Ten ‘Seinfeld’ Episodes To Binge Watch This Weekend, Because You Can

Choosing the 10 best Seinfeld episodes is a great way to get into a fight with someone. But looking back at this exhausting, terrible, illuminating week, getting into fights even about stupid shit like ’90s sitcoms doesn’t really seem that appealing.

You know what is appealing, though? Spending your weekend watching a funny show like Seinfeld, all 180 episodes of which have today dropped on Stan. If you’ve never watched it before or are keen on revisiting the classics, we’ve assembled a little starter pack on some of the most iconic — not best, relax — episodes of its nine seasons.

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“The Chinese Restaurant”: Season two, episode 11

The one where Jerry, George and Elaine are waiting for a table at a restaurant for a really long time — a whole episode, in fact — and everyone is stressed. Jerry wants to see a one-night only showing of Plan 9 from Outer Space! George can’t contact the girl he’s seeing to apologise for a foreplay mishap the night before! Elaine is so hungry that she almost eats an egg roll off someone’s plate!

Although NBC thought that a “bottle episode” happening in real time would bore audiences, Larry David threatened to quit if they meddled with the script. Turns out it was a good move.

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“The Puffy Shirt”: Season five, episode two

Jerry is going to make an appearance on The Today Show, but accidentally agrees to wear a ridiculous pirate shirt (“You look like you’re gonna swing in on a chandelier!” says Elaine) designed by Kramer’s girlfriend “the low-talker” (she is very softly spoken and he didn’t realise what he was agreeing to when he nodded politely at her inaudible mumbling).

Meanwhile, George becomes a hand model.

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“The Contest”: Season four, episode 11

The one in which Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer have a competition as to who can go the longest without masturbating. The contest for who could remain “master of your domain” was based on a true story — and by the by, in his group of friends, Larry David was the winner.

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“The Marine Biologist”: Season five, episode 14

Jerry tells an old friend that George is a marine biologist so that she’ll go out with him (“Why couldn’t you make me an architect? You know I always wanted to pretend I was an architect.”) and then George somehow ends up in a situation where he has to save a beached whale.

“The sea was angry that day, my friends,” George explains.

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“The Raincoats — Part One and Two”: Season five, episodes 18 and 19

In which Jerry’s parents come to stay with him and it’s revealed that they hate George’s parents and refuse to see them while visiting New York. Desperate get some privacy with his girlfriend, Jerry takes her to see Schindler’s List but is caught making out with her by Newman.

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“The Parking Garage”: Season three, episode six

Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer spend a whole episode looking for Kramer’s car in a shopping centre parking lot. That’s literally the premise of the whole episode. It’s the best.

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“The Pez Dispenser”: Season three, episode 14

Jerry places a Pez dispenser on Elaine’s lap during George’s girlfriend’s piano recital, which causes Elaine to laugh so uproariously that the concert is ruined. Why is a Pez dispenser funny? It just is! Meanwhile, Kramer creates a cologne that smells like the beach (which become relevant later in the season).

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“The Soup Nazi”: Season seven, episode six

Even if you’ve never watched a Seinfeld episode in your life, you know who the “Soup Nazi” is. However, waiting patiently in line for fascist soup isn’t the only good thing about this episode, in which Jerry and his girlfriend speak constant baby talk to each other — much to George’s disgust — and Elaine is stranded on the street with an armoire.

(Sounds boring; isn’t boring.)

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“The Strike”: Season nine, episode 10

This episode sees the introduction of “Festivus” a holiday devised by George’s dad as a Christmas substitute, in which all family members sit around a table and air their grievances about each other and then exhibit “feats of strength”. It’s also the episode featuring the “The Human Fund”,  a fake charity George creates to avoid buying gifts for his co-workers.

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“The Pen”: Season three, episode three

Jerry and Elaine visit Jerry’s parents in Florida, and Jerry causes a social rift in the retirement village when he accepts the gift of an “astronaut pen” from a friend of the family. Elaine gets a back injury from sleeping on a trundle bed, and then accidentally takes too many muscle relaxants.

Feel free just to watch this one over and over again.

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Seinfeld is currently streaming on Stan.