The Boyfriend 

Jerry meets Keith Hernandez and wants to make a good impression, but after being introduced to Elaine, Keith breaks his date with Jerry to make one with her.

Director:

Tom Cherones

Writers:

Larry David (created by), Jerry Seinfeld (created by)

Stars:

Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes
Michael Richards	...	Cosmo Kramer
Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza
Keith Hernandez	...	Keith Hernandez
Rae Allen	...	Mrs. Sokol
Wayne Knight	...	Newman
Carol Ann Susi	...	Carrie (credit only)
Lisa Mende	...	Carol (credit only)
Roger McDowell	...	Himself
Stephen Prutting	...	Michael (credit only)
Richard Assad	...	Cabbie
Melanie Good	...	Tall Woman (credit only)

Storyline

In the first hour-long episode, Jerry hooks up with Keith Hernandez at the gym. He tries to meet with Keith only to be shunned because Keith is infatuated with Elaine. George tries to keep his unemployment money coming in when he tells the unemployment officer that he got a job with "Vandelay Industries", a company that manufactures latex. Kramer and Newman recall an incident in which Keith spit on them after a really bad Mets game. The details of the incident strangely mirror that of the JFK assassination.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 1992 (USA)

Filming Locations:

727 Sixth Avenue, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shapiro/West Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

23 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of the few episodes to show Monk's diner starting with a camera pan from across the street before the diner is in frame. It also shows the street, 112th Street, and the real name of the restaurant, Tom's restaurant.

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Goofs

Kramer and Newman claim to have been a spat on by Keith Hernandez on June 14, 1987, when the Mets lost to the Phillies. The Mets lost to the Phillies at home only once in 1987, and it was a 5-3 loss on September 7th. On the date in question, the Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3.

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Quotes

George Costanza: [George rushes into Jerry's apartment] Did anybody call here asking for Vandelay Industries?
Jerry: No, what happened to you?
George Costanza: All right, listen closely, I was at the unemployment office and I told them I was very close to getting a job with Vandelay Industries, and I gave them your phone number. So now, when the phone rings, you have to answer "Vandelay Industries".
Jerry: I'm Vandelay Industries?
George Costanza: Right.
Jerry: What is that?
George Costanza: You're in latex.
Jerry: What do I do with latex?
George Costanza: I don't know, you manufacture it.
Elaine: [laughing] Right ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 16 April 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Seinfeld Theme Song
Written by Jonathan Wolff

User Reviews

"Should I shake his hand?"

Although this isn't a perfect episode, it has some of the key elements that made Seinfeld The show on full force: mashing up relationships with an ordinary situation, cinematic style and, on a lower scale, inside thoughts on off.

Mash up relationship: throughout its run Seinfeld has re-utilize several times the concept of mixing relationship language with ordinary situations. Examples like: The Masseuse (S05), The Barber (S05), The Fusilli Jerry (S06), The Bottle Deposit (S07). But there is no doubt that this is the best executed. The references are so subtle and clever: Shake hands = Kiss, help move = have sex. Plus, decisions about what to wear, wondering why he hasn't call back. It's astounding.

Cinematic style: right from the beginning of the series you could see that they were trying not just to write differently but also to direct the show in a unorthodox way. Cherones is a complete underrated master (more so than Ackerman) because he shot the first five seasons in a cinematic way but always being aware of the TV format. On Ackerman's seasons they didn't pay attention to this and the weird camera angles feel out of place. This episode has some of the most astounding cinematic directions in the whole series. The obvious one is the, now iconic, magic loogie story. It's cinematic gold. From the way the shot the short film (in JFK's shooting style) to the acting on set, everything clicked.

Inside thoughts: they first used them in The Subway (Elaine's memorable outburst) and they are back in full form. From Jerry's insecurities in Keith's car to Elaine's thoughts on Keith to even Keith's insecurities about himself. It takes the episode to another level of funny (when done right).

What I believe restrains this episode of being perfect is George's story. Elaine's is almost part of the same story line as Jerry. Kramer has virtually none and George's starts off great (reaching its peak in the end of the first half), but slowly starts its downhill fall. The girl George's takes out is quite annoying and by the time George tries to make Hernandez appear in the unemployment office it just reaches a point of disbelieve that kills the story. Also I don't know what the purpose of Jerry and Kramer visiting the baby was. It's great that we see the annoyingly fantastic Carol, but it's kind of out of place.