Seinfeld – CliqueClack Flashback

George Costanza: Played by Jason Alexander, on the other hand, was anything but sane. I have to say that, after all of my viewings of the show, George is by far the most out there, and is definitely my favorite character of the bunch. His incessant need to build himself up through lies and deception may seem deplorable, but it actually made for a very interesting character study of what people will do to feel good about themselves. And, it’s pretty impressive that George had the ability to really follow through on many of his outrageous tales!

I love the progression that George makes from presumably successful real estate agent, all the way through to an executive at Kruger Industrial Smoothing (K-Uger!), with hilarious stops along the way as Sid’s replacement parking cars, a hand model, sales rep at Sanalac (rest stop supplies), Assistant to the Traveling Secretary for the New York Yankees, a board member of The Susan Biddle Ross Foundation, sales executive at Play Now, and a computer salesman for his father, Frank (Jerry Stiller).

George’s employment was the source of a lot of comedy on Seinfeld, and I have shed a lot of laughing tears watching him burrow in at Play Now, battle Lloyd Braun (Matt McCoy) to be named top computer salesman, drag the World Series trophy around in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium, and try to give a scholarship to a “C” average student, simply because the kid had aspirations of being an architect (George’s pretend profession).

Of course, the man had to have a social life as well, and how George landed all of those women, I’ll never know. He was the cause of his fiancees’ death (Heidi Swedberg as Susan Ross), after burning down her father’s cabin, and outing him as having had a homosexual extra-marital affair. George even converted to Latvian Orthodoxy for another girlfriend, Sasha (Jana Marie Hupp). It’s safe to say that George never did anything half-heartedly.

And yet, he serves as a true and loyal friend to everyone in the group, particularly to Jerry, his friend since childhood. While I certainly question the wisdom behind seeking advice from the man, George is always available for an opinion or thought, and he’s readily willing to admit when he actually knows the answer to something, versus when he’s making it up. Kind of a refreshing concept.

It goes without saying that his parents, Frank and Estelle (Estelle Harris), bear significant mentioning, but, I’ll save them for a little later.

Elaine Benes: Julia Louis-Dreyfus took a journey on Seinfeld as well, although hers had a lot more to do with appearance than anyone else’s journey did. When we first meet Elaine, she’s a very buttoned-up businesswomen, with bland outfits, and a high bun worth of hair. By the end of the series, Louis-Dreyfus’ astounding beauty is on full display, and I think that Louis-Dreyfus being herself allowed her character to really shine through whatever screens she may have been battling through in the beginning.

As unusual as it is to have an ex-girlfriend as a core member of your group, Elaine and Jerry enjoyed the relationship that they did because of their history. Clearly there was uncertainty in how to utilize the past, and in the first few seasons we got a lot of tinkering with the nature of the pair’s relationship. First friends, then friends with benefits, then a couple, then friends again, and later on, a shared sexual experience to allow Jerry the opportunity to bring Elaine to orgasm (he failed). Elaine’s beginning was not something that I enjoyed.

But the ride got past the bumps, and once Elaine was able to enjoy her own dating life, she really started to hum along. The revolving door of bums and losers that she paraded through the series was as astounding as that of Jerry and George, and I fully enjoyed each and every one of them. Of course, one in particular does stand out: David Puddy (Patrick Warburton). Man, was he awesome!

Of course, Elaine was also able to open a window into something that the guys couldn’t: namely, daily occurrences that men never encounter. The Sponge, the fake number given to the creepy guy, the son (and father) who are sexually attracted to her, the stalker, the Botticelli shoes, the catty colleague fight, the Korean manicurists, and, of course, her numerous run-ins with Frank Costanza. All of which not only gave us a great slice of Elaine, but also provided us with countless hours of laughter.

While, true to the pilot that Jerry and George write on the show, the series never originally intended to have a woman in that type of role (Elaine wasn’t introduced until the second episode), her adventures with Jerry, George, and Kramer, individually and collectively, are pure comedic gold. It’s a good thing that the show figured out how to make room for her.

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 24, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT