Thanks to reruns, people can still watch Seinfeld, whether for the first or fiftieth time. However, reruns and repeat viewings also make it easier to spot parts of episodes and the series that just don’t make sense. Sure, it was a sitcom, designed to make the audience laugh, but some things could have been caught or fixed with a simple line change or even outfit selection.
At times, the characters’ reactions to things felt unrealistic simply because the show was a comedy. These characters tended to move on too quickly from losses and bad news.
Career choices and finances were also head-scratchers, and then there was the series’ central location: Jerry’s apartment (and his building). There was also the fact that the four main characters managed to have any relationships, let alone as many as they did. Significant others were easily tossed aside.
Most of the time, in order to get the laughs desired, these storylines were taken too far, at the expense of others’ feelings. That makes it easy to see how the series would end with the four of them on trial for criminal indifference.
Here are 20 Seinfeld Memes That Prove The Show Makes No Sense.
The Show About Nothing
In season 4, Jerry was getting ready to pitch an idea for a TV show to NBC when George decided to offer up his own idea: their daily lives “should be the show.” It could just be about talking, “about nothing,” he explained when Jerry questioned the concept. In other words, it would be Seinfeld.
Jerry insisted that they had to have a story, but George disagreed. They could take events from their own lives (like when they waited for a table at the Chinese restaurant). They, along with Kramer and Elaine, could be the characters. “Everybody’s doing something,” George said. “We’ll do nothing.”
He even pitched that idea to the network. There would be “no stories.” It could follow someone going to work, but “nothing happens.” People would watch it because it was on television. Jerry tried to save the pitch by insisting, “something happens,” but George wouldn’t listen.
This was the show that aired for nine seasons: a show about “nothing.”
At least, it was “nothing” based on George’s definition. In reality, Jerry was right to say that “something” happened because even mundane events like waiting for a table and eating in a diner are “something.”
Whether its about something or nothing, Seinfeld was (and remains) a hit.
Kramer Got a Job Without Being Hired
In season 8’s “The Bizarro Jerry”, Kramer started working. Why then? He felt like he’d been “drifting aimlessly,” he explained to Jerry. He thought he needed “structure” in his life, and the new job gave him that.
In fact, he didn’t even care about being paid for his work. “I’m doing this just for me,” he said. As for what he was doing exactly, “TCB. Taking care of business.” As the episode showed, that meant giving presentations, cleaning his shoe off in the watercooler ,and eating the crackers he carried in his briefcase. He even went out after work with his coworkers.
He let his friendship with Jerry slide in order to get his work done. He was so focused on the job that it seemed to be giving him an ulcer. All this, after only three days of work.
That could be because he was simply not qualified for the position. His work wasn’t good, his boss told him. Based on the reports he handed in, he had no business training at all. He had no choice but to fire him. “I don’t even really work here,” Kramer pointed out.
Rather than question how he even started working there, all Mr. Leland said in reply was, “That’s what makes this so difficult.”
How Kramer managed to show up multiple days to a job he didn’t have without getting kicked out of the office was a head-scratcher.
Jerry’s Complaint Was His Job
In one of the most well-known episodes, season 2’s “The Chinese Restaurant”, Jerry, George and Elaine tried to have dinner without a reservation before a movie. Elaine was hungry and didn’t want to wait, but they thought it would only be five or ten minutes. George, meanwhile, tried to use the payphone to call his date to tell her where they were.
The wait was much longer than they thought, providing time for hijinks to ensue. It got to the point that Jerry suggested they just eat at the movie theater. However, Elaine didn’t want popcorn for dinner and refused to eat movie hot dogs. She was too hungry to even see the movie at that point. George, too, bowed out, having missed his date’s call when she rang the restaurant and the maitre d’ called for “Cartwright.”
That left Jerry to go to the theater on his own, but he complained, “I can’t go to a bad movie by myself. What, am I gonna make sarcastic comments to strangers?”
Sure, making remarks like that on a stage for an audience is different from comments during a movie in a theater, but he had to realize how it sounded for a stand-up comedian to say that.
George’s Reaction to Susan’s Passing
Simply put, George was not a catch. He should have been just been happy that there was a woman willing to marry him, especially one he’d gotten fired from her job, like he did Susan.
