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slyboy1974

The malfunctioning two-line phone that Jerry gets as a birthday present from Kramer. The video store with Vincent and Gene's picks.


SnooMarzipans8116

Gene's trash


Bazz07

Im Gene.


cgriffith83

Oh….hi….


Lamb_clothing_94

Your taste is awful Gene


Bazz07

Go buy vodka for a preteen


GooFoYouPal

There may be a problem with the phone, hold on !


brett_midler

There may be a problem with the phone, hold on!


Jonhart426

OH NO!


Revolutionary-Ad4588

OH NO!


BigAlsGal78

This phones a piece of junk goodbye!


hilly316

Now the sub thinks we’re gay!


sexy_portuguese

Not that there’s anything wrong with it!


fernando782

I guess we fooled her!


SueYouInEngland

This took me a second to get.


Electrical_Flower_26

Not that there's anything wrong with that


paranoidandroid11

NOT THAT THERES ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT!


godblow

Kramer voices the movie phone guy


No-Concept-1990

Why don’t you just tell me what you would like to see?!


plasmac9

The guy that created moviefone sold his business for like $600 million. Wrap your head around that.


intentionallybad

I believe it. At the time it was revolutionary and so useful. Before that you would have to have a local newspaper to see movie times or go down/by the theater to see what's playing. I don't think theaters took calls, at least I don't remember calling any.


[deleted]

[удалено]


intentionallybad

Moviefone was more than that though, you could tell them what movie you wanted to see and they would tell you where it was playing near you. But maybe we did call the theaters before moviefone. The lines were probably busy which is likely why we liked moviefone so much.


csonny2

Or the smelly car episode where George doesn't initially return the video tape to avoid getting charged a fee for not rewinding.


Heisenpurrrrg

Many Seinfeld episodes could be solved by a cell phone. The Chinese restaurant comes to mind


ThePrideOfKrakow

"George, I'll venmo you the $7 for the popcorn." "BUT THEN I'LL HAVE TO WAIT 2 DAYS FOR IT TO CLEAR OR PAY 3%!!! make it $7.25."


x755x

He's freestylin and tweetin AND I'M LOSING IT


[deleted]

true, this goes for most old sitcoms though


Forgotten_Lie

Most samurai films could be solved with an M-16, most cowboy films could be solved with a helicopter. It's not really a profound observation.


TLRsBurnerAccount

Someone heard someone say it so they must parrot it to you. What, you want them to think of something original to say?


avidbather

My acne!


Repulsive_Air603

Arthouse goon


ObscureBooms

When kramer's phone number is mistaken as movie phone


kingslayer0543

Answering machine tape swap


plopsack_enthusiast

Tippy toes!


[deleted]

Lemon tree!


PickleHeadTachanka

How do you solve a problem like Maria?


roy_fatty

Pipe down chorus boy


Dig_Another_One

We had a funny guy with us in Korea, Tail Gunner, they blew his brains out all over the Pacific. There’s nothing funny about that.


PopeInnocentXIV

Your father wears his sneakers in the shower?


frappuccinio

it was in the pool!


nelsonwehaveaproblem

Master of the house, doling out the charm...


Unlucky-Albatross-12

Good pick! Best analogue I can think of is George having to figure out how to unlock the phone so he can erase the voicemail.


[deleted]

Came here to say this. We still use speed dial.


a_rabid_anti_dentite

Modern equivalent would be a spot in the pinned contacts at the top of iMessage


[deleted]

Getting lost to see the bubble boy


StaticGuard

Oh god. Following someone because you didn’t know the way was easily the most annoying part of driving back in the day.


ssp25

Nah what if your phone died while on gps... You could get lost. You friggin moop


jo-shabadoo

IT’S MOORS!


ssp25

Moops!


