Seinfeld: Season 4 DVD Review:

With Elaine in Europe, Jerry asks George to accompany him on a trip to LA and The Tonight Show; while there they will try to locate Kramer. While auditioning, Kramer must deal with the advances of an older female landlord (an actress who hasn't worked since 1934) and get someone in Hollywood to read his script treatment. A body is discovered; the victim, a young woman, was strangled. Kramer meets a woman at an audition and he gives her a copy of his script. Jerry loses the correct phrasing for some new jokes and George tries to get Lupe, the chambermaid, to make his bed just right.

The Pitch

NBC executives ask Jerry to come up with an idea for a TV series. George decides he can be a sitcom writer and comes up with "nothing." Kramer trades a radar detector for a helmet, later Newman gets a speeding ticket.

The Ticket

Kramer suffers side effects from his head injury. NBC gives Jerry and George another meeting and on the way, Jerry throws out a watch his parents gave him. He then meets his Uncle Leo, who picks the watch out of the garbage.

The Wallet

Jerry's parents come to town to see a back specialist, they hear about "Crazy" Joe not liking Jerry and ask about the watch they gave him. George "negotiates" the deal with the NBC and gets a box of cigars from Susan's father.

The Watch

Jerry has dinner with his parents and Uncle Leo. Women, who's paying and the watch are all discussed. Elaine uses Kramer as "her boyfriend" in trying to fool her shrink. George gets Russell's address and tries to get the pilot reinstated. Jerry tries to buy back the watch.

The Bubble Boy

Jerry's girlfriend, Naomi has a laugh that sounds like "Elmer Fudd sitting on a juicer," and when she hears George's message to Jerry, she breaks up with him. So instead, Jerry asks Elaine to accompany him on a trip to a cabin in the mountain with George and Susan. Kramer isn't invited.

The Cheever Letters

Jerry and George begin to work on the pilot for the series they pitched to NBC. Jerry says the wrong thing while "messing" around with one of Elaine's co-workers. George & Susan tell her father about the cabin fire, he becomes distraught and letters saved from the fire soon explain why. Kramer goes to the Cuban Embassy in search of cigars and makes a deal.

The Opera

"Crazy" Joe leaves Jerry a message saying he will put the "kibosh" on him. Kramer has tickets for the opera, Pagliacci, and everyone is going including Elaine and her boyfriend "Crazy" Joe. Elaine drops in on Joe's apartment and is she surprised by what she discovers, so she maces him with cherry Binaca and ends their relationship. Susan can't attend, so George tries to scalp her ticket.

The Virgin

After much procrastination, George and Jerry strain to think of an idea for their TV series a few hours before a meeting with NBC executives. Jerry finds out a girl he once met is still a virgin, and later Elaine educates her about men after sex. George wants to end his relationship with Susan so he can exploit his writing profession as a pick-up line.

The Contest

George's mother throws her back out when she falls down after catching him doing "you know." When George says he'll never do it again, Jerry challenges him to a contest of self-denial, when he accepts, Elaine and Kramer want in on the action, or rather the lack of it.

The Airport

When their flight home gets cancelled, Jerry & Elaine gets on another flight, the latter gets cramped into coach and Jerry parties in 1st class with a model. George and Kramer go between JFK and La Guardia to pick them up. When they settle on an airport George meets a convict and Kramer sees a man who owes him $240 from years ago.

The Pick

Elaine is humiliated when she accidentally shows a bit too much on her Christmas card photo, that she has sent out to everyone she knows. Jerry has a date with the model from the plane, she later dumps Jerry because of "The Pick." George tries to reunite with Susan, but realizes it's a mistake, and uses "The Pick".

The Visa

George meets a Chinese female lawyer who thinks he is real funny; so he tells Jerry not to be funny around her, but she becomes attracted to this. Kramer returns early from baseball fantasy camp, where he accidentally punched Mickey Mantle.

The Movie

Jerry tries to make two show dates and afterwards go to the movie theatre to meet everyone. George gets in the wrong line for tickets. George, Elaine & Kramer decide to go to another theatre to see the movie. Kramer waits outside for Jerry but also wants a hot dog. Jerry misses his first show, then goes to movie theatre to tell everyone he won't make the movie, but no one is there. Through a comedy of errors, everyone (but Kramer) misses the movie; they were originally going to see.

The Outing

No thanks to Elaine, Jerry must work hard to prove he is straight when a college reporter mistakenly reports that he and George are gay, "not that there is anything wrong with that." Things really get out of hand when the article is picked up by the New York Post.