Yet, somehow, she not only got back together with him, but also agreed to marry him. Still, rather than rejoice that he’d found someone, George wanted a way out of it. He didn’t want to face the scene that telling Susan the truth would create, so he thought up other scenarios. He could write her a letter and move to China until things calmed down. He even hoped she would get on a plane, and it would crash.
The show treated all these scenarios as jokes. It even found the humor in the end of Susan’s life, which also meant the end of the engagement.
In the season 7 finale, “The Invitations”, George got his wish. He chose the cheapest wedding invitations he could, ones that hadn’t been manufactured in years. The glue wasn’t very adhesive, so Susan had to lick the envelopes. It made her sick, and after George brought her to the hospital, the doctor told him she’d passed away. The low-priced envelopes contained a toxic adhesive.
When George told the others, he wasn’t the only one with an inappropriate reaction.
Their condolences were weak, and Jerry was more concerned about his romantic future. Then they all moved on and went to get coffee.
Elaine Invented (and Ended) Susie
When a coworker, Peggy, called Elaine by the wrong name, she didn’t correct her in season 8’s “The Susie”. When she was about to, Peggy talked to “Susie” about Elaine and remarked that she was amazed she hadn’t been fired yet. Rather than get angry about Peggy speaking to her about her behind her back, Elaine was annoyed that she’d called her “Suze” instead of “Susie.”
Mr. Peterman then arranged a meeting for Elaine, Susie, and Peggy after hearing that the last two had gotten into a tiff. Somehow, Elaine managed to get through that meeting without Peggy realizing she and Susie were the same person. She used “she” and “her,” never once using names.
After Susie started getting assignments, Jerry suggested, “eliminate her. Make her disappear.” Elaine did, claiming Susie had ended her life. She even held a funeral for her, and quite a few people showed up for it.
There, Elaine finally corrected Peggy when she called her “Susie” and claimed she hadn’t noticed she’d thought she was someone else. Not only did Elaine give a eulogy for Susie, Mr. Peterman also recalled a night working late with her where they “surrendered to temptation.”
Somehow, that wasn’t the end of it, as Mr. Peterman put Elaine in charge of a charitable foundation in Susie’s honor.
It’s crazy how far Elaine took “Susie.”
Jerry Stayed in That Apartment
Jerry was supposed to be a successful stand-up comedian. While other characters changed jobs (or never seemed to have one, like Kramer), he had the same one throughout the nine seasons. He even pitched a pilot to NBC, though the show didn’t last.
While he did seem to have financial security, there were moments throughout the series that suggested he could have been struggling (or others, like his parents, at least thought he could be). Now, if that had actually been true, it might have made sense for him to be living in that same apartment throughout the nine seasons.
Sure, most of the show took place in his apartment, and it was conveniently located, but Seinfeld could have made a new apartment work.
That could have been a story that stretched over multiple episodes: seeing how things changed, while ultimately staying the same, in a new location. It was hard to believe that he didn’t ever move out or that he, Kramer (who never had a steady job), and Newman (who worked for the post office) all lived in the same building.
At the very least, he could have had a bigger apartment in the building, instead of a one-bedroom place. There wasn’t even a doorman.
George vs. SS Andrea Doria Survivor
In season 8’s “The Andrea Doria”, George found a new, fantastic apartment, one that was better than Jerry’s. However, the president of the tenants’ association, Mrs. Ricardi, informed him that they were giving it to someone else, a survivor of the Andrea Doria.
Once George learned that 51 people had lost their lives in the shipwreck (“That’s it?”) and 1660 had survived, he argued, “that’s no tragedy.” He even went to the survivor and made light of th event. “All vacations have to end eventually,” he said of them having to abandon ship. It took 10 hours for the boat to sink, which was like being “eased” into the water.
He thought that all his suffering for 30 years was worse than what the man had gone through. “If this board is so impressed with suffering, maybe you should tell them the astonishing tales of Costanza,” Jerry suggested.
That was what he did. “Horrifyingly,” it was the story of his life “as a short, stocky, slow-witted bald man,” he shared after talking about his bad luck with women, swimming in cold water, and having a marble rye hanging from a fishing pole.
The members of the board had already been crying when he added, as an afterthought, how he lost Susan.
How they thought he suffered more than a shipwreck survivor with just tales of his everyday life was a mystery. George still losing out on the apartment because someone else was willing to slip the super money was not.
