The best Seinfeld episodes ever.

Now that Seinfeld is on Netflix, I’ve been rewatching the series from start to finish, one or two episodes a day.

And let’s be perfectly clear, Seinfeld > Friends/The Office/Shameless/etc., and if you disagree, you’re wrong.

Nine seasons, 180 episodes, and only a handful were forgettable.

Classics like “The Contest”, “The Soup Nazi”, and “The Puffy Shirt” are part of American TV history and will live on forever through the memorable quotes & scenes that we’ll never forget.

Just like everyone else, I’ve got a top five episodes, and after seeing this recent list put together by Variety, I felt compelled to list them.

Number five on my list is “The Opposite” from Season five. In this episode, George does the exact opposite of everything that he normally does, and it works out wonderfully for him. It’s an outstanding social experiment that I’d like to try some day. Instead of being the asshole that I am, try being charitable, or nice, instead. See if that improves my life in some way.

Instead of being an insecure nutjob, he gets the girl, stands up to noisy movie-goers, and even tells off his boss, George Steinbrenner! After watching him be hopelessly neurotic for the previous five seasons, it was great to watch him finally achieve some success!

Number four on my list is “The Pick” from season four. In this episode, Jerry gets busted “picking” his nose, but more importantly, Elaine allows Kramer to take her Christmas card picture, and he inadvertently photographs her with an exposed nipple, and everyone around the office starts calling her “Nip”.

It’s a little brown, circular protuberance!

One of my favorite things about Seinfeld is that there are usually two, and sometimes three, extremely memorable plots running in any given episode. I never really noticed that until I’d rewatched the series in 2020.

Number three on my list is “The Marine Biologist” from season five. In this episode, water finds it’s level as George lies about being a marine biologist to impress a woman, and wouldn’t you know it???? He ends up having to put his phony marine biologist skills to use when a whale beaches itself on Long Island.

Another part of this episode that I really connect with on a personal level is “Golden Boy”. If you’re unaware, Jerry has a favorite t-shirt that has been with him throughout some good times & bad times. But because of the amount of times “Golden Boy” has been through the wash cycle, his life has come to an end. And Jerry struggles mightily with getting rid of “Golden Boy”. I too, have had several shirts that have meant a lot to me in my life, but because they’ve been ripped or stained or faded or got lost, I’ve had to suffer those feelings, as well.

This episode also has Carol Kane as a guest star, who gets hit on the head by an electronic pocket organizer that refused to stop beeping.

Number two on my list of the top five Seinfeld episodes of all time is “The Library” from season three. In this episode, we get to see a high school version of Jerry & George, and make a STELLAR discovery. George was bullied by his gym teacher, Mr. Heyman!

Philip Baker Hall is absolutely perfect as Bookman, the library cop! He takes his job very seriously, giving Seinfeld and all-time tongue lashing about the importance of books. I remember when I was a kid that I literally believed there was a library police force that would track you down for unreturned books and overdue library fines. How stupid was I?

Number one on my list is “The Strike”, aka “The Festivus” episode.

I’ve always felt that Frank Costanza was an underutilized character on the show. From the manzere to the stop-short to the SERENITY NOW….I’ve ALWAYS laughed at his scenes. And honestly, who doesn’t love Festivus? This episode also features a pre-Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston as dentist, Tim Whatley.

What are your favorites?????