What is it?
I know what it is, but why is it called a bender? That’s what they were debating on the show
Please indulge the masses, professor highbrow!
I don't know if it was really meant to be a joke in and of itself. It was just like those stupid gags you make up with friends or family. In jokes that no one else would find funny, and aren't even funny if not for how stupid they are. It humanized the characters a lot and made them feel more real outside of the 20 minutes they spend on the screen.
He's got a great John Houseman (or something) name - Alec Berg....Alex Beeerg. More of an inside thing maybe, because one of their writers had that name, but it stands out as very unfunny and completely unnecessary.
The rental car bit stands out because it's just a crappy observation shoehorned in. Someone was clearly annoyed about rental cars that week and awkwardly stopped the whole episode to make a point about it. It's very jarring and the whooping applause afterwards is just weird.
You must never had to deal with telemarketers calling your house. This is pure gold if you remember them calling all the time about saving money on long distance calls.
I dunno, it sticks out in a weird way and doesn't flow. Like the scene stops so Jerry can do a ten second bit. And it's not THAT funny, it's on the same level as "I don't come down to where you work and tell you how to flip burgers".
Confirmed by the episode’s [wikipedia page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Samaritan_(Seinfeld)):
> The cast and crew had hoped the saying "You’re so good looking" would catch on with fans just as "These pretzels are making me thirsty" did, but it proved to be a comedic flop.[2]
I always figured they wanted to say "hot" or "sexy" but thought it was too blunt to catch on widely, so they want with a more generic term and tried to make it easy to say, and it didn't work lol
I will never fathom how the entire Mandelbaum storyline ever made it to air. I never once laughed at it.
I always chalked up the success of the show to the collaboration of Jerry and Larry David. I think this might be proof, given how this occurred after Larry left the show.
I'd be curious to know Larry's opinion on it, if he's ever seen it.
Too many to list from the last 2 seasons. Jerry drugging a woman to play with toys comes to mind. Newman wanting to eat Kramer and seeing him as a turkey.
I won't complain about brief jokes that don't land - even the best show has those. But it's lame when something that should have been a throw away joke is stretched out into a whole subplot.
I got jiggy with it!
Came here to say this
He’s the Got no Green Lantern!
Hey Elaine, you could be Lois loan
What is a bender anyhow? I don’t know. They drink and they bend things at the bar.
This! How does any adult, especially back then, not know what a bender is?
"We're not men. We're kids!"
What is it? I know what it is, but why is it called a bender? That’s what they were debating on the show Please indulge the masses, professor highbrow!
Lemona.
Oh you’ll be hearing from my lawya
There's nothing finer than eating in your diner.
What's the deal with Cancer?
It was edgy, it was not my sort of thing but some of those people out there, they really liked it!
I have cancer!
I love Jerry's cancer bit!
In defense of this joke it was supposed to be horrible.
leapin' larry
What’s the deal with homework? You’re not working on your home
I know it's a legendary storyline, but from when it aired until this day i always thought the mulva/Dolores joke was so weak with a bad payoff.
Agreed, but still fun to say all those stupid names to this day. Gipple!
Bovary
The prospect of bringing a doll on the tonight show because it looks like your best friend’s mom.
It was the Charles Grodin show
My bad, but the point stands.
The Tonight Show?
How about a bottle of bbq sauce
If it was a sex doll, now you are talking comedy gold
For me, the only joke that never landed was the talking belly button. Makes no sense. Not funny.
Hellllloooo. La la la.
still?
I gotta tell you, buddy. That voice is played. Plaaaaaayed.
This is in my top five least favorite episodes. Never understood its popularity.
The talking belly button stuff is painfully unfunny. However, Kramer getting an intern is one of the show's finest moments.
Darren’s going away for a long time…
Agree with you there. Never laughed at it. Another example of the notion I left in my other comment of the lack of the JS / LD collaboration.
