I saw an opera over the weekend (La Boheme) and I actually enjoyed it! Of course, it got me to thinking about all of the operatic references in Seinfeld. I could think of five episodes that either featured or mentioned the opera or famous opera singers. Any aditional contributions to my list would be appreciated:
Episode 49 - The Opera
An entire episode devoted to Leoncavallo's immortal "Pagliacci". Every scene is brilliant. However, the following exchange, after Jerry accuses some guy of stealing his quarter, got me into a pugilistic mood prior to departing for the Benedum Center. Fortunately, nobody challenged me to a fight at the venue, in part due to the fact that the audience was 90% female and the average age was probably well over 70.
MAN: You think I care about money? That's how much I care about money. I don't care about money.
JERRY: Oh yeah, well why don't you just get lost!
MAN: Why don't you get lost!
JERRY: Because I was standing here, that's why.
MAN: Oh Yeah?
JERRY: Yeah!
The man walks away.
JERRY: I kinda like this opera crowd, I feel tough... Anybody else got a problem?
Episode 72 - The Barber
Another entire episode with an operatic theme and with background music exclusively from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville".
Episode 102 - The Beard
George compares his lying prowess to Pavarotti's voice.
Jerry: So George, how do I beat this lie detector?
George: I'm sorry, Jerry. I can't help you.
Jerry: Come on, you've got the gift. You're the only one that can help me.
George: Jerry, I can't. It's like saying to Pavarotti, "Teach me to sing like you."
Episode 113 - The Maestro
Elaine is singing "Le donna e mobile" from Verdi's "Rigoletto".
Episode 127 - The Doll
Elaine gets an autograph from Jose Carreras, "the other guy" of the Three Tenors.
ELAINE: You know the Three Tenors?
GEORGE: Yeah.. (Trying to remember) Pavarotti.. Domingo.. and.. uh.. the other guy.
ELAINE: (Nodding) The other guy.
That's all I can think of for now, but how many other sitcoms have even one reference to the opera?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Jackie Chiles Returns!
Straight out of the "You've got to be kidding" file:
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09091/959762-100.stm
Evidently, Attorney Jackie Chiles has been retained to represent the plaintiff, as Mr. Chiles has prior experience with cases involving faulty coffee cup tops (Cosmo Kramer vs Java World):
Episode 113 - The Maestro
KRAMER: Well ahh. I was trying to get to my seat and I had to step over someone and I kind of got pushed and it spilled on me.
JACKIE: Was there a top on it?
KRAMER: Yeah.
JACKIE: Now did you put the top on or did they put the top on for you?
KRAMER: No. They put the top on.
JACKIE: And they made the top. You didn't make the top did you?
(Kramer motions that he did not make the top)
JACKIE: (To secretary over intercom) Suzie. I want you to go down to Java World. Get me a cafe latte with a top. (To Kramer) We're gonna run some tests on that top.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09091/959762-100.stm
Evidently, Attorney Jackie Chiles has been retained to represent the plaintiff, as Mr. Chiles has prior experience with cases involving faulty coffee cup tops (Cosmo Kramer vs Java World):
Episode 113 - The Maestro
KRAMER: Well ahh. I was trying to get to my seat and I had to step over someone and I kind of got pushed and it spilled on me.
JACKIE: Was there a top on it?
KRAMER: Yeah.
JACKIE: Now did you put the top on or did they put the top on for you?
KRAMER: No. They put the top on.
JACKIE: And they made the top. You didn't make the top did you?
(Kramer motions that he did not make the top)
JACKIE: (To secretary over intercom) Suzie. I want you to go down to Java World. Get me a cafe latte with a top. (To Kramer) We're gonna run some tests on that top.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Seinfeld's link to Bernie Madoff
The following is a somewhat depressing account of the effect of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme on a few of its victims.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/nyregion/13bigcity.html?_r=1&hp
One revelation in the article was the following statement:
"Ms. Schwartz, a professional organizer (of closets, not workers), had arranged to meet at the courthouse a new friend, Bennett Goldworth."
And here I thought the job of closet organizer was just something they made up on Seinfeld:
Episode 50 - The Virgin
Jerry with Marla, who is measuring his closet space.
Marla: Let me tell you what I think.
Jerry: Please, and be brutal. I have no closet sensitivity.
Marla: Are you very fussy about your pants?
Jerry: I don't think I am.
Marla: Because I have a very radical idea. Can you handle it?
Jerry: Try me.
Marla: Here's what I'm proposing. We eliminate all this. The hangers, the bar, the shelves. And in its place install a series of hooks. We'll put everything on hooks.
Jerry: Everything?
Marla: Everything. The shirts, pants, sport jackets, pajamas. We could get eighty hooks on here.
Jerry: You're quite mad, you know.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/nyregion/13bigcity.html?_r=1&hp
One revelation in the article was the following statement:
"Ms. Schwartz, a professional organizer (of closets, not workers), had arranged to meet at the courthouse a new friend, Bennett Goldworth."
And here I thought the job of closet organizer was just something they made up on Seinfeld:
Episode 50 - The Virgin
Jerry with Marla, who is measuring his closet space.
Marla: Let me tell you what I think.
Jerry: Please, and be brutal. I have no closet sensitivity.
Marla: Are you very fussy about your pants?
