The Chinese Restaurant

Don't hate me, but I always found this episode to be overrated. I understand Seinfeld is a show about nothing, but the whole episode is them waiting for a table in a Chinese restaurant.

When the threesome stop in a Chinese restaurant before going to see Plan 9 from Outer Space, they meet one obstacle after another as they try to get a table. James Hong plays the manager who keeps allowing others to get seated ahead of them. George is great as he tries to make a pay phone phone call as others keep jumping in ahead of him. Great individual bits as they maneuver their way, trying to finally get a table.

Ten years before 24 was created, Seinfeld experimented with the real-time format, facing negative reactions from NBC and an increasing risk of cancellation. However, the choice eventually paid off, and The Chinese Restaurant should qualify as one of the show's Top 10 episodes on the sole basis of sheer, groundbreaking creativity.

As already mentioned, this episode plays in real time. How is that possible? Easy: Jerry, George and Elaine are about to go to the movies and see Plan 9 From Outer Space (Jerry claims the worst movie ever produced deserves to be watched on a big screen) and enter a Chinese restaurant for a quick dinner. Unfortunately, they made no reservation, so they will have to wait for five, ten minutes, or at least that's what the owner of the place says. The result is 23 minutes of waiting, with Jerry and Elaine trying not to get bored and George desperately looking for a phone so that he can call his latest girlfriend. As for Kramer, he is nowhere to be seen.

What, no Kramer? Yes, but before the screaming starts, one should consider this: in a storyline that involves staticity and repetition (Bruce, the waiter, keeps saying:"Five, ten minutes..."), what use could there have been for the show's king of unpredictable physical comedy? Of course, he is an integral part of the series (and was never written out of an episode again, except for one time in Season 3), but in this case the sole presence of Jerry, George and Elaine is more than enough. That and the real-time gimmick, which gives the viewer the impression of really being there with the characters, struggling to get a meal (as Elaine wisely notes, restaurants should serve you based on who's the hungriest).

All in all, a great episode, from start to perfectly timed finish, and one of the finest treats Seinfeld's second year has to offer.

I like the bit where they have to wait ages to get a table

I made an IMDb list some time ago about the Top 10 most influential Seinfeld episodes and I placed The Chinese Restaurant in the top spot. Revisiting it today, I'm glad to say that I was right on point with that decision. It's definitely not their best episode and possibly not even perfect but the amount of ground they broke within the lapse of 23 minutes is unprecedented. Real time premise, social commentary, clever dialogue and great performances. I mean, there's really nothing else. It is an episode that solely relies on dialogue, that's it. No stories, no twists, no development. But what's most impressive about this episode is that towards the end you start feeling the anxiety for this problem to be over. On initial viewing I thought that this was that the writers just couldn't keep this episode going any longer, but now I realized that they even managed to make you relate to them in a literary way. You want it to be over, you're sick of hearing them get frustrated, the tension keeps building. They make a similar thing on The Parking Garage where you start to feel the claustrophobia of being in that situation.

The only thing I believe holds this episode from being truly perfect is the lack of Kramer and it's not just because he is a great character, but because I believe that with another character the story could've gained another dynamic.