Kramer’s Coffee Table Book
In season 5’s “The Fire”, Kramer showed off his plan to sell a coffee table book about coffee tables to Pendant Publishing. He then suggested the book have foldout legs so it could become a coffee table. Then, two episodes later, in “The Opposite”, when the company was absorbed by Matsushimi, a big Japanese conglomerate, it looked like they’d be publishing the book.
The fact that it was published wasn’t the problem. There are some weird coffee table books out there. However, not only was it published, but it also got Kramer a spot on an episode of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee to promote it.
Kathie even said that she was always interested in coffee tables and wondered if he’d always been. That was when Kramer showed that the book turned into a coffee table. For the most part, he seemed to be doing well. However, he also kissed Kathie and, after drinking hot coffee, spit it out on her. That ended the segment.
It also put an end to his promotional tour. Yes, there was quite the tour in place for Kramer’s book about coffee tables. It’s still unclear how his idea was popular enough to warrant that.
Why Didn’t Elaine Just Pick up the Flounder?
In season 8’s “The Pothole”, Elaine went through a whole lot of trouble just to try to order flounder for delivery. Her apartment was outside the restaurant’s delivery zone – by one street. She was told the delivery guy could not cross to her side (because it could lead to other requests, like to Mexico), nor could she cross to meet him.
Elaine then tried a few tricks to try to get the flounder. She ordered it to the building across the street and waited outside to meet the delivery. However, when the delivery guy saw her unable to enter the building, he realized she didn’t live there. Rather than let her have the food, he took the bag back and returned her money.
This made no sense. He had already delivered the food. She had already paid. She had even told him to keep the change, so she had tipped him. Why didn’t he just leave her be?
Elaine then tried to ask a stranger to use his apartment to order the flounder. When that didn’t work, she turned the janitor closet into an apartment. She ended up having to do the janitor’s job for the building for her trouble.
As she told the others, she didn’t want to eat it alone in the restaurant. However, that didn’t explain why she didn’t just go to the restaurant herself, pick it up, and bring it home.
George Was Marisa Tomei’s Type
In season 7, George was engaged to Susan, though he didn’t want it to last. He did manage to get out of it by season’s end, but not before he ended up losing out on an opportunity with an actress.
In “The Cadillac”, Elaine’s friend, Katy, revealed she would have set him up with a friend of hers if he wasn’t taken. He’d be “perfect” for her, she revealed, because her friend loved quirky, funny, bald men. She was talking about Marisa Tomei.
George couldn’t believe it. Even if he did appear to be her type, did he really think that he stood a chance once she met him? He wasn’t a catch. He even knew it himself, telling Jerry he was never anyone’s type.
He thought that he would have truly stood a chance with an Academy Award winner if he wasn’t engaged.
Still, George wanted to meet Marisa for a cup of coffee, so he had Elaine help him lie to Susan when he did. It wasn’t until after they’d been talking for a while and he’d made her laugh that he admitted to Marisa that he was “engaged,” using the air quotes. The most realistic part of this entire storyline was that she punched him after his confession.
Kramer’s Vanity License Plate
In season 6’s “The Fusilli Jerry”, Kramer had to get new plates for his car from the motor vehicle bureau. He signed for them, took the envelope, and realized they weren’t his once he looked inside. They had mixed up someone’s vanity plates with his.
Kramer suggested that his new license plates had really been ordered by a proctologist given their posterior-related content, but George argued that no doctor would put that on his car. Kramer didn’t agree.
He, apparently, wasn’t the only one. When he went to pick up George’s mother after she had work done on her eyes, he parked in a Doctors Only spot. A police officer approached him, and Kramer introduced himself as a doctor of proctology. He pointed to the license plate, and the cop said, “Oh, okay. Sure, doc.” He left him alone.
Considering there were easily half a dozen other reasons for someone ordering those license plates – the others even listed them in the episode – it was very strange to see a police officer just let him park in the spot because he said he was a doctor. The plates were good for laughs, but that should have been the only purpose they served.
Elaine Ate Her Boss’ Cake
In season 9’s “The Frogger”, Elaine got sick and tired of all the cake they were eating in the office for someone’s “special day.” She didn’t like the forced socializing and even took a sick day because of it. When her coworkers brought her a get-well cake, she had enough and yelled at them. She said she didn’t want one more piece of cake in her office.
