generosity in writing story lines for them. But Castle Rock executive Glenn Padnick told Seinfeld that he was being too generous and should always include his character in a story line.

Goofs:

Continuity: The overheaed shot of Elaine in bed shows her male friend taking the covers, in the side shot they are both fully covered by the bed covers.

The busboy's comin'!

Again, I don't see what the big deal is with this episode. It's a good twenty minutes yes, but it's certainly not the best I've seen from the series nor is it anywhere near perfect. One thing I did notice however was that the writing at least on a professional and well-considered level is certainly improving. 'The Busboy' was noticeably low on jokes, particularly during the first half, but the way in which plots are used to coincide with each other is used with great effect, leading to a fantastic ending that wraps up all loose ends in a hilarious fashion.

My problem with the episode stems from Elaine's side-plot which is again shelved to mere dialogue rather than showing any action from it. I felt there was a lot of potential to be had with the annoying flatmate, but unfortunately we don't get to see just how annoying he was. Nevertheless this does not impair a brilliant scene involving Elaine that not only develops her character successfully for the first time but also gives the episode one of its funniest moments. Julia plays the scene excellently, flying around the room shouting in a panic and throwing clothes around like a mad woman, all the while being completely convincing and hysterical at the same time.

George gets a much larger role in this episode, as does Kramer as his assistant, when they track down a busboy that George accidentally got fired, to apologise. Alexander plays the scenes in as awkward a way as possible, keeping true to the character that has been developed thus far. It's not exactly great comedy, but it's still great to watch. I felt however that Richards stole most of the laughs in these scenes, disregarding the social awkwardness that George embodies throughout; a good way to counterbalance and provide comedic relief. Not my favourite storyline with George so far, but it was nice to see him play such a big part in this one nonetheless.

As was the case with many previous episodes, I found myself laughing most during Jerry's stand-up scenes. I think I chuckled a few times during the other moments, but really didn't find 'The Busboy' to be amongst the funniest of episodes I've seen to date. As I said earlier however, you can see a noticeable shift in writing here that I hope will be a good foundation for some clever yet much more humorous stories. Kudos to Larry and Jerry for finally establishing some sort of character in Elaine though- She's finally beginning to grow on me.