Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur continue their journey to watch every Seinfeld episode as they discuss Season 4, Episode 14, “The Movie.”
Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur skipped out on Rochelle, Rochelle so they could bring you their latest recap in their quest to cover every Seinfeld episode. This week, they’ll break down “The Movie”, which first aired January 6, 1993 as part of season four. Rob felt that a better title would have been “The Movie Theatre”.
In the news, Jerry was giving an interview where he talked about how they were going to do an episode of the show in Claymation, but backed out because it was already done prior on the show Home Improvement.
Jerry’s opening standup was a classic bit about how the employees in a movie theater are only under the age of 18, or over 80. The episode opens with Jerry at the Improv, where he learns his set is being pushed back, deterring his plans to go see the movie Checkmate, and to bounce from club to club to work on his set for his upcoming Letterman appearance. On his way out, Jerry ducks an obnoxious comedian named Buckles, who will play a factor throughout the episode. Rob and Akiva take some time to give a synopsis of the fake movie Checkmate (which they completely make up).
Meanwhile, George is standing in line outside the theater waiting to buy everyone’s tickets. When the guy in front of him says he doesn’t have tickets, George assumes he’s in the right line, though it would turn out he wasn’t. Rob and Akiva both agreed that George isn’t to blame for this because of checking with the guy in front of him. Jerry learns at the next club that his set was not 9:50, but 9:15, and Buckles had taken his spot when he wasn’t there.
Elaine meets George at the theater, excited for Checkmate. Kramer shows up soon after, itching to get a hot dog over at Papaya King, but time is short, and Elaine does not want to save seats. They realize that they are in the wrong line, and George learns the show is sold out, upsetting Elaine because she doesn’t want to see it in the twin theater down the street.
Jerry is in the taxi with Buckles, on his way to tell the gang that he is going to skip the movie. Buckles continues to annoy him, and asks to keep a trench coat in his closet for him. Rob pointed out that Buckles is the kind of character the show would have had in the first couple seasons.
George and Elaine are waiting in the next line, debating on whether she should give George $20, or wait to pay him when she gets change, putting George’s cheapness to the test. Elaine ends up having to save seats, really getting into the process. Meanwhile, George goes back to the other theater to let Kramer know the scoop. Akiva and Rob pointed out that the fast scene cutting made for difficult note taking on the episode.
George describes Jerry to the ticket taker lady, but she hasn’t seen him. Just after George checks on him, Jerry gets out of the cab and is let right in to the theater to meet up with the gang. Another quick cut shows Elaine losing the battle of saving the seats. Kramer comes back and describes Jerry, but she only describes George as a Humpty Dumpty with a melon head. Back to Elaine, a woman behind her is talking loudly, but the lady doesn’t find it rude since its just the previews. Akiva thought it was not polite for the lady to have done that, since their was no other way to see a preview in 1993.
When George tries to get back in to the theater they have tickets at, the ticket taker won’t let him through without a stub, so he reluctantly uses Jerry’s ticket. When he gets in, he starts whisper shouting for Elaine, getting shushed profusely, prompting him run out the back exit. Akiva shared how he once was shushed during Titanic when he tripped over some feet coming back from the bathroom. This prompted Rob to find an app that tells you when the best time to use the bathroom during particular movies, which of course there was one.
Jerry just misses Kramer as he gets back in a cab. George tries to get back in the theater and has to give the ticket taker Kramer’s ticket since he can’t find that stub either. Elaine continues to struggle watching Checkmate, so she leaves to ask the counter person if they’ve seen any of the others, getting popcorn while she’s there. George scraps all his plans and sits in on Rochelle, Rochelle, only to have a very tall person sit directly in front of him. Jerry ends up back at the comedy club, but Buckles just got off stage and Jerry doesn’t want to hollow such a hack, so he goes with Buckles to see Rochelle, Rochelle.
As Jerry settles in at the theater, he hears Elaine scoff at the movie, then George hears Jerry call out for Elaine. They all agree the movie stinks and they head outside to meet up. The episode ends with George continuing to get told no one has change to pay him for the tickets. Jerry’s closing standup is a bit about how he never understands the plot of the movie, making him an annoying person to see one with.
Both Rob and Akiva thought this episode wasn’t awful, but not great. Akiva decided to rank it at 103.
There were several emails this week. First Travis wondered if there is any comedian in the series that Jerry likes, since he hates Buckles, and later hates Bania. Rob thought that while Jerry respects comedians, he may take issue with how they do their act. Craig wondered which fictional movie from Seinfeld would they enjoy seeing the most. Akiva chose Prognosis Negative, while Rob chose Rochelle, Rochelle.
Johnny De Silveira did the inflation calculator on the movie ticket cost, and it would be $12.28 in 2015. He also calculated the distance between Milan to Minsk, and it is 1000 miles. He also added that Rochelle, Rochelle came back full circle by making it the musical that Kramer accepted a Tony for later in the series. Amir gave a few casting ideas for the Back to the Future remake, with Emma Stone as Marty and Melissa McCarthy as Doc. Akiva thought it would be too much like the Ghostbusters remake to cast it all female. Chester wondered why the woman would still be in the booth if the sole movie is playing sold out? Akiva thought maybe she was counting the money or something. Lastly Chester wondered if anyone could recognize what movie Jerry was talking about in the closing credits. Neither Akiva nor Rob had any idea.
Tune in next week as the guys will recap “The Visa”, where Babu and Ping make return appearances. Send in your questions by emailing [email protected] . Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast by going to postshowrecaps.com/seinfeldITunes where you can rate and review the podcast. And as always, you can follow them on twitter @robcesternino and @keev26.
Special thanks to Mike Moore for this episode recap.
Subscribe to the Seinfeld ONLY Podcast on iTunes[/caption]Subscribe: Seinfeld Podcast in iTunes | Seinfeld Podcast RSS Feed | View our archive of Seinfeld Episode Recaps to This Point