Jerry: I don't think I am.
Marla: Because I have a very radical idea. Can you handle it?
Jerry: Try me.
Marla: Here's what I'm proposing. We eliminate all this. The hangers, the bar, the shelves. And in its place install a series of hooks. We'll put everything on hooks.
Jerry: Everything?
Marla: Everything. The shirts, pants, sport jackets, pajamas. We could get eighty hooks on here.
Jerry: You're quite mad, you know.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Ultimate Sundae
I don't know what possessed me to do this in subfeezing weather, but on Saturday I had a craving for an ice cream sundae. So I got a delicious white turtle sundae with butter pecan ice cream and while I'm wolfing it down, I couldn't help think about the folowing insightful observations by Jerry:
Episode 52 - The Airport
Tia: This is the best sundae I've ever had.
Jerry: Oh, man. You know what... they got the fudge on the bottom-- y'see? That enables you to control your fudge distribution as you're eatin' your ice cream.
Tia: I've never met a man who knew so much about nothing.
Jerry: Thank you...
Episode 52 - The Airport
Tia: This is the best sundae I've ever had.
Jerry: Oh, man. You know what... they got the fudge on the bottom-- y'see? That enables you to control your fudge distribution as you're eatin' your ice cream.
Tia: I've never met a man who knew so much about nothing.
Jerry: Thank you...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
But You Are In The Shackles!
I saw an interesting sight in the hallway yesterday here at the corporate behemoth (UPMC, that is). There was a guy in an orange jumpsuit, in shackles, being escorted by several armed prison guards in the direction of the Falk Medical Clinic. Anyway, I was tempted to torment him with my TIME magazine, but I chickened out.
Episode 52 - The Airport
Prisoner: I want the magazine!
George: Umm... No.
Prisoner: You know what I would do to you, if I wasn't in these shackles...
George: But you are Blanche... You *are* in the shackles. Oh, I can't wait to read my *Time* magazine! Laaaast copy, too. Maybe I'll read it tomorrow-- in the park! It's supposed to be a beeyootiful day! Have a nice life... sentence, that is!
Episode 52 - The Airport
Prisoner: I want the magazine!
George: Umm... No.
Prisoner: You know what I would do to you, if I wasn't in these shackles...
George: But you are Blanche... You *are* in the shackles. Oh, I can't wait to read my *Time* magazine! Laaaast copy, too. Maybe I'll read it tomorrow-- in the park! It's supposed to be a beeyootiful day! Have a nice life... sentence, that is!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sometimes I Wonder About Myself
We saw an excellent production of Romeo and Juliet by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater yesterday. However, my mind kept wandering throughout the performance, as I was distracted by the following Seinfeld reference:
Episode 13 - The Heart Attack
George's doctor and Elaine are having a flirtatious discussion regarding tonsils:
ELAINE: I still have my tonsils. Everyone in my family has their tonsils. In fact, we were forbidden to socialize with anyone who didn't have their tonsils.
DOCTOR: That's interesting. Because, no one in my family has their tonsils, and we were forbidden to socialize with tonsilled people.
JERRY: (Sarcastically) Well, it's like the Capulets and the Montagues.
Episode 13 - The Heart Attack
George's doctor and Elaine are having a flirtatious discussion regarding tonsils:
ELAINE: I still have my tonsils. Everyone in my family has their tonsils. In fact, we were forbidden to socialize with anyone who didn't have their tonsils.
DOCTOR: That's interesting. Because, no one in my family has their tonsils, and we were forbidden to socialize with tonsilled people.
JERRY: (Sarcastically) Well, it's like the Capulets and the Montagues.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
George Costanza for Treasury Secretary
Excerpted from http://theamericanscene.com/2009/02/10/the-costanza-hoover-principle
"The strongest argument for the stimulus (and the one that I think, in their heart-of-hearts, most supporters actually hold) is what could be called the Costanza-Hoover Principle: do the opposite of whatever Herbert Hoover did. In a world of limited knowledge, this isn’t as crazy as it might seem, at least as a starting point. It sure seems like Hoover screwed up; and hopefully we can avoid his mistakes. This pretty much boils down to: avoid a tariff war; don’t try to balance the budget right now; don’t restrict the money supply (that gold standard thing is right out); and, most importantly, prevent a collapse of the banking system."
Episode 86 - The Opposite
Jerry : If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.
George : Yes, I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing, and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposite, and I will do something!
Hey, it worked for George Costanza, so why not the global economy?
"The strongest argument for the stimulus (and the one that I think, in their heart-of-hearts, most supporters actually hold) is what could be called the Costanza-Hoover Principle: do the opposite of whatever Herbert Hoover did. In a world of limited knowledge, this isn’t as crazy as it might seem, at least as a starting point. It sure seems like Hoover screwed up; and hopefully we can avoid his mistakes. This pretty much boils down to: avoid a tariff war; don’t try to balance the budget right now; don’t restrict the money supply (that gold standard thing is right out); and, most importantly, prevent a collapse of the banking system."
Episode 86 - The Opposite
Jerry : If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.
George : Yes, I will do the opposite. I used to sit here and do nothing, and regret it for the rest of the day, so now I will do the opposite, and I will do something!
Hey, it worked for George Costanza, so why not the global economy?
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