The Chinese Restaurant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Chinese Restaurant" | |
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| Seinfeld episode | |
 Elaine, George and Jerry at the Chinese restaurant. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 16 |
| Written by | Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld |
| Directed by | Tom Cherones |
| Original airdate | May 23, 1991 |
| Season 2 episodes | |
| Seinfeld – Season 2 January–June 1991 |
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| List of Seinfeld episodes | |
"The Chinese Restaurant" was the 17th episode of Seinfeld. The episode was the 11th episode for the show's second season. It aired on May 23, 1991. It is considered by fans and many of those who worked on the show to be the first "classic Seinfeld" episode. Its trivial subject matter, waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, is emblematic of the series' "show about nothing" profile.[1]
[edit] Plot
Jerry, George and Elaine decide to get dinner without reservations at a Chinese restaurant before seeing Plan 9 From Outer Space but are repeatedly stymied by the maître d' (played by James Hong). After they are repeatedly told they will receive a table in "5, 10 minutes", a starving Elaine suggests bribing the maître d'. They suggest to bribe him with a $20 bill, splitting it three ways, in which George displays his notorious cheap side by only pitching in $6, saying that he wasn't going to eat that much. Elaine mentions that she is so hungry that she would eat food off of another patron's plate, so Jerry wagers $50 if she does. Elaine approaches a table and tells them her friends would give her $50 to eat one of their egg-rolls and she was willing to give them $25 of it. As she never actually verbalizes the offer, they just look at her, and she walks away, losing the wager. George gets frustrated when other patrons monopolize the phone, as he needs to use it to get in touch with his girlfriend Tatiana, who eventually calls but the maitre d' calls "Cartwright" instead of "Costanza." Jerry, having lied to his uncle that he could not make it to dinner, sees his uncle's receptionist at the restaurant. Realising his cover is blown, he decides that he might as well call his uncle and have dinner with him after all. George and Elaine both agree to leave. As soon as they leave, the maitre d' says 'Seinfeld, four!'
[edit] Production
As many others, this episode was inspired by a real-life event. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld thought of the idea while waiting for a table in a New York City Chinese restaurant called "Genghis Cohen." Kramer was not in the episode because in these early seasons he was written as something of a hermit, who had not left the house in several years (although in "Male Unbonding" he goes to the game with Joel Horneck). This was much to Michael Richards' dismay, as he felt this episode was a breakthrough and as such, essential for the series' development.[2]
When NBC became aware of this episode, they strongly disapproved. The network felt that the episode, in more or less real time, following the characters waiting for a table, had no real story and that viewers would be uninterested. Eventually they agreed to air the episode, but it was relegated to the end of the season's run. The networks response was parodied in season four's episode "The Virgin", where Jerry suggests an episode very much like "The Chinese Restaurant", which leaves the NBC executives unimpressed.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Seinfeld Story: an NBC Special. NBC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZtu2WBO48U. Retrieved on Feb. 7, 2009.
- ^ "Seinfeld, Seasons 1 & 2 – DVD extras". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Seinfeld-Seasons-1-2-Jerry/dp/B00005JLEX/. Retrieved on Jun. 3, 2009.
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