The Worst 'Seinfeld' Episodes

The pilot episode of the series is not the best the show offered; it is only a pilot. Jerry and George discuss Jerry's love life and seek advice. Kramer appears.Kessler appears.Kessler, named in the episode, enters. The characters' dynamic likely secured the show's NBC order. Still, the episode shows it was far from the series' best.

The episode falls short because it lacked Elaine. The pacing drags. Jerry's love life lacks interest. The show would not have gained its status if the pilot format stayed the same.: It lacked Elaine. Pacing was horribly slow. Jerry's love life was boring. The show would never have gained prominence if the pilot format stayed the same.

Jerry finds himself on a flight next to a boorish alcoholic. Jerry fights to stop their talk. The man ignores Jerry's disinterest. When the man has a medical attack, Jerry's presence makes him the default caretaker for the dog.Farfel.. The dog never appeared on screen. It was meant to be a large, aggressive, nonstop-barking animal. Jerry dislikes caring for the animal and gets rid of it after the man has his medical scare weeks later.

The episode falls short because of the dog.: The relationship between George and Elaine was a feature. The dog prevented Jerry from interacting much with the group, forcing them to socialize. They felt awkward without Jerry's buffer. This seemed odd since their relationship appeared friendly earlier in the series. It made little sense for the characters. Though the episode works alone, it fails compared to the series.

Jerry is troubled by a childhood friend he no longer likes namedJoel Horneck. He and George argue that he never stopped hanging out because he is a man. They decide treating him like a woman he was breaking up with would end things. He tries it, and the man cries. Elaine appears for the first time, advises on ending the relationship, and Kramer plans a pizza place where you make your own pie.

The episode falls short because of the storyline.: This was the fourth episode, introducing Elaine, but she got little action. The series addresses this later when the men admit they did not know how to write for a woman, referencing her earlier spots. The episode had some funny parts. But the main story about Jerry breaking up with an old friend is not memorable; it made a weak episode.

Jerry starts dating Marlene after George breaks up with her. Marlene seems very sexy, but Jerry finds her boring, just like George. Jerry fights to end it but cannot because she has a strong hold on him. Marlene loses all respect for him after seeing his act, breaking up with him mainly because she thinks he is not funny. George is also shown being homophobic.

It falls short.The episode was pretty boring. The whole point of "The Ex-Girlfriend" was meant to deliver a punchline, but it failed. A comedian getting dumped because someone doesn't find them funny is sillier than funny, and this did not work for many viewers. A later episode with Jerry dating a woman who never laughed played much better than this one.

"The Puerto Rican Day" shows the main cast returning from a game to find the city completely jammed. The annual Puerto Rican Day Parade causes this gridlock. Jerry gets into a fight with another driver, so no one leaves. The episode shows each man sneaking into a townhouse to use the bathroom and catch the end of the game while Elaine tries to get home but fails.

Why it falls short: There were many bottle episodes on Seinfeld, but this one is the dullest. It was also very racist, and NBC even apologizedThis episode is not funny. The offensive parts stand out as the main feature. Many people dislike this episode, and many outright hate it.

In "The Deal," Jerry and Elaine try something impossible: they make rules letting them sleep together without harming their friendship. This works at first, but normal problems with that arrangement cause fights, and their friendship nearly ends.

Why it falls short: The episode was written solely to please the NBC brass, who continuously demanded that Jerry and Elaine get back together. The series was never about a "will they, or won't they" kind of dynamic, which is why Elaine was introduced as Jerry's ex-girlfriend whom he became close friends with. Larry David reluctantly wrote the episode, but in doing so, he proved it would never work. In some ways, it's ingenious, and while it helped the series stay on the air with NBC's approval, it left fans with an episode that disrupted the normal flow of the show, and ultimately, didn't go anywhere.

Jerry finds a jacket he loves in "The Jacket." It is extravagantly expensive, featuring red and white stripes. George and Jerry wait for Elaine at dinner with her father, but Elaine never arrives. George and Jerry feel awkward around the gruff older man who tells Jerry not to wear the jacket inside-out while they walk.

It falls short.: This episode is boring. Most scenes show a couple of guys waiting in a hotel lobby. This is not exciting. There are some laughs, but the episode was mostly a failure. Lawrence Tierney, the actor who played Elaine's father, was caught trying to steal a prop butcher knife behind the scenes.It steals a prop butcher knife.When confronted, he mocked Jerry, threatening to end him with the knife. If this happened in the episode, it might not have made the list.

Elaine secretly records a sexy line into Jerry's tape.he was making while performing.The guys become obsessed with the mystery woman's voice. George tries a Chinese cure for baldness, but it makes him look foolish and smell bad in the apartment. When the guys realize it is Elaine's voice on the tape, they direct their attention toward her.

It falls short.: The episode ends badly. The men stare lecherously at Elaine, treating her like a giant chicken leg from a Looney Toons cartoon.Looney Toons.This choice went against the show's normal tone. The series focused on the characters' platonic friendship, not romantic relationships. This choice was strange, and it ruined what could have been a good episode.

George's telephone line connects with a Chinese Woman.The Chinese Woman.Jerry asks Donna Chang out. His interest in a Chinese woman pushes him to act. However, when he meets her, he finds she is a blonde Caucasian woman from Long Island. He sees her reluctantly. After she advises George's mother on separating from his father, everything breaks when she is revealed to Mrs. Costanza as a white woman.

It falls short.: This episode uses stereotypes and light racism. Elaine asks if Jerry's interest in a woman based on her race is racism. Jerry replies he cannot like a race. This touches a sensitive point, and the episode simply has not aged well.

When Elaine admits she faked orgasms with Jerry, Jerry takes a major hit to his male pride and ego. He harasses her all episode while calling all the women he slept with to check if they faked it too. George sees his libido drop. He only fixes this by eating a mango.The mango appears in the list of 'The Worst Seinfeld Episodes'.Kramer offers the mango and talks about nothing else.

The mango falls short in its execution.: People watched this episode and felt offended. The episode aimed at racy topics like orgasms and libido, but the plot felt stale and unoriginal. It seemed like a repeat of "The Ex-Girlfriend," another episode on this list.

George's childhood rival, Lloyd Braun, appears in "The Gum." He was recently released from a psychiatric institution, or as George called him, "The nuthouse." Kramer works to fix a run-down movie theater while Jerry gets pulled into Braun and George's problems when he agrees to buy Chinese chewing gum. Elaine's cleavage drives much of the action.

The gum falls short in its execution.The problem with " appears in the list.The Gum is listed." focuses too much on Elaine's breasts. It gets cheap laughs here and there, but the episode used that joke too much.

"The Outing" begins with George, Elaine, and Jerry waiting for an NYU student interview. Elaine sees women listening. She has fun talking about Jerry and George's relationship. One young woman turns out to be the reporter who recognizes them at Jerry's apartment. Both men are 'outed' as LGBTQ+, and the episode sparked the award, "There is nothing wrong with the outing.," which remains part of pop culture today.

The outing falls short.: This episode won a GLAAD media award in 1993, but it shows poor aging. Jokes about being gay seemed funny in the 1990s. Today, most people are offended by them. The idea that being gay was wrong, despite always saying there was nothing wrong with it, does not land well now.