The Little Kicks

"**The Little Kicks**"
"The Little Kicks"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 8; Episode 4
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Spike Feresten
Production code	804
Original air date	October 10, 1996
Guest appearances
	Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza; Neil Giuntoli as Brody; Rebecca McFarland as Anna; Joe Urla as Dugan; Tim O'Hare as Vendor;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Bizarro Jerry"	Next →; "The Package"
	Seinfeld season 8
	List of episodes

"The Little Kicks" is the 138th episode of the American television sitcom Seinfeld. This was the fourth episode for the eighth season, originally broadcast on the NBC network on October 10, 1996.^[1] In this episode, Jerry inadvertently becomes a renowned maker of bootleg films when he takes Kramer to a sneak preview of an unreleased film. The episode is best known for its scenes exhibiting Elaine's bad dancing.

Plot

George tags along to a company party held by Elaine. He attempts to flirt with Anna, one of Elaine's employees, but she isn't interested. The guests are horrified when they see Elaine dance, losing respect for her. Elaine attributes this loss of respect to George's presence at the party. She advises Anna to keep away from George, which causes Anna to think of George as a "bad boy", making him desirable to her.

Jerry gets tickets to a sneak preview of Death Blow for himself, Kramer, and Kramer's friend, Brody. In the theater, Brody starts videotaping the movie to make a bootleg. Brody later becomes sick from eating too much candy and has Kramer take him home, directing Jerry at gunpoint to finish making the tape. Jerry reluctantly bootlegs the movie and worries about breaking the law. However, when he sees the finished product, Brody says it's beautiful and Jerry is "a genius". He assigns Jerry an "arty film" called Cry, Cry Again. Opposed to bootlegging but afraid of turning Brody down, Jerry has Kramer ghost-film it for him. However, when Jerry learns Death Blow has become a bootleg legend, he becomes unwilling to let Kramer's shoddy work go out under his name. He demands they reshoot Cry, Cry Again using three cameramen with headsets. When Brody won't agree to Jerry's outlandish demands, Jerry quits the project.

Kramer, seeing Elaine dancing, informs her that she stinks. Jerry reluctantly confirms this, and suggests she watch herself for proof. She videotapes herself over the ending of the bootleg copy of Cry, Cry Again. When Brody comes to pick up the tape, Jerry and Kramer resort to giving him the copy Kramer recorded, which Elaine has recorded her dancing over.

Elaine, realizing that her dancing was the cause of her staff's disrespect, apologizes to George and tells Anna he is a good person, which makes him undesirable to Anna. George takes up bootlegging in an effort to restore his "bad boy" image, but gets arrested and cries when a policeman yells at him, permanently shaming himself in Anna's eyes. Frank comes to bail him out but instead gets into a physical confrontation with Elaine after she insults George.

Elaine says the bad air at the office has mostly cleared up. Everyone on the sidewalk dances behind her back, mocking her dance that they saw at the end of the Cry, Cry Again bootleg.

Production

The episode was written by Spike Feresten. The cold open was based on an internal monologue Feresten had while walking down the street, worrying about what dangers could befall him.^[2]

George's exclamation "Sweet fancy Moses!" was added by Jeff Schaffer, while Jerry's line "That's why they get guns, too many misunderstandings" and the idea of George ironing his pants when Anna asks what he's doing were both contributed by Jerry Seinfeld himself.^[2]

Elaine's dance

Elaine's bad dancing was inspired by a former boss of Feresten's, who would dance with little kicks. Though the script stipulated that Elaine's dance would include little kicks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus had to develop the choreography herself. Initially the production crew tried playing the music while filming Elaine's dance, but Louis-Dreyfus found it too difficult to stay out-of-synch with the beat, so they went with the more common practice of filming the scenes without music and adding music in post-production.^[2]

References

^ "Seinfeld Season 8 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Feresten, Spike; Louis-Dreyfus, Julia; Alexander, Jason (2007). Seinfeld Season 8: Audio Commentary - "The Little Kicks" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

External links

"The Little Kicks" at IMDb

[tvguide-1] "Seinfeld Season 8 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 10, 2021.

[AudioCom-2] Feresten, Spike; Louis-Dreyfus, Julia; Alexander, Jason (2007). Seinfeld Season 8: Audio Commentary - "The Little Kicks" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

[1]

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v t e Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend"† "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip"† "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"†
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats"† "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100"† "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac"† "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit"† "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"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"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle"† "The Finale"†
† Indicates two-part episode