The Shoes

Jerry and George struggle to keep their idea for a TV series alive, one of their problems is they don't know how to do the Elaine character. Jerry meets an old girlfriend he never could kiss, later Kramer gets the opportunity.

The Old Man

Jerry, Elaine & George volunteer to help the elderly. Jerry gets assigned to a nasty old man. Elaine is repulsed by the goitre problems of hers and George depresses his charge.

The Implant

Jerry dumps his girlfriend after Elaine says her figure is the result of implants. Kramer claims to have seen Salman Rushdie at the health club. By accident Elaine later discovers the breasts are real.

The Handicap Spot

Going out to buy an engagement party present for "The Drake," George parks his father's car in a handicap parking spot, after taking Kramer's advice. An angry mob trashes the vehicle when a disabled woman gets injured, because of the illegal parking.

The Junior Mint

Jerry has a date with a woman whose name he has forgotten, but it "rhymes with a female body part." Could it be "Mulva"? Elaine visits an old boyfriend who's in the hospital for an operation; he was once fat, thin she's interested again. Kramer gets an opportunity to witness the operation and he drags Jerry along, while watching they have an accident with a "Junior Mint."

The Smelly Car

The strong body odour of a valet is left in Jerry's car. George can't believe it when he spots Susan holding hands with another woman. Elaine loses her current boyfriend and Jerry is forced to try to sell the car, because the odour has taken a life of its own and permeated everything. George is turned on by Susan's new outlook on life. Susan's friend is swayed to heterosexuality by Kramer, though later turned back off by a whiff of a jacket that Kramer borrowed from Jerry. When the car can't be sold, Jerry winds up leaving it and the keys out on the street.

The Pilot (Part 1 & 2)

Jerry and George get the green light to produce Jerry, the pilot for the series based on their "nothing" lives. Russell Dalrimple, the president at NBC behind the pilot, is obsessed with Elaine. George is obsessed with a white spot on his lip and a box of raisins taken by actor playing Kramer. The real Kramer has an internal plumbing problem and on his way to fix it, he gets delayed and is caused to "miss his chance." Jerry has an audition with the new "Elaine," a method actress interested in being Elaine in every way. The real Elaine has a problem with the coffee shop, they appear to be only hiring buxom waitresses and so she tries to get hired and files a report.

Arguably one of the best situation comedy shows of all time, ‘Seinfeld’s’ fourth season was when its true genius came to the fore.

The show about nothing continues to generate classic episode after classic episode and made it one of the most consistently funny shows ever to grace television. Very few situation comedies can claim that they never truly had a bad episode but ‘Seinfeld’ was consistency personified. The fourth season is a classic example of this. Each episode is a comedy classic as the characters and situations of the show about nothing really start to come into their own.

When you think of classic characters in comedy it is more than likely that Jerry, Kramer, Elaine and George will make your top ten or even be your top four. Jerry, the stand up comic who always sees the bad points in people as way of getting away from commitment e.g. she has man hands, she is too tall, her nose is too big, she is a virgin etc, is the first classic character. Played by wonderfully by the shows co-creator and writer Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry is neurotic but charming and a big hit with the ladies, until he finds something wrong with them. George, played by the brilliant Jason Alexander, is just as neurotic but without the confidence in himself that Jerry has. He basically lives his life through his best friend and thinks the world has something against him. Kramer is a force of nature. Michael Richards creates the manic character with great aplomb. He is a complete enigma, manic and living in a world of his own, providing most of the physical comedy for the series. Some may argue that Elaine, the wonderful Julia Louis-Dreyfus, is the only sane one of the group but then you should see hear dance. He is exactly the same as Jerry but in female form, and this is why they probably get on so well. What makes the show so great is that though it may be called ‘Seinfeld’, the show is about the four characters and not just about Jerry. Each of them gets equal billing and episode time, making them a true ensemble cast.

Season four is filled with so many classic episodes and continuing storylines. Jerry and George’s NBC pilot gets off the ground, George starts to date Susan and Elaine starts to see ‘Crazy Joe’. There are also so many classic episodes that this review would be far too long if it covered them all. Highlights include ‘The Virgin’ with ‘Frasier’s’ Jane Leeves, as Jerry starts to date the perfect woman, only to discover she is a virgin. ‘The Movie’ which is just classic farce as Jerry tries to arrange three things at once with disastrous consequences. ‘The Old man’ when the group becomes volunteers to the elderly. ‘The Handicap Spot’ outlines the consequences of parking in a blue bay without permission. ‘The Junior Mint’ reveals that you shouldn’t really eat when watching an operation.

