The Oral History of Seinfeld’s ‘The Contest’

[TMC]

http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/seinf...rry-david.html

Twenty-five years ago, on November 18, 1992, the quintessential episode of the quintessential New York sitcom, Seinfeld, aired on NBC for the first time. That episode was called “The Contest,” and pitted its four principal characters, Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Kramer (Michael Richards), against each other in a battle of wills to see who could abstain from masturbating for the longest period of time. Famously, the bet and its ramifications were discussed extensively throughout the half hour, without the word masturbation ever being uttered.

It is a significant episode in the show’s history for numerous reasons, including the fact that it won an Emmy Award for its writing, by Larry David; a Directors Guild of America award for its directing, by Tom Cherones; and was the buzziest episode in the only season of Seinfeld that ever received an Emmy for outstanding comedy series. It’s also the first episode to feature Estelle Harris as Estelle Costanza, George’s mother, a role that would become more prominent in subsequent episodes and prompt Jerry Stiller to join the cast as George’s father, Frank.

More importantly, it was the episode that got people really talking about Seinfeld. Suddenly, this was becoming a show you had to see if you wanted to get the jokes your co-workers were repeating in the break room the next morning. The first time “The Contest” aired, it was viewed by 18.5 million people, according to Nielsen. When it was rerun on April 29, 1993, with the series having moved to its new post-Cheers Thursday night time slot, 28.8 million people tuned in, making it the third-most-watched program in America that week.

And it all started with George Costanza’s ill-advised decision to pick up a Glamour magazine while he was at his parents’ house. Actually, no: Technically it all started when Larry David made a bet while living in New York in the 1980s and proved he was master of his domain.

[mets82]

That was a funny episode.

What did you guys think of when George threw the Tic-Tacs to his mother in The Hospital Bed?