The Sponge 

After learning that her prophylactic of choice is being discontinued, Elaine buys a case of Today sponges and scrutinizes her dates for their sponge-worthiness.

Director:

Andy Ackerman

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
Heidi Swedberg	...	Susan Ross
Jennifer Guthrie	...	Lena
Scott Patterson	...	Billy
John Paragon	...	Cedric
Yul Vazquez	...	Bob
David Byrd	...	Roger
Ileen Getz	...	Organizer
Steven Hack	...	Walker #1
Wren T. Brown	...	Walker #2
Patricia Bethune	...	Walker #3 (as P.B. Hutton)
Susan Moore	...	Monica

Storyline

Elaine's birth control method of choice is being discontinued and she goes all over New York to find the last remaining case. After she successfully finds it, she then begins the agonizing process of determining whether or not her dates are "sponge-worthy". Kramer participates in an AIDS walk but when he refuses to wear the ribbon, he suffers the consequences. Meanwhile, Jerry meets a woman and doesn't get her phone number. He then gets it from the list of participants in the AIDS walk. He tells George, who proceeds to tell Susan, who then starts a chain reaction of phone calls and ultimately winds up getting back to Jerry, who gets dumped as a result.

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Plot Keywords:

sponge | birth control | kissing | all night poker game | intimidation | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) reveals she uses the Today Sponge in this episode, but back in episode, 4.10, Seinfeld: The Virgin (1992), she claimed she carried her diaphragm with her wherever she went.

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Goofs

When Kramer comes into the restaurant with the clipboard, Elaine reaches for it. In the next shot, she is already writing on it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jerry Seinfeld: People can be so vain, don't you know? I have a friend who wears eyeglasses, no prescription in the glasses, because he thinks he looks more intelligent. Now, why? Why do we think that glasses makes us look more intelligent? Is it from the endless hours of reading and studying and researching that this person supposedly blew out their eyeballs? And that's why they need the glasses? It's just a corrective device. If you see someone with a hearing aid, you don't think, "Oh, they must...

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: North (2009)

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Soundtracks

Black Stompers
(uncredited)
Music by Roger Roger (as Eric Swann)
Plays during the montage of Elaine searching for sponges.

User Reviews

"Run down your case for me again"

What an entertaining episode. Four great story lines and a swell pace.

Although there are four stories, only three of them interconnect with each other. As you may have guessed, Kramer is the one set apart. Nevertheless his story is quite entertaining even if the good stuff only appears in the end. From the moment he goes to the AIDS walk everything clicks. Bob and Cedric make another stellar appearance and we get a hilarious, though pretty fantastical, scene concerning Kramer and his non-ribbon attitude.

But the great part of this episode is the other three stories. Although they interconnect with each other beautifully, they all are strong individually. Jerry is dating a woman that's too good for him, George is dealing with the no-secret Susan's policy and Elaine is surviving the sponge hiatus. The season's arc gets a key aspect in the long term relationship book and that is no matter what's the topic, you have to share with your wife. Elaine shines in her quest for sponges and the subsequent analysis for using them.

A great episode all in all.

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu Sony Pictures Television

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, 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