However, she’d gotten hooked on the sugar rush from the cake, so she checked Mr. Peterman’s refrigerator. Inside, she found a piece and took part of it before he walked in. Then, he told her that the cake was his latest acquisition, a $29,000 slice of cake from the wedding of King Edward VIII to Wallis Simpson, circa 1937.
She even returned to “even it out” after he left his office and then kept returning for more. Because he couldn’t know what she’d done, she looked to replace it using a piece of Entenmann’s cake.
When Mr. Peterman had it appraised, he found out the truth. He then checked the security camera footage and saw what Elaine had done.
Rather than fire her, considering how much money she lost him, her boss just thought that what the cake would do to her digestive system was punishment enough.
She should have faced some sort of consequences for what she’d done.
Jerry and His Date’s Toy Collection
In season 9’s “The Merv Griffin Show”, Jerry was amazed by his date’s toy collection. She inherited them after her father passed. He wanted to play with them, but she stopped him because they were priceless. They’d never been played with, and she refused to let him do so.
When she asked him to get her an aspirin one evening, he gave her one that “may cause drowsiness.” While she slept on the couch, he played with her toys. It wasn’t the worst thing he could have done – not all aspirins with that warning result in the person falling asleep like she did – but it was disrespectful. It was also just the beginning of the lengths he went to so he could play with the toys.
He then brought George over for dinner with her. The meal consisted of turkey, heavy gravy and wine, and like on Thanksgiving, it resulted in her falling asleep. The two of them played with her games, and not even the beeping woke her.
Elaine was offended when she learned what they were doing, at first. Then she heard there was an Easy Bake oven.
When his date found out what he’d done, Jerry had the nerve to throw it back on her and asked, “What kind of woman drinks an entire box of wine?” He had been the one refilling her glass.
George’s Wallet
In season 9’s “The Reverse Peephole”, all of a sudden, George had this overstuffed wallet. While it would have made sense for his wallet to get fatter over the years, especially if he added things and didn’t throw anything away, that wasn’t how it came about. Instead, his wallet was so huge that, as Jerry put it, he had “more cow” with it than he did on his burger. The first time that was seen was in this episode.
“I need everything in here,” George insisted. He had Irish money, a card for an Orlando gas station, sugar packets, a hard candy and so much more in the wallet. He was somehow still able to fold it to fit in his pocket.
However, his back started hurting, something that probably should have happened sooner considering how long he was supposedly carrying it. Rather than throw things out when he began sitting on a slant, he added napkins to his other pocket.
Somehow, he kept adding to the wallet, too. He didn’t even need the items he was picking up either, like a slip for a free guitar lesson. The only realistic part about this was that his wallet finally exploded.
The Gang’s Reaction to the Prison Sentence
In the last episode of the series, “The Finale”, the gang ended up in a small town, Latham, Massachusetts, after plane trouble. There, they made jokes about an overweight man instead of helping him when he was mugged and carjacked. They were arrested for violating the Good Samaritan Law , as they were required to help anyone in danger as long as it was reasonable to do so.
Quite a few people testified about the horrible things Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine had done to them over the years. The jury found the four of them guilty of criminal indifference.
“I do not know how or under what circumstances the four of you found each other. But your callous indifference and utter disregard for everything that is good and decent has rocked the very foundation upon which our society is built,” the judge told them. He sentenced them to prison for a year and wanted them to think about how they’d conducted themselves.
Rather than be upset with this turn of events, the gang essentially shrugged it off. “It’s only a year,” Jerry said. Kramer suggested it “could be fun.” They wouldn’t have to worry about meals or Saturday night plans. Elaine wondered if a prison call made up for not getting a hold of a friend sooner.
Then, they might as well have been sitting in the diner, not a cell, as they began talking about the position of a button on a shirt.
Frank Costanza in the Flashback
In season 8’s “The Fatigues”, Frank had a pretty dramatic reaction when Kramer asked if he knew anyone who could help him cook for a singles night he was hosting. “I don’t know anything about cooking!” He exclaimed before leaving abruptly. George explained he was a cook during the Korean War and something very bad happened. He hadn’t gone near a kitchen since.
Frank had been the best cook, but their supplies were running thin. Some men found a crate with 600 pounds of (formerly) prime Texas steer, three weeks past its expiration. He thought the right spices and cooking it long enough would make it edible. Frank said he over-seasoned it and everyone got sick.
Despite nearly 50 years passing since the events that transpired, Frank looked almost the exact same in the flashback as he did in present day.
