The Bottom 50

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Well, 51. I've been watching the complete series this year, and I think there are three groups of what could be called clunkers:

First, the first six seasons (108 episodes, not counting the clip show) are extraordinarily good and consistent. They started off interesting, and then developed to very funny. There's only seven that I think range from not good to awful. A lot of them have a static quality, a lack of movement:

Season 1: Male Unbonding
Season 2: The Baby Shower
Season 2: The Chinese Restaurant
Season 3: The Parking Garage
Season 3: The Parking Space
Season 6: The Diplomat's Club
Season 6: The Understudy

Things change pretty radically in Season 7. I've seen an interview, I think in the DVD set, where Seinfeld or David are talking about the writing process on the show, and how they'd have the junior writers pitch little story lines to them, which they'd okay to be developed as parts of scripts. Beginning in Season 7, it seems like this process ran out of control. Most episodes become collections of disjointed stories, with two or more resolving by crashing together at the end. When the stories were good, they were great, but the episodes could be sunk by one or two bad threads. I think that these ones qualify as bad episodes:

Season 7: The Bottle Deposit (Parts 1 and 2)
Season 7: The Seven
Season 7: The Doll
Season 8: The Foundation
Season 8: The Soul Mate
Season 8: The Fatigues
Season 8: The Little Jerry
Season 8: The Comeback
Season 8: The Pothole
Season 8: The Nap
Season 9: The Junk Mail
Season 9: The Dealership
Season 9: The Cartoon
Season 9: The Strong Box
Season 9: The Book Store
Season 9: The Frogger
Season 9: The Maid
Season 9: The Puerto Rican Day

These ones, on the other hand, are okay seen in isolation, but become a little tedious because they're in a long run of very similar episodes, and the characters don't really get a full chance to engage the viewers:

Season 7: The Wink
Season 7: The Wig Master
Season 7: The Rye
Season 7: The Caddy
Season 7: The Cadillac (parts 1 and 2)
Season 7: The Wait Out
Season 7: The Invitations
Season 8: The Checks
Season 8: The Chicken Roaster
Season 8: The Abstinence
Season 8: The Money
Season 8: The Van Buren Boys
Season 8: The Yada Yada
Season 8: The Millennium
Season 8: The Muffin Tops
Season 9: The Butter Shave
Season 9: The Voice
Season 9: The Serenity Now
Season 9: The Blood
Season 9: The Slicer
Season 9: The Apology
Season 9: The Reverse Peephole
Season 9: The Wizard

And the Finale: I'm not a fan of the first part, but I think trial itself is quite good. It was a way to "get the band back together," showcasing the incredible depth of recurring and guest characters that were featured during the course of the show. The only thing I would change from the trial is, instead of being sent to prison, they should have been given house arrest in the custody of their parents, until such time as they grew up.

[Crusinforabrusin]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Well, 51. I've been watching the complete series this year, and I think there are three groups of what could be called clunkers:

First, the first six seasons (108 episodes, not counting the clip show) are extraordinarily good and consistent. They started off interesting, and then developed to very funny. There's only seven that I think range from not good to awful. A lot of them have a static quality, a lack of movement:

Season 1: Male Unbonding
Season 2: The Baby Shower
Season 2: The Chinese Restaurant
Season 3: The Parking Garage
Season 3: The Parking Space
Season 6: The Diplomat's Club
Season 6: The Understudy

Things change pretty radically in Season 7. I've seen an interview, I think in the DVD set, where Seinfeld or David are talking about the writing process on the show, and how they'd have the junior writers pitch little story lines to them, which they'd okay to be developed as parts of scripts. Beginning in Season 7, it seems like this process ran out of control. Most episodes become collections of disjointed stories, with two or more resolving by crashing together at the end. When the stories were good, they were great, but the episodes could be sunk by one or two bad threads. I think that these ones qualify as bad episodes:

Season 7: The Bottle Deposit (Parts 1 and 2)
Season 7: The Seven
Season 7: The Doll
Season 8: The Foundation
Season 8: The Soul Mate
Season 8: The Fatigues
Season 8: The Little Jerry
Season 8: The Comeback
Season 8: The Pothole
Season 8: The Nap
Season 9: The Junk Mail
Season 9: The Dealership
Season 9: The Cartoon
Season 9: The Strong Box
Season 9: The Book Store
Season 9: The Frogger
Season 9: The Maid
Season 9: The Puerto Rican Day

These ones, on the other hand, are okay seen in isolation, but become a little tedious because they're in a long run of very similar episodes, and the characters don't really get a full chance to engage the viewers:

Season 7: The Wink
Season 7: The Wig Master
Season 7: The Rye
Season 7: The Caddy
Season 7: The Cadillac (parts 1 and 2)
Season 7: The Wait Out
Season 7: The Invitations
Season 8: The Checks
Season 8: The Chicken Roaster
Season 8: The Abstinence
Season 8: The Money
Season 8: The Van Buren Boys
Season 8: The Yada Yada
Season 8: The Millennium
Season 8: The Muffin Tops
Season 9: The Butter Shave
Season 9: The Voice
Season 9: The Serenity Now
Season 9: The Blood
Season 9: The Slicer
Season 9: The Apology
Season 9: The Reverse Peephole
Season 9: The Wizard

And the Finale: I'm not a fan of the first part, but I think trial itself is quite good. It was a way to "get the band back together," showcasing the incredible depth of recurring and guest characters that were featured during the course of the show. The only thing I would change from the trial is, instead of being sent to prison, they should have been given house arrest in the custody of their parents, until such time as they grew up.

I like most episodes on your list. I enjoy them all to a certain extent. Here are examples of episodes I find bad:

The Dog- Not a strong plot and other than Jerry doing some physical comedy with the dog , its boring

The Betrayal- I don't like the backwards episode idea , nor did I find this even remotely interesting. I do not like the Indian theme in this show

The Trip- This one isn't so bad , but I don't like how Elaine is absent from the show.

The Finale- I'm not sure if I'm supposed to like or hate this episode. I like how most of the characters are all brought back for one final time (Notably absent was Jack Klampus , because the guy who played him was in a coma) , but that is not enough for me to enjoy this episode. Even though I don't really like it , I still find that its a good way to end one of the greatest shows in television history.