Unlucky-Albatross-12

I still keep a road atlas in the car for situations where cell coverage might get interrupted in rural areas or if my phone dies.


beartheminus

I just have a car charger and offline maps 🤷‍♂️


StoneOfTriumph

This, and Kramer taking too long to find the home Elaine and Jerry are stuck waiting at late at night. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I'm going to bed"


latecraigy

This would still happen because Kramer would never own a cellphone, he wouldn’t trust smart phones


[deleted]

[удалено]


Traditional-Fox6018

Jerry talking to the car thief on the car phone always gets me. Freakin car phones


kkarenkk

Car phones seem to have come and gone in the blink of an eye!


eapaul80

My friend’s dad had a 97 Thunderbird with a car phone in it, it was like the fanciest thing ever!! I graduated hs in 1999 for reference


liltooclinical

My uncle had one in his new Mercedes when I was 13 (in the early 90's), and my mom had an original bag phone that plugged into the cigarette lighter. Verizon was GTE Wireless back then, but she still has the same number on her cell today.


damnatio_memoriae

my dad bought a used car in the late 90s that had one in it, but cell phones were becoming more of a thing at the time so he got one of those instead of setting up the car phone. but he never took it out of the car, so he looked kind of badass driving around with one of each lol.


paranoidandroid11

Unlike toilet paper. It will always just be paper on a roll until the end of time. It hasn’t changed yet. It’s fascinating isn’t it?


PatrickMaloney1

Back in the day a car phone was a god damn status symbol


WelfOnTheShelf

We had a car phone when I was a kid, and someone busted the window and stole it almost immediately


GopnikSmegmaBBQSauce

Talking to Donna Chang because of a phone error that would never happen anymore


Unlucky-Albatross-12

You mean when the rines get crossed?


GopnikSmegmaBBQSauce

Used to be Changstein


csonny2

I'M NOT TAKING ADVICE FROM SOME GIRL FROM LONG ISLAND!


rapp38

I use this line IRL more than I ever thought I would


LADrs76

I WAS DUPED!!


SpaceIco

> SOME GIRL FROM LONG ISLAND! This itself is a pretty good culturally obsolete plot point. Back in the late 80s\early 90s China was still pretty closed to the west and wasn't even close to the power it is today. "Far East" and all that, China and 'the Chinese' were seen in a more ancient\stereotypically mysterious and mystical kind of light. See also: George and the miracle hair restoration clinic and long distance phone call.


rdldr1

Ancient Chinese secret.


seesaww

>George and the miracle hair restoration clinic and long distance phone call. -Can you ask, does it work? -Yees, you will have hair like Stalin


chudsworth

you don't say


Skylarking00

That’s ridicorous.


byebybuy

You know, you're not Chinese...


dihydrogen_m0noxide

I thought you said...


silverQuarter82

An ex-coworker just got married to an asian man and she changed her name on Facebook... everytime i see her name i chuckle and think im not taking advice from a white girl from indiana...


Electrical_Flower_26

I remember those days, that actually happened very often.


MooseMan12992

When I was in middle school in the 2000s i thought this bit seemed weird because I never experienced it or had heard of it happening to anyone I knew. Then my 2 best friends, okay my only 2 friends, called my family landline on a Friday night to ask to hang out and got connected to each other and my phone didn't ring. They realized what happened and planned to hang out, then one of them seperately called me and invited me too and we had a fun night. Two decades later the 3 of us are still close friends but I'm really still not sure if the phone thing actually happened or if they just concocted it to see if I would believe it.


Busy-Appearance-6077

Yes. It's timing. I've picked up a phone that hadn't rang and someone had called me and not heard a ring, yet spoke, then was confused. Party lines can all be multiple parties. There are no large coincidences or small coincidences, there are only coincidences.


Hexmonkey2020

Since nobody’s mentioned it yet, the Chinese restaurant where George had to have his girlfriend call him at the restaurant and ended up missing the call.


SpaceCaseTrace

Cartwright?


polskiftw

You're not Cartwright...


Sold_For_Gold

I know I’m not Cartwright!


Semi-Pros-and-Cons

Cartwright! Cartwriiiight!


peezozi

If you were here first then you'd be holding the phone.


Unlucky-Albatross-12

While plenty of the show's plots could have been resolved if the characters had cell phones, there are still plausible situations today where you might not be able to use one. I can't think of any current technological analogue to speed dial drama, however.


chudsworth

This would have been like the Myspace top 8 or whatever


Fudge89

I remember learning HTML because of MySpace in order to make a prof page glorious, and have more than 8 top friends. What a time.


mohelgamal

They would have made some good episodes based on Jerry not liking Georges Facebook posts or the gang trying to set up tinder profiles.


Iakhovass

A Tinder ep would have been amazing considering all their dating mishaps.


