The Pez Dispenser (Ep. 314)

George is dating a concert pianist, but is upset because he has no upper hand in the relationship because she's so smart and talented. He invites Jerry and Elaine to come to one of her recitals and dinner afterwards so that she will see him with his friends and have more respect for him. During the recital, Jerry places a Pez Dispenser that he got from Kramer on Elaine's lap and she starts giggling at first and then into full on laughter. This causes George's girlfriend to get distracted and mess up in her recital. Obviously, she is upset and doesn't feel like going to dinner with them so George again loses out on gaining any upper hand.

Elaine runs into John Molicka, a former bartender for the comedy club Jerry used to work at, and he tells her about Richie, a former comedian friend who is into drugs pretty bad. She suggests an intervention, but he says it would only work if Jerry were there because he respects Jerry. Kramer suggests to George that he do a preemptive break-up with his girlfriend to get the upper hand and it works. Later they stop by Jerry's apartment while everyone is waiting around for the intervention. His girlfriend hears Elaine laughing and realizes she was the one laughing during the recital. This causes her to break up with him.

Interesting fact: Kramer was the orginal Ace at First Base. "Kramer was our first baseman. You couldn't get anything by him. He was unbelievable."

Intersting quote: "A man without hand is not a man. I got so much hand, I'm coming out my gloves." - George

Grade: A (The silliness of the Pez dispenser and Elaine's infectious laugh makes this perfect.)

King of Kong: Fist Full of Quarters

This is a movie (documentary to be exact) that Kim and I watched the other day and I just had to recommend it. It's about this guy who is laid off from his job and in his new free time decides to try to beat the all-time scoring record on the original arcade version of Donkey Kong. What starts out as a silly idea turns into a fascinating and inspiring story.

I won't give away the details of the movie, but basically what I got out of the movie was this: Be proud of your accomplishments regardless of what anyone else has to say about them or whether or not anyone recognizes them. Also, always be the bigger person, it pays off in the end.

Rent the movie!! It's worth it!

The Subway (Ep. 313)

Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer all meet up at Monk's before going their separate ways on the Subway. Jerry is going to Coney Island to get his car that was stolen out of the impound lot, George is going for a job interview, Elaine is going to a lesbian wedding, and Kramer is going to court to pay off all of his tickets he's accumulated.

Jerry ends up falling asleep on the long Subway ride only to wake up across from an overweight exhibitionist. He ends up talking to the guy and they spend the day at Coney Island together eating and riding rides. George meets a beautiful woman on the Subway and decides to go with her to her hotel room instead of to his interview. It turns out she was just robbing him and when she finds out that he doesn't have any money, she takes his clothes. Elaine gets stuck on the Subway when it breaks down. She has a nervous breakdown and also misses the wedding. Kramer overhears a tip for a horse and goes to the track instead. He puts his entire $600 that was for the tickets towards the horse and wins big.

Interesting fact: The first episode where each actor filmed separate from the others.

Interesting quote: "I get the idea that when a lesbian looks at me they're saying to themselves: That's why I'm not a heterosexual." - George

Grade: A- (Simple plot, but very well executed. Once again Elaine steals the show with her breakdown on the Subway)

Rays of Sunshine!

Today I dedicate this post (my 100th I might add) to the Tampa Bay Rays. I am a Boston Red Sox fan, and the Tampa Bay Rays play in the Sox division, but you just can't help but be excited following them. Yesterday they got their team record 71st victory of the season and they still have 45 games left. There is just a different attitude on the team this year from the last 11 years.

It just amazes me because for years people have said that Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Baltimore would never be able to win that division so long as Boston and New York were competitive. News flash, Boston has the 4th best record in baseball and they are still 4.5 games back from Tampa. Needless to say, I'm impressed. Go Rays Go!

The Suicide (Ep. 312)

Jerry's neighbor Martin tries to commit suicide after his girlfriend Gina breaks up with him. She then hits on Jerry in the hospital room while Martin is in a coma. He likes her, but is scared of Martin waking up and getting mad. Newman threatens to tell Martin about Jerry and Gina when he wakes up. Elaine has to fast for 3 days because of an ulcer test, and starts to get delusional because of her lack of food. George is going to take a vacation to the Cayman Islands, but gets an ominous message from a Psychic of something bad that is going to happen. She stops in the middle of her message though because Elaine makes her mad and George is going crazy trying to find out what is going to happen. He ends up giving his ticket to Kramer instead of going.

Kramer comes back telling of Sports Illustrated shooting their swimsuit issue on the beach he was at and him and the models going to a local nude beach. The one bad thing that did happen was getting stung on the foot by a jellyfish. Jerry offers a Drake Coffee Cake to Newman to keep him from telling Martin, but then Elaine comes in and takes the cake from him. This prompts him to tell Martin has he wakes up and Martin and Gina get back together.

Interesting fact: First on-camera appearance of Newman. He made an off-camera appearance in Episode 212.

Interesting quote: "Who goes on vacation without a job? What do you need a break from getting up at 11?" - Jerry

Grade: A- (The addition of Newman is perfect and Elaine's starved paranoia is priceless!)

The Red Dot (Ep. 311)

Jerry accidently puts Elaine's alcoholic drink near her sobering up boyfriend and he falls back off the wagon. Meanwhile, Elaine gets George a job at Pendant Publishing reading and evaluating novels. George wants to thank her and so he gets a cashmere sweater that has been severely marked down because it has a tiny red dot on it. When he gives it to her Kramer notices the red dot and points it out to her. She keeps asking whether George knew about it or not when he bought the sweater, but Jerry won't tell. Later, she tricks George into admitting it and gives him the sweater back. After getting his job, he ends up sleeping with the cleaning lady on his desk. Then to prevent her from ratting him out he gives her the sweater, unfortunately she sees the dot and rats him out anyway. The show ends with Elaine's mad, drunk ex-boyfriend storming into the office and Elaine, George, and Jerry hiding under George's desk. George offers him the sweater, but he too notices the red dot.

Interesting quote: "I don't know whether it was the alcohol or the ammonia, but next thing I knew she was mopping the floor with me." - George

Grade: C+ (Kind of a dull episode, but it had it's moments)

The Alternate Side (Ep. 310)

Jerry gets his car stolen when the guy who moves his car leaves the keys in the ignition. George agrees to take over the job while the guy is on vacation in Florida. This proves to be a little more daunting than George expected and he ends up wrecking the rental car that Jerry took out. Unfortunately, he wrecked it with the ambulance that was coming to pick up Elaine's 60 year old boyfriend who was having a stroke at Jerry's apartment.

Kramer gets a line in a Woody Allen movie after making him laugh when he trips as an extra. His line is "these pretzels are making me thirsty" as he sits at a bar next to Woody. The movie gets delayed because of George backing up traffic with his moving cars. Kramer ends up getting fired from his line after he breaks his beer mug and some of the glass hits Kramer.

Interesting fact: The first "job" that Kramer ever has on the show.

Interesting quote: "Yeah, give me the insurance because I am going to beat the hell out of this car." - Jerry

Grade: B+ (Pretty funny, love the way plots collide)