Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy at work. I will finish up season two's remaining episode diaries, then intermittently add some fun stuff as I continue. Anyway, on with "The Chinese Restaurant".
Storylines: Elaine, George and Jerry get stuck waiting in a Chinese Restaurant while trying to catch a movie. Elaine becomes extremely hungry, George loses his patience while waiting to use the phone and Jerry recognizes someone, but doesn’t remember who she is.
Personal Take: Ah, the Chinese Restaurant. The episode that became famous, or infamous, depending on how you look at it. This is why Seinfeld became known as “The show about nothing.” It’s about three people waiting to eat in a restaurant. That’s it. For 23 minutes, the audience is literally watching three people wait for a table. The fact that the show was done in real time was the icing on the cake. It’s really just one long scene. I mean, how do you do that in television and get away with it? Not only is this another first for Seinfeld, but they did it in style.
It is surprising how much actually happens (or at least gets discussed) in this episode. Considering the whole episode is one take and there are no set changes or anything like that, the three of them still have their own substantive little plots. This episode is one of those this-could-happen-to-anyone kinds of things, where it’s relatable to everyone because we’ve all had to wait our turn to be seated at a restaurant.
Other notes:
-The bathroom situation George describes to Jerry really could only happen to him. Who else would lie to get out of the awkward situation of having to go to the bathroom within audible distance of a person in the next room? It reminds me of a scene in an episode of “That 70s Show” where Eric is running through the living room because he has to go to the bathroom, but he’s shy about doing so with Donna in the next room. “Don’t stop loving me,” Eric shouts as he goes through the room. It can be quite a hilarious predicament, that’s for sure.
-The two jobs of policemen and garbage men absolutely should be combined into two jobs (okay, that’s a joke….sort of).
Gaps in Society: This episode is a gold mine. First off, why do people treat pay phones (or at least, why did they, since no one uses pay phones anymore) like their own personal phones? Sometimes people have a blatant disregard for the urgencies and problems of a fellow individual. So please, if you have a chance to help someone by not being such a complete butthead, take that opportunity.
I don’t mean to be racist or stereotype people, but it is absolutely annoying to go to a store or restaurant or whatever and try to communicate with someone who barely speaks English. I don’t care if it’s a Chinese restaurant or not, it shouldn’t be hard to communicate with someone who has to talk to every customer that comes in. Furthermore, there’s just a certain understanding of basic customs most Americans understand, but dealing with people who don’t get it is painful.
Jerry’s bits: Jerry opens with a bit on the phone company calling you back at a pay phone, demanding more money (seriously, who’s going to do that?). His other bit is about cannibalism. “Wow, this is really good. Who is this?”
Best Lines:
Elaine: I feel like just walking over there and taking food off of somebody’s plate.
Jerry: I tell you what, there’s 50 bucks in if for you if you do it.
…Elaine: Should I do it George?
George: For 50 bucks? I’d put my face in their soup and blow.
George: So I’m dressing, and she’s staring up at me, struggling to compute this unprecedented turn of events. I don’t know what to say to reassure this woman, and worst of all, I don’t have the time to say it.
Tidbits:
The guy who takes too long on the pay phone makes another appearance on the show as a photographer in “The Puffy Shirt”….This is one of two episodes in which Kramer doesn’t make an appearance, with the other being “The Pen.” The reason was because, at the time, Kramer didn’t usually go out with the group....Jerry mentions he has a sister in this episode, but she is never mentioned again. Believe it or not, though, the show never mentions that Jerry is an only child, though we’re sort of led to believe that.
Running jokes/references/connections:
This is the first mention of “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” the movie the group doesn’t get to see because of the restaurant fiasco. After seeing a poster for the movie, Jerry mentions to Kramer how he never got to see the movie in “The ???”…In deleted material of the episode, Jerry asks George why he is limping, and George tells him it’s because he tried to untuck bed sheets while in a hotel, a problem that occurs again in Season 3’s premiere, “The Note”….Jerry mentions to the restaurant host that he and Elaine used to date….Jerry and George use the storyline of this episode as a pitch to the NBC Executives in Season 4’s “The Pitch.”
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