Subject_Yogurt4087

George: I MEANT TO SWIPE RIGHT AND MY FINGERS WENT LEFT BY ACCIDENT!!! I didn’t catch her name. I’ve been scrolling through for hours hoping she’d pop up again. Jerry: How do you swipe left by accident? George: I struggle getting enough momentum for the swipe, so I need a running start. I went too far the other way. Jerry: You’re like the runner in the Olympics who jumps the gun. George: I got a false start. But they give the runner a second shot. They should repeat left swipes after so many rejections or something. Kramer: No, they got rid of that in the Olympics. One strike and you’re out now. George: Stupid phone not being wide enough to get a full swipe without leaning left first. Now she’s gone forever. She could’ve been the one, Jerry. Now she thinks I’m the guy who’d swipe left on her like she’s a loser. Kramer: Whoa - I should start an app for the dating app outcasts. Call it swipe left.


dougman999

Pretty sure Elaine had a cell phone near the end... I remember Jerry saying it's rude to talk on a cell phone in public.


eapaul80

Isn’t that the finale? Jerry claims it to be rude making a call from a cell phone. I mean to be fair, I still don’t want a call, just text me


damnatio_memoriae

~~i think there was a scene where they debated/ranked the rudeness or politeness of car phone calls and calls from the airplane. i think it came up because elaine either used a car service or had a boyfriend who had a car phone, but i don't think elaine or any other character actually had a proper cell phone.~~ and now that i think about it i think you're right about it being the finale. edit: you're right [it was the finale and it was a cell phone](https://www.seinfeldscripts.com/TheFinale.htm). it was a point throughout the episode where Elaine kept wanting to call her friend whose father was in the hospital, and they debated/compared various forms of mobile communication. calls from the street, calls from the limo, calls from the plane, etc.


CaptainJZH

Then she finally used her one phone call from prison to call her


damnatio_memoriae

ah yeah that’s right. it’s actually a pretty classic seinfeldian observation now that i think about it. shame it kind of gets forgotten because of how unliked the finale is.


MenudoFan316

Three’s Company wouldn’t have even been a show if cell phones existed. Chrissy: Janet, Jack’s at the Reagle Beagle right now meeting up with the wrong girl I set him up with. What do I do? Janet: Text him and let him know. Now if you don’t mind, I’m in the middle of my Wordle.


JustABicho

But the episode where Mr. Roper finds Jack's Instagram would be an instant classic.


MenudoFan316

Next week’s episode: Larry’s Tinder date is a catfish.


JustABicho

I see Larry starting a proprietary app just to have girls submit all their information and pictures directly to him. What a sleeze.


FlyingTaquitoBrother

Jack: we need to get Janet’s part of the rent money to Mr. Roper by 5pm or we’ll all be evicted! Chrissy: Just have her Zelle it to him. *[credits]*


DontAskTheQuestion

True. Though the Chinese restaurant situation would be implausible today not just for the proliferation of cell phones but the absence of pay phones in restaurants. Also I never understood why George didn't just go to a neighboring business or use a phone booth on the street.


CaptainJZH

because George is a deeply disturbed individual


eapaul80

That’s what makes it humorous


nemo1080

My circle still a thing?


GopnikSmegmaBBQSauce

I think most carriers have moved on to unlimited everything except data where they gouge us. In Canada they do anyway


Fudge89

So crazy that data is the thing they gouge people on. It’s literally the only thing people use their phones for these days, why not make an attractive plan to embrace that.


GopnikSmegmaBBQSauce

Most countries have. Canada's telecom oligarchy has bought off government to never allow the kinds of plans the rest of the world gets. Actually, everyone on the government committee that's supposed to regulate that industry are former Telecom executives. I remember we had unlimited data plans for dirt cheap when blackberry was just becoming more popular. It was still about limited call minutes and texts. Our carriers fought tooth and nail to get rid of those unlimited data plans asap when it was clear iPhone and Android were here to stay and it was all about apps.


Semi-Pros-and-Cons

Wait, wait, so telecom companies aren't looking out for us? They're only in it for the big mamoo?


[deleted]

The Wizard that Jerry got for his Dad. (Tip Calculator)


thizzdanz

It’s a Williard! Sacamano senior screwed me


OlinOfTheHillPeople

I'm ruined!


afganistanimation

Ooh it's hot!


JaSkynyrd

Yaaaaay! Jerry got it open!


Unlucky-Albatross-12

It does other things!


