The Muffin Tops

"The Muffin Tops"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 8 Episode 21
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Spike Feresten
Production code	821
Original air date	May 8, 1997
Guest stars
Melinda Clarke Rena Sofer Richard Fancy
Season 8 episodes
September 1996 – May 1997 "The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
List of Seinfeld episodes

"The Muffin Tops" is the 155th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 21st episode of the eighth season. It aired on May 8, 1997.

Plot

The Tourist

George watches a bag for a tourist who never comes back, so he starts wearing some of the clothes from the bag, using the rationale that "I'm still watching them." While walking down the street in the tourist's clothes while looking at a map, a woman who works for the tourist bureau (Rena Sofer) mistakes George for a tourist and introduces herself. George pretends that he is visiting from Little Rock, Arkansas, where he works as a hen supervisor for Tyler Chicken, a spin off of Tyson Foods which is located in Springdale, Arkansas. He asks the woman back to his hotel room, which he has rented to stay in character as a tourist, to which she declines as she doesn't want to get involved with him, knowing he will be leaving soon. To prolong the relationship, he tells her he's thinking of 'moving' to New York, to which she tells him the city would eat him alive. George is insulted by this and sets out to prove he can get by in New York by showing her his 'new' apartment and job with the Yankees. They bump into Steinbrenner where he learns of George's supposed job with Tyler Chicken. Steinbrenner then makes a deal with CEO of Tyler Chicken to trade George for a fermented chicken drink and some chicken snacks for the stadium.

Jerry

Jerry notices his chest hair is uneven and tries to straighten it out, but ends up shaving it all off. He worries what his girlfriend (Melinda Clarke) will think, until he discovers she is fond of hairless dogs. He continues to shave his chest, despite Kramer's warning about hair growth.

Top of the Muffin to You!

While eating a muffin, Elaine mentions to Mr. Lippman, her former boss, that she only eats the tops, and that a store selling just the tops would be a million dollar idea. Lippman decides to start a business, called Top of the Muffin to You!, based on Elaine's idea. The business struggles at first, so Lippman asks Elaine for advice. Uncertain at first she declines, but after being offered 30% of the profits, she tells him that he must make the whole muffin and then pop the top from the stump; she also demands that he remove the exclamation point from his sign. ("It's not top of the muffin TO YOU!" Elaine says. Lippman replies, "No, it is.") This gives the business a boost, but leaves them with the problem of disposing of the muffin stumps. They initially give the stumps to the homeless shelter, but after complaints about the missing muffin tops, they have to get rid of them somewhere else.

The Peterman Reality Tour

Kramer learns from Elaine that the stories he had sold to J. Peterman in a previous episode were put into Peterman's biography. Kramer goes to the book signing, claiming he is the "real" Peterman. He then starts conducting "The Peterman Reality Tour" on a school bus for $37.50 apiece. Kramer asks Jerry and his girlfriend to take the tour and, while Elaine enters, she asks Kramer to get rid of the muffin stumps on his tour in return. Jerry's chest begins itching from hair growth, as Kramer searches for a dump that will take the stumps. Jerry's itching makes him run into the forest to scratch his chest; when the moon comes out he howls like the Wolf Man. Elaine eventually hires a "cleaner" (Newman, in a Pulp Fiction spoof) to make the muffin stump problem go away until the store gets private garbage removal.

Cultural references

Newman's role as "The Cleaner" is a reference to Harvey Keitel's role as "The Wolf" in Pulp Fiction. He is seen driving an Acura NSX when he arrives at the bakery, which is the same kind of car that "The Wolf" drives. There is a character known as "The Cleaner" played by Harvey Keitel in Point of No Return. Newman uses a crate of milk bottles to help dispose of the muffin stumps, which is a reference to Jean Reno's role as "Victor the Cleaner" in the film Nikita (upon which Point of No Return is based), who uses a crate of acid bottles to dispose of murder victims. This also refers to 'The Cleaner' in Leon (a.k.a. The Professional) where he is a cleaner and he "takes care of problems". Finally, the use of milk is a reference to a series of advertisements then running for milk, in which various characters can only eat cake when they have milk to drink on hand. There is also a reference to the film Wolf with Jerry Seinfeld playing the role played by Jack Nicholson. Kramer's "Peterman Reality Tour" is a direct spoof of "Kramer's Reality Tour," conducted by the real-life Kenny Kramer, the former neighbor of Larry David and inspiration for the character Cosmo Kramer. Lippman's reference to "every half-wit and sitcom star ha[ving] his own book out" is a reference to Seinfeld's own book Seinlanguage. The title of J. Peterman's autobiography, No Placket Required is a parody of the Phil Collins album No Jacket Required. Originally, George was going to claim to be an employee of the real life Tyson Chicken. However, Tyson Chicken objected to the joke about "alcoholic chicken" and the fictional "Tyler Chicken" was used in its place.

The actor Reuven Bar-Yotam, who is seen on Kramer's "Peterman Reality Tours" bus also appears as Shlomo in season nine's "The Frogger". The "Jiffy Dump" employee is the same man who was in charge of "Jiffy Park" in the 7th season episode, "The Wig Master." The conversation even references that episode as George is told to "take it up with consumer affairs" in "The Wig Master" and Kramer can be heard yelling "maybe I will take it up with consumer affairs!" after being turned away.

Elaine's exchange with Lippman regarding the use of exclamation points is a reference to an earlier episode in which Elaine and Lippman had a related dispute while working at Pendant Publishing. Ironically, in the earlier dispute, Lippman was against the use of exclamation points and Elaine was for it. Early in the episode, Kramer mentions that his window is "the one that's covered with chicken wire." Later on, a scene shows the CEO's office at Tyler Chicken. There is the shadow of a window covered with chicken wire.

External links

• The Muffin Tops at the Internet Movie Database