As many of you may or may not know, I’m a huge Seinfeld fan. And for no other reason than sheer boredom, I’ve decided to list the 10 worst Seinfeld episodes and my reasoning behind the selection. Enjoy!

10. The Movie (Season 4, Episode 14).

Overview: Jerry tries to set up two comedy sets instead of meeting up with the others to see a movie. Through a series of miscommunications, he ends up missing both sets, and everyone but Kramer ends up missing the movie: Checkmate.
 
Reasoning: This episode just didn’t do it for me. There were some funny parts, but they were few and far between and none of it made me really laugh. Also, Buckles was too annoying for me. I know he was supposed to be annoying, but he was just too annoying. He almost ruined the episode for me.

9. The Dog (Season 3, Episode 4).

Overview: Jerry’s on a plane and a drunken man insists on talking to him. When the man falls ill, Jerry has to watch his dog, Farfle.

Reasoning: While I liked the fact that they never showed the dog, this episode wasn’t very funny. The only scene that made me laugh was when Kramer broke up with his girlfriend using some harsh words only to beg her to take him back. The rest of it seemed like filler material. Plus, since Elaine moved to NYC in 1987, she would never have seen Jerry throw up because it is revealed in the next season (The Masseuse) that Jerry hasn’t thrown up since June 29th, 1980; seven years before she could have met Jerry. Of course, this is not a continuity error if Jerry is lying. (I know, I have way too much free time.)

8. The Heart Attack (Season 2, Episode 8).

Overview: George thinks he suffered a heart attack, but it turns out that its enflamed tonsils. He decides to see a holistic healer named, Tor Eckman, who Kramer recommends.

Reasoning: I guess my real problem with this episode is that Seinfeld pulls the humor from normal situations. The crazy, New Age doctor is anything but normal, and to me seems a little beneath Seinfeld. I didn’t find much of the episode funny. It would have been higher on the list of worse episodes, but it was the first mention of Bob Sacamano, so it earns points for that.

7. and 6. The Trip (Season 4, Episodes 1,2).

Overview: Kramer moves to California to get into acting and is mistakenly accused of being a serial killer. Jerry gets free tickets to Hollywood to appear on the Tonight Show.  He and George  use the trip as an opportunity to go find Kramer.

Reasoning:  This two-parter* didn’t have a lot of laughs. I found Helena and Lt. Martel to be annoying with their over-the-top performances. The show had a couple of funny moments, but overall, it wasn’t as funny as most of the other episodes. It also felt like it was reaching for laughs. But, it was filled with a lot of cameos: Fred Savage, George Wendt, Corbin Bernsen, Clint Howard, and Peter Parros (from Adam 12 and Knight Rider).

* Technically this wasn’t a two-parter, it was a three-parter because it was a continuation of the Season 3 finale, where Jerry took his keys back from Kramer.
 
5. The Baby Shower (Season 2, Episode 10).

Overview: Kramer convinces Jerry to get illegal cable. Elaine hosts a baby shower at Jerry’s apartment for a woman who George went out with. During the date she poured chocolate sauce all over his shirt and humiliated him. George picks Jerry up from the airport so he can go to the shower and get revenge.

Reasoning: I can’t really explain why I don’t like this episode. It had funny moments, but the way the stories were all intertwined was too convenient for me. The fantasy scene where Jerry is gunned down because of getting illegal cable, and the one where he is told off by a former date are both funny. George also had some funny moments. But, Elaine and Kramer were just filler material in this episode and didn’t add much in terms of laughs. I think they were underutilized in this episode.

4. and 3. The Finale (Season 9, Episodes 23, 24).

Overview: Jerry and George are moving to California because NBC has picked up their TV show. NBC lets them use the network’s jet, so they decide to take a trip to France. The plane has trouble along the way, so they end up in Latham, MA. There they witness a crime, and make fun of the victim. They are arrested for doing nothing under the Good Samaritan Law. They go through a high-profile trial in which several people in their lives are brought in to testify about their character.

Reasoning: While I do have problems with the episodes themselves, my real problem is with the hype and secrecy surrounding the finale. I understand that Seinfeld is epic. And, it was virtually impossible for them to meet the expectations of fans. But, by making the whole thing so secret, they generated such a huge buzz that there was no way they could live up to the hype. And they didn’t. Re-hashing of old stories seemed more like a clips show (two of which aired in the weeks before the finale) and didn’t do the show justice in the end. I would have preferred the show to end with a random episode about nothing.
 
As for the episode itself, it did nothing but re-hash old laughs. It did have some laughs, but not enough to keep it from being among Seinfeld’s worst. Also, the law states, per the episode, that they must react if it is reasonable to do so. During the carjacking, the robber had his hand in pocket, presumably holding a gun. Would it be reasonable for them to try to do something if the guy had a gun? No. They couldn’t have known whether or not he actually had a gun. Thus, it would not be reasonable for them to react. Plus, Kramer video taped the whole thing, which they could have argued was helping the guy by providing video evidence of the robber to police. (Like I said, too much free time.)

Interesting cameo: James Pickens Jr, the chief from Grey’s Anatomy, as the detective who testifies about Jerry picking up a prostitute (actually his former maid/girlfriend from The Wig Master.) 

2. The Parking Garage (Season 3, Episode 6).

Overview: The gang goes to a mall in New Jersey. While there, they forget where they parked and spend the episode looking for the car.

Reasoning: I thought the idea was clever, and was something most of us have encountered. But, something about it felt contrived. I don’t know that any single aspect of it felt contrived, but collectively, everything did. It might have been better if they lost one element: Elaine’s fish, George’s parent’s anniversary, the peeing, or the Scientologist in the car. All together they were just too much.

1. The Chinese Restaurant (Season 2, Episode 11).

Overview: Jerry, George, and Elaine wait for a table at a Chinese restaurant.

Reasoning: While I recognize the creativity it took to make this episode, and how groundbreaking it was, I can’t say that this episode was funny. Sure, it was emblematic of the series’ trivial nature. But, it was low on laughs, and took the real-time format too far. NBC didn’t want to air it because they found it uninteresting. I have to say, I agree. I don’t have a problem with the format, I just wish they would have done something more with the situation. Bribing the maitre d and going and taking an egg roll off someone’s table were both misses. Keeping Kramer out of the episode also cost some laughs.

All in all, while I call these the worst Seinfeld episodes, they were still pretty good compared to other shows. I just think they were lacking when compared to other episodes in the series.