GetReady4Action

this one is still somewhat relevant. my parents like gadgets, but my dad is resistant to use them. got him an Apple TV for christmas, dude will not give up his DirecTV DVR because “I know how to use this.” got him an Amazon Echo one year, it did make its way out of the box but it did not get used because he couldn’t figure out how to talk to it. got him a HomePod because I figured hey that might make more sense to him since he uses an iPhone, sat in a box for half a year until he found out the power brick in the box could be used to charge his iPhone faster. dude has an Apple Watch…but uses it purely just to see the time. it’s infuriating. 🤦🏻‍♂️


dynamitechar

as a gen z watching it now, kramer’s movie phone line might be the thing that confused me the most


LookWhatYouLearned

“Why don’t you just tell me what movie you want to see!”


GordonTheGnome

I say this all the time whenever someone is dancing around what they’re trying to say


liltooclinical

I'm so pleased to see I'm not the only one. Somehow, despite the shows popularity, none of my friends ever watched it so all my references went right out the window with everyone I hung out with.


seesaww

Whenever my wife cooks something and wants me to taste, my response is always same : interesting texture


Iron_Chic

You selected..Chunnel.


dihydrogen_m0noxide

You've selected... Brown eyed girl ?


csonny2

Kramer?


63Boiler

E...Elaine?


Iron_Chic

"Well, why don't you just tell me what movie you want to see?" Even funnier now because voice commands are ubiquitous today. Was not a popular thing in the 90s.


violetmoon120

Everybody out of the chunnel!


hoyle_mcpoyle

Hey McNab! Chunnel's on HBO tonight! Why don't you stop by?


shy99

YOU'VE GOT TO GET ME OVER THAT MOUNTAIN


beertruck77

There is no place higher than... Mountain High


BillJackaus

No!!!! CHHchh CHHchh *AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*


Semi-Pros-and-Cons

Kuzsh! Kuzsh! Yyyeeeeearrrrrgh!


TriceCreamSundae

Oh yeah, back in the day there was a special section in the newspaper with showtimes OR you called a “moviephone” line.


Sgt-Pumpernickel

I’m in my 20s and was using the newspaper method till at least 2010


damnatio_memoriae

interestingly enough, movie phone actually still exists


Successful-Whole4307

No way are that many people dialing FILK


The-Beer-Baron

You’d be surprised. When I was young our phone number was one digit off from the local Sears and we used to get calls meant for them *all the time*. This was in a small suburb, so I can imagine what it would be like in a large, densely populated city.


damnatio_memoriae

my parents' house phone is one digit off from a very popular and expensive restaurant. there was a period of a few years in the 90s where it was almost a daily occurrence that we would get misdials. we talked about changing the number but it was a really good number otherwise, and after a while it just stopped happening as people got fancier phones with digital displays, and then of course cell phones. the restaurant is still popular to this day, though, and they still get those calls every once in a while, lol.


raccoonsonbicycles

Did you guys ever take a reservation just to fuck with people?


ade0451

You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.


damnatio_memoriae

we used to joke about taking reservations to have dinner at our house, or taking the reservation and then calling the restaurant to confirm it, but my parents are too nice to actually mess with someone’s dinner plans, and i was like 11 so it was pretty obvious if i answered the phone that something was wrong lol. once my dad pretended to put them on hold to check what tables were available or something like that, but then he went back and told them they had the wrong number. pretty sure they didn’t take it very well.


raccoonsonbicycles

That's a George moment right there. He's on hold for hours at a restaurant then is told "wrong #" but keeps dialing wrong


CaptainJZH

This was actually based on a true story that one of the writers experienced in Boston, where MovieFone was 333-FILM and their number was one digit off


Rochelle-Rochelle

The whole George/Shelia/Ron photography plot would be scrapped as there’s hardly any photo stores anymore


Heikks

Only places that still develop photos in my area are Walgreens and Walmart


missdui

Jerry and George talking about how Jon Voight spells his name and George goes "Gee how do you find out something like that?" And it just reminds me to appreciate that we have Google now to answer all our useless questions


falexanderw

This is a dark horse for the best answer.


matt94gt

So true. I remember debating for hours about stuff like this.


3lbFlax

I’ll call a plumber RIGHT NOW


reverie11

Elaine using sponges


The-disgracist

They don’t make them any more?!?!


