"Seinfeld" The Robbery (1990)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Tom Cherones

Writers:

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

TV Series:

"Seinfeld" (1990)

Original Air Date:

7 June 1990 (Season 1, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

After Jerry's apartment is robbed, Jerry starts to look for other apartments. But Jerry and George both want the same apartment, and Elaine wants the apartment of whomever loses out. |

Plot Keywords:

Neurotic | Eccentric | Stand Up Comedian | Friendship | Neighbor

Cast

Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George
Anita Wise	...	Waitress
James F. Dean	...	Larry
Kimberley Kates	...	Diane
Bradford English	...	Cop
David Blackwood	...	Man #1
George C. Simms	...	Man #2 (as George Simms)

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Ren-Mar Studios - 846 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Shapiro/West Productions

Trivia:

While warming up the audience, Seinfeld improvised the routine about getting the middle finger. It worked so well that it was used in the opening stand-up segment instead of his prepared material.

Quotes:

Elaine: Jerry, come on, you're doing okay now. You should at least take a look at this place. You shouldn't have to live like this.
Jerry: Like this? You just said you wanted to live here!
Elaine: Well, for me it's a step up. It's like moving from Iceland to Finland.

Movie Connections:

References "The Bold and the Beautiful" (1987)

Brilliant, just brilliant!

Not that many people would think of making a stand-up routine about giving someone the finger, right? Well, Jerry Seinfeld does so in this episode's opening sequence, explaining how said gesture is ultimately pointless (giving the toe would be much bolder, in his opinion) and thus inducing the first of several laughs that will come over the course of 23 minutes.

This is the one where Kramer's idiocy fully manifests itself: having been asked to watch Jerry's apartment, he accidentally leaves the door open, allowing thieves to get in and steal the TV. The reactions to the event are among the best ever conceived for a comedy show: Jerry entering the apartment and turning on the television only to realize it's gone is funny; Kramer explaining what happened (he was distracted by The Bold and the Beautiful) is funnier; Jerry describing his hyper-safe lock and its only defect ("The door... must be CLOSED!") is genius; the final assertion about everyone's favorite goof-ball ("I'm human" "In your way") is a masterclass in sardonic humor.

But it's not just about Kramer: as usual, George and Elaine get their moment in the spotlight, especially in the second half of the episode, where the former competes with Jerry over getting a new apartment (cue a discussion about coin-flipping) and the latter decides to take the one of whomever loses (the scene where she refers to Jerry's place as "moving from Iceland to Finland" is the best Elaine moment of Season 1). This section also shows the first real glimpse of the series' ground-breaking "no hugging, no learning" mantra: no matter what happens, the characters always end each episode as shamelessly selfish and shallow as they were at the start, even when they come close to disrupting their friendship. This is confirmed by the perfectly timed, instantly memorable closing line, the delivery of which only constitutes further proof of how audacious Seinfeld was and still is.