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Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur continue their journey to watch every Seinfeld episode as they discuss Season 5, Episode 16, “The Stand-In.”
Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur didn’t offer this podcast cigarettes to stunt it’s growth, as their recap grew to nearly two hours this week covering “The Stand-In”, which first aired February 24, 1994 as part of season five. The episode was written by the Larry David and introduced the great recurring character Mickey.
There was some Seinfeld news for Akiva to share this week. There was a Twitter poll done to determine the greatest Seinfeld character. Kramer won the poll with 34%, followed by Jerry at 29%, Elaine at 23% and George in last at 14%. Rob was shocked to see George in last, thinking he’d be first. Rob did his own Twitter poll asking which is the better Poppie moment, him peeing on Jerry’s couch, or not washing his hands. In the short time the poll was up, Poppie peeing on the couch was winning 59% to 41%.
This week, Jerry has perhaps the simplest storyline. His friend Fulton is in the hospital and looking for someone to cheer him up, though when he first goes by, he bombs. He even told him the Pachyderm story that all the gang found so funny, but it got no laughs. In his last trip to cheer up Fulton, he decides to do his act, which works with so much success, Fulton ends up dying in his bed.
The plot for Elaine this week revolves around Jerry setting her up with his friend Phil Totola. Jerry thinks they’re a great match, and their date went well until the end, when Phil decided to “take it out” in his car at the end of the date. Elaine admonishes Jerry later for setting them up. When George hears the story, he wonders why he hasn’t tried this yet. Phil talks to Jerry later, and he’s unsure of why it didn’t work out, but Jerry just lets it go.
George has perhaps the biggest story in the episode. He is dating a woman named Daphne who he finds boring, but since their mutual friend Al tries to warn Daphne that George isn’t good for her, he stays with her for spite. During one of their dates, he tries to get a conversation started about eggs, but she just responds that “eggs are eggs”. Despite this, George is ready to marry her just to prove Al wrong. In the end, she dumps George to get together with the Pachyderm.
Kramer’s story is about he and his little person friend Mickey, who have jobs as stand ins for the soap opera All My Children. Mickey is concerned that the kid he stands in for is growing too fast. Kramer recommends lifts, and Mickey finally agrees to it, though he’s worried other little people on the show would be offended by him “heightening”. When everyone wonders what is different about Mickey, another little person Johnny goes through his locker and finds the shoe lifts. He tells everyone else, and Mickey ends up ostracized, leading to him pouncing on Kramer for recommending such a bad idea.
Rob and Akiva had several great tangents this week. They had a discussion about what TV shows they are watching. With the new baby to look after, Rob had a chance to catch up on Man in the High Castle, Master of None and The Leftovers. Later, they wanted to do some research on prisons, and if the inmates could pick their best cellmate on an app and call it Prison-der, or Prinder. They briefly talked about Star Wars because the character Tammy played one of the Ewoks. Akiva still hasn’t seen any of them, and doesn’t plan on seeing the seventh, to which Rob wondered if Akiva was doing this as a badge of honor.
In discussing the Pachyderm story, Rob wondered how those hit by the pizza Pachyderm drops didn’t get third degree burns. They also discussed if it would be better to have a kid busy with sports, or one doing the acting thing. Their final tangent was about their many correspondents, and how listeners should prepare to throw their hat in the ring to be their expert on any number of subjects.
In 2015, there were a few things that would be different about this episode. “Taking it out” would be done via a picture text or Instagram, and nowadays little people on TV have garnered more respect. Akiva found it hard to rank this episode, as it had some messy plotlines, but some iconic moments, like the “took it out” conversation. He ultimately ranked it at 140, while Rob thought it could be just a bit better ranked.
There were several emails this week. Jackie mentioned in the comments how difficult it is to get an email in when they record the episode so far in advance from it dropping. Rob recommended getting the email in before Wednesdays, as they typically record that day. Johnny De Silveira wondered if either had dated someone in their past longer than they should have. Both agreed they haven’t but those they’ve dated might have something to say. He also pointed out that the kid Mickey stands in for later appears as the hospitalized kid in “The Wink”.
Dan the donator argued that eggs are not eggs, since bad eggs are gross. Akiva thought fish is harder to cook than eggs, while Rob tended to agree with Dan. Brian asked if they’ve seen the HBO show Life’s Too Short, though neither have. He also mentioned how Chester is great, but he didn’t have anything to add when he was on the podcast.
Amir wanted to know why Daphne started talking about moving in together when we’ve never seen her before. They both agreed this didn’t make sense. He also noted that Kramer’s friend Len Nicademo sounds too similar to Bob Sacamano. Finally Chester wondered if anyone they’ve dated had been warned not to go out with them. Neither knows of this happening, but Akiva doesn’t doubt that it could have with his wife. He also was curious why the Pachyderm story was so funny, but the guys didn’t have an answer for him. He lastly asked if they had a little person correspondent yet. They don’t, but they’re open to it.
Tune in next week as the guys will recap “The Wife”, where Courtney Cox makes her way to NBC before starring in Friends a couple years later . Send in your questions by emailing Seinfeld@postshowreca
Special Thanks to Mike Moore for this week’s episode recap.
Upcoming Schedule (Subject To Change)
#81 – “The Wife” – Questions deadline: Tues, Dec 1st @ 3pm ET
#82–83 – “The Raincoats” – Questions deadline: Tues, Dec 8th @ 3pm ET
#84 – “The Fire” – Questions deadline: Tues, Dec 15th @ 3pm ET
#85 – “The Hamptons” – Questions deadline: Tues, Dec 22nd @ 3pm ET
#86 – “The Opposite” – Questions deadline: Tues, Dec 29th @ 3pm ET
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