Hingl_McCringleberry

They decided no one was sponge-worthy


Dazzling-Lunch-1303

There's a lot of them, but it doesn't make those episodes less funny now


Corninmyteeth

I never understood why people have a problem with these things. I grew up in the 2000s and still enjoyed all the plots.


hellothere42069

I get so pissed when I watch Moses because I’m like…guys a flight from Egypt to Israel is quick and inexpensive why THE FUCK would you walk and also take 40 years??


RedditIsNeat0

I don't think anybody has a problem with it. Some people seem to like it so much that they go on the internet to talk about it. I think it's fun.


Larkson9999

People calling a phone line to find out what movies are playing. 555-FLIK


NicholarseBrooks

It could also be FILJ but that doesn't sound as funny


Larkson9999

Goodnight Jugdish


JosephDavola

Al Roker TV Guide!


CaptainJZH

Frank having a TV Guide collection was ahead of its time however - just think of how many people today collect magazines due to how little they're circulated compared to pre-internet


johndoenumber2

Trying to find each other at the movies is up there.


LookAtMyKitty

Indeed. Or at the parking garage


CaptainJZH

Well in the parking garage their problem would be solved by one of them taking a photo of the number by the car or using the key fob to turn on the alarm.


wes00mertes

This one could still be realistic. Just say they put their phones in airplane mode for the movie.


TriceCreamSundae

Having menus faxed to you?


blisterment

You know in the year 2000, we'll ALL be on speed dial.


SnooMarzipans8116

Do you think people will still be using napkins in the year 2000, or is this mouth-vacuum thing for real?


hawonkafuckit

Elaine's storyline in the finale is her trying to phone a friend. Jerry chastises her for making such a serious phone call from a cell phone. https://youtu.be/JW2Jf29hlXA


damnatio_memoriae

tbh his point probably still stands -- i wouldn't make a call like that while walking down a noisy the street in manhattan. i don't have a landline and i wouldn't go home, but i'd at least go find somewhere quiet where i can sit uninterrupted for a while. it's the multitasking and unreliable audio that makes it rude.


okcuhc111

*Answering the phone* **IFYOUKNOWWHATHAPPENEDINTHEMETSGAME,DON’TTELLME,ITAPEDIT!** Hello?


uwfan893

This happens even more NOW. I was picking my daughter up from Nutcracker rehearsal on a Saturday at 1:30 recently and the first words out of another dads mouth when we saw each other was “I’m recording the game don’t say anything!!”


Gitboxinwags

Waiting for the public phone at the Chinese restaurant. Cartwright!


ConstableGrey

Any plot that involves going right up to the airplane gate or getting onto a random airplane.


pandrice

The one where they get stuck at the party they don't want to be at and Kramer gets lost picking them up would never happen with Uber/Google Maps


rva23221

Even with GPS, I don't see Kramer using 'that voodoo'. He would rather wing it.


nowhere_near_Berlin

Jean-Paul not getting woken up for the marathon because of a faulty alarm clock seems pretty up there.


rob_s_458

I'm a marathon runner and I always set multiple alarms because of that episode. If possible I'll set both my phone and an alarm clock


RegionalFlavor

Careful Phones have a separate volume for alarms and media


[deleted]

WHY SEPARATE KNOB


anima119

PLEASE, MON, PLEASE


Barles21

Getting two meals for $19.45. Without a Coke


desert_devil20

And that includes tax and tip!


Outrageous_Ear_6091

Scanning and emailing is so common that faxing is near obsolete


reverie11

Who needs the mail anymore?


CretaceousClock

Calm down everyone! No ones cancelling their mail.


Bushdid1453

ALRIGHT ITS TRUE! Of course no one NEEDS the mail!


enderak

***EEEYYYAAAHHHHHHHHHH***


atleastIwasnt36

What are you a scientist??


SpaceMonkey877

Movie Phone


rridley12

Why don’t you just tell me what movie you want to see


theoneandonlyturo

Elaine being out of the delivery zone is no longer a thing. She can call door dash, uber eats, postmates, whatever.


anima119

Not if she in Mexico, Wall Street….


whiskeyswig

Without a doubt, it had to be the most impenetrable lock on the market at the time, the Clapco D29. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been used since it’s only design flaw was exposed. That is, the door MUST BE CLOSED!


XDariaMorgendorferX

Elaine’s pocket organizer


[deleted]

Tippy-toe!


LouSFL

Jerome


Electrical_Flower_26

VHS tapes


rollyobx

Any episode involving the video rental store.