In the middle of the season is one of the best Seinfeld episodes ever and all time comedy classic, ‘The Contest’. The show revolves around erm, self-gratification and who can abstain from this for the longest. While they never actually mention what they are going without, you know exactly what it is they are giving up and how difficult it is. This is absolutely hilarious and one of the best comedy scripts ever to grace television. A true classic.

Without a doubt ‘Seinfeld’ is the best comedy show in Television history. With four classic characters, brilliant guest and supporting performances and consistency unmatched by any show past or current, this series is the true definition of comedy. Season four is another golden year for the series and with classic episode after classic episode, this proves that ‘Seinfeld’ is the standard in the sitcom genre.

Season Star Rating = * * * * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in full frame 4:3 with a Dolby stereo sound track, the transfer is very good, especially when you bear in mind that the show was originally broadcast in 1992.

BONUS FEATURES

The Breakthrough Season (19.11 mins)

NBC executives Warren Littlefield and Rick Ludwin, Castlerock executives Rob Reiner and Glen Padnick, executive producers Howard West and George Shapiro, co-creator Larry David, writer Larry Charles, composer Jonathan Wolff and stars Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus talk about the fourth season of ‘Seinfeld’. This was the season when the show exploded into a mega hit after switching to Thursday nights, following NBC other hit comedy show ‘Cheers’. The cast and crew discuss the impact this had on the show and other insights into how the show changed slightly over the season, as it took more risks and pushed to the show to new levels of comedy and crazy ideas.

Regis & Kathie Lee Parody (4.40 mins)

Taken from an episode of ‘Live with Regis & Kathie Lee’, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus parody a segment from a previously aired show were Regis and Kathie Lee talk about ‘Seinfeld’.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that’ (Bloopers) (21.13 mins)

A montage of gaffs and gaps from the fourth season of the show. Highlights include some brilliant adlibbing from the cast when things go wrong and Kramer with a cigar is just hilarious.

“Master of his Domain” (Exclusive Stand-up Material) (8.05 mins)

Watch a collection of extended and never used stand-up material from Jerry Seinfeld.

“Sponsored by Vandelay Industries” (NBC Promos) (2.58 mins)

A collection of funny TV spots highlighting the show’s move to Thursday night, after ‘Cheers’.

1992 Olympic Promos (4.15 mins)

A collection of micro sketches that have Jerry, George and Kramer talking about the Olympics and how they would tackle some of the events.

Photo Gallery (1.53 mins)
A montage of promotional and behind-the-scenes images promoting the fourth season

“Yada, Yada, Yada” Commentaries
Listen to episode commentary tracks on ‘The Trip (Part 1 & 2)’, ‘The Cheever Letters’, ‘The Contest’, ‘The Airport’, ‘The Outing’, ‘The Implant’, ‘The Junior Mint’ and ‘The Pilot’. Writers Larry Charles and Peter Mehlman, production designer Tom Azzari, director Tom Cherones and stars Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have tracks, with each one offering funny insights into the episodes, especially the ones with Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

In the Vault (Deleted Scenes)

Watch deleted or alternative scenes from the episodes ‘The Trip’, ‘The Wallet’, ‘The Cheever Letters’, ‘The Opera’, ‘The Virgin’, ‘The Contest’, ‘The Airport’, ‘The Pick’, ‘The Movie’, ‘The Outing’, ‘The Old Man’ and ‘The Junior Mint’.

Inside Looks
Stars Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are joined guest stars and crew members to offer insights into the episodes ‘The Trip Part 1’, ‘The Pitch/The Ticket’, ‘The Bubble Boy’, ‘The Cheever Letters’, ‘The Opera’, ‘The Contest’, ‘The Airport’, ‘The Pick’, ‘The Visa’, ‘The Outing’, ‘The Oldman’, ‘The Implant’, ‘The Handicap Spot’, ‘The Junior Mint’ and ‘The Smelly Car’.

Notes about Nothing
Watch any episode and receive fascinating and funny trivia about the show and the characters involved.

OVERALL

A classic TV show gets a classic treatment on DVD. An absolutely brilliant collection of bonus features accompanies the release. The commentaries are excellent and very funny. The documentary and ‘Inside Look’ featurettes take you inside the show. The Bloopers are hilarious and the deleted scenes are very good (making you wonder why they were cut). There are also alternate versions of some shows with branched extras scenes. This makes for an unbelievable package that fans of the show will lap up.



Jamie Kelwick