|
Breaking format for a second here: After over 30 years, somebody finally located a complete copy of the script for the infamous lost episode "The Bet"/"The Gun". It was Larry Charles' first script and was meant to be the fourth episode of the second season, but both the cast and NBC execs were uncomfortable with the material and it was scrapped just before filming (Seinfeld and Larry David wrote "The Phone Message" to replace it in under two days.) The A and B stories here basically get the same amount of coverage: Elaine is considering buying a gun for self-defense, which Jerry objects to. Meanwhile Kramer, back from a vacation to Puerto Rico, claims that he had sex with a flight attendant on the trip home; Jerry believes him, George does not, after making a bet on it they decide to go to JFK, track down the woman and ask her what actually happened. Having read it, I agree with the cast's hesitation, not because the subject matter is distasteful but because...it just doesn't work. Even for an early episode of the series the characters' voices feel off in places, and the intersection of the A and B plots near the end is a bit too broad and goofy. The scene where they go to Mo Korn's apartment to look at guns feels a lot like the holistic healer stuff from "The Heart Attack" a few episodes later - seems like Charles was really fixated on the idea of having the gang go to a weird guy's apartment, but couldn't go with the tried-and-true "buying drugs" angle. This copy of the script is extensively noted throughout, but the scan quality means that you can't read most of the handwritten notes, you can just see the big X's where gags and dialogue have been stricken. One interesting handwritten change is that they were going to reveal Kramer's first name here as "Konrad," seemingly entirely because the flight attendant's name is "Connie" and she knows him as "Konnie" (Which replaces a go-nowhere bit where Kramer uses his "ex-brother-in-law's"(!) name for a discount on his flight.) My favorite part is the opening scene, because Charles nails the characters there. I can hear Jerry and George's voices in my head reading this exchange: "You don’t think I should do more hard-edged political material? Make some kind of statement? "Why don’t you just set fire to yourself on stage, that's a statement...Go down into the audience and start smacking people, knock their drinks over. That's a statement!" JethroMcB fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Apr 5, 2024 |
#
¿
Apr 5, 2024 06:21
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 13, 2024 22:06 |
|
|
Electro-Boogie Jack posted:Checked in the OP and no luck, but maybe that's because it's 14 years old... Is there a thread-approved list of "the essential" Seinfield eps? Got a spouse who never watched it and now that CYE is wrapped up it seemed like a good time to go back and run through the cream of the Seinfeld crop, but I don't trust myself to do it off the top of my head. You can really throw on any episode and probably have a good time (And inevitably, you'll watch one and realize as it gets going that something you remember being the story of an episode is just a B-plot.) "The Contest" is mandatory. "The Pitch" is a personal favorite because it's the first episode I watched in syndication as a kid - I was convinced at the time that I'd just happened to catch the first episode, since it's the one where they have the "It's going to be a show about nothing" discussion. "The Tape" is a good early one that's focused entirely on the central cast and their dynamics. At least one gimmick episode is mandatory - "The Chinese Restaurant," "The Subway," "The Limo," "The Parking Garage," it's personal preference but they're all standouts.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2024 18:31
|
|
|
...you're not going to open with that, are you?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2024 21:31
|
|
|
I've never seen a beautiful lady reading "The Guide" so far away from a TV...you must really like television.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2024 05:33
|
|
|
This son of a bitch is ICE cold!
|
|
#
¿
May 3, 2024 22:49
|
|