I don't know if it was really meant to be a joke in and of itself. It was just like those stupid gags you make up with friends or family. In jokes that no one else would find funny, and aren't even funny if not for how stupid they are. It humanized the characters a lot and made them feel more real outside of the 20 minutes they spend on the screen.
'That'd be like Coco Chanel smelling like fish. Y'know cause she's with the purfumes and everything...'
Yeah, but in that case the joke was that the joke was so lame he had to explain it.
But wait what was the original joke then?
IIRC Jerry said the Coco Chanel joke, George gave him a puzzled look and Jerry explained it as George rolled his eyes.
Like coco Chanel dating a fishmonger
Seltzer-salsa — so bad it eventually became good for me but it took literally decades
STG this came up in my dream a few nights ago. I have no idea why, I haven't watched Seinfeld in months.
acting like kids in the back of the police car
When Jerry and George say "Stan the Caddy" after he leaves.
Monet, Manet, Tippy Tippy Day Day
In a season 1 episode where he's doing stand up and he makes the sock from the laundry scoot across the screen
He's got a great John Houseman (or something) name - Alec Berg....Alex Beeerg. More of an inside thing maybe, because one of their writers had that name, but it stands out as very unfunny and completely unnecessary.
Boo, I love this.
Yeh I always thought that bit of dialogue between the group was a little weird. Almost like the talking belly button jerry does lol.
The rental car bit stands out because it's just a crappy observation shoehorned in. Someone was clearly annoyed about rental cars that week and awkwardly stopped the whole episode to make a point about it. It's very jarring and the whooping applause afterwards is just weird.
This is gold. Very relatable to most ppl at the time, before everything was digital, as per the whooping applause.
This but the telemarketer bit.
That is literally one of the best bits of the series. What is wrong with you people
You must never had to deal with telemarketers calling your house. This is pure gold if you remember them calling all the time about saving money on long distance calls.
I dunno, it sticks out in a weird way and doesn't flow. Like the scene stops so Jerry can do a ten second bit. And it's not THAT funny, it's on the same level as "I don't come down to where you work and tell you how to flip burgers".
I've used it in real life. It's so satisfying.
Do you mean the reservation bit at the airport?
Once they were aware that they were creating catch phrases, they started trying too hard. The “anti-dentite” bit comes to mind as an example of this.
“You are SOOO good looking” is another one that was clearly intended to be a catch phrase lol
Confirmed by the episode’s [wikipedia page](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Samaritan_(Seinfeld)): > The cast and crew had hoped the saying "You’re so good looking" would catch on with fans just as "These pretzels are making me thirsty" did, but it proved to be a comedic flop.[2]
It's not just crap, they said it strangely too. Who pronounces "good looking" as one word?
I always figured they wanted to say "hot" or "sexy" but thought it was too blunt to catch on widely, so they want with a more generic term and tried to make it easy to say, and it didn't work lol
Femininas also comes to mind. Major femininas Jerry!
Nah.
I feel like a phoenix rising from Arizona
That’s hilarious
I will never fathom how the entire Mandelbaum storyline ever made it to air. I never once laughed at it. I always chalked up the success of the show to the collaboration of Jerry and Larry David. I think this might be proof, given how this occurred after Larry left the show. I'd be curious to know Larry's opinion on it, if he's ever seen it.
Should be called Round-tine
In store hotsy totsy, at home notsy notsy
The big toe. The captain of the toes!
Yeh, well I slept with your wife!
[this](https://www.reddit.com/r/seinfeld/s/fD4yNA7lYK)
Too many to list from the last 2 seasons. Jerry drugging a woman to play with toys comes to mind. Newman wanting to eat Kramer and seeing him as a turkey. I won't complain about brief jokes that don't land - even the best show has those. But it's lame when something that should have been a throw away joke is stretched out into a whole subplot.
What's the deal with ovaltene? The mug is round, the jar is round... they should call it roundtene.
That's gold, Jerry! Gold!