They didn’t even try to make him look younger.
Elsewhere in the episode, Elaine couldn’t bring herself to fire an employee in military fatigues, so she promoted him. When he wanted to quit, she shook him while he was eating at the event. As he coughed, Frank remembered what he’d done to his men and ran around throwing plates and food to the floor.
Kramer’s Harsh Words During a Breakup
In season 3’s “The Dog”, Jerry and Elaine encourage Kramer to break up with his girlfriend, Ellen, because they didn’t like her. He didn’t either, considering he wasn’t worried about hurting her feelings. In fact, he was looking forward to it with her.
However, he took it way too far. “I must have been out of my mind. Look at you. Why don’t you do something with your life? You sit around here all day,” he yelled at her. “You contribute nothing to society! You’re just taking up space! I mean, how can I be with someone like you? Wouldn’t respect myself.”
He could have very well been talking about himself. It wasn’t like he had a job or any prospects. Even if all of that was true about her, that didn’t give him the right to say those things.
Then came the parts that made absolutely no sense. He took it back and told her he loved her and couldn’t live without her. After what he’d said, she should have never wanted anything to do with him ever again. Instead, she took him back. The only good thing about it was that the relationship was over (again) by the end of the episode.
Elaine Complained About the AC
In season 3’s “The Pen”, Jerry and Elaine traveled to Florida to visit his parents. Hilarity ensued, as Jerry ended up with two black eyes and Elaine on medication for a sore back. What didn’t make sense was the temperature in his parents’ house (and in Florida in general) and Elaine’s choice of clothes.
Since this was after the two had decided they didn’t work as a couple, Jerry turned down his mother’s offer to let him and Elaine share a room. Instead, Elaine ended up on the sofa bed in a guest room. Not only was the bed itself uncomfortable (because of a bar digging into her back), but she was also sweating. It was too hot, yet she still wore pajamas with long sleeves and pants and was half under the blankets.
Considering she was going to Florida, shouldn’t she have packed more location-appropriate clothes?
She even brought the sheet up to cover herself as she complained about the lack of air conditioning. She did finally kick the sheet off. In fact, Elaine was wearing more appropriate clothes (a T-shirt) after they turned up the air conditioning.
What also didn’t make sense was Jerry’s mother’s surprise that Elaine was hot considering how much she was sweating. “I’ve lost six pounds,” Elaine told her.
George Lost Seven as a Baby Name
In season 7’s “The Seven”, George suggested that Susan’s cousin and her husband name their child Soda. They understandably thought it sounded strange, but he insisted that all names did the first time someone heard them. That wasn’t the only strange baby name he offered up, either.
Later, he told Susan that he had a great, “real original” name for their kids: Seven. He thought it was a beautiful name for a boy or a girl (and a living tribute to Mickey Mantle). She didn’t like it and refused to have a child of hers named Seven.
While Jerry mocked his name choice, George was certain he’d convince Susan to accept it. However, then she revealed her cousin was taking the name Seven. Since it would no longer be original, George was upset. He tried to convince her cousin and husband to change their minds, but they didn’t like his Soda suggestion.
She went into labor, but even on the way to and in the hospital, George yelled at her.
However, it wasn’t like Seven seemed like such a great choice for a baby name that anyone should have been fighting about it - or following a woman in labor into the hospital, like George did.
The Gang’s Romantic Relationships
Let’s be honest. It wasn’t like Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine were great catches. Each had their own quirks, and none of them seemed ready to commit. Just look at the number of significant others they had over the nine seasons.
Their attempts at relationships made for some amusing moments over the nine seasons, but anything they did wrong was always laughed off and seemingly always forgotten about by the next episode or even scene.
Even significant others that stuck around for multiple episodes (or seasons) were treated as afterthoughts by the gang, and they had no problem complaining to each other about them.
George got engaged, but he wanted out of it so badly that he didn’t even care when Susan’s life ended due to toxic envelopes. Jerry treated marriage like a joke, considering he got engaged just because George was. Elaine and Puddy broke up and got back together all the time and for ridiculous reasons, like she needed to move a bureau. The way Kramer spoke to one of his girlfriends was proof enough that he shouldn’t have been in a relationship.
Jerry and Elaine decided they didn’t work as a couple, but could that have changed if Seinfeld aired now or would they have remained just friends?
What else doesn’t make sense about Seinfeld? Share your thoughts in the comments!
