Top 20 Funniest Seinfeld Running Gags
#20: Elaine’s Dancing
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No one moves quite like Elaine on the dance floor and that’s probably for the better. When throwing a company party, she decides to get things started on the dance floor much to everyone’s excitement. That of course changes once she breaks out those little kicks. No one can quite believe what they’re seeing. When George tells Jerry about what happened, Jerry reveals he’s known about her abilities for some time. This isn’t the only Elaine has busted a move. In another instance while folding laundry and blasting music, she moves her body. It’s incredibly awkward and cringe inducing to watch but that’s what makes it so memorable.
#19: Superman
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It’s well known that Jerry Seinfeld is a fan of the Last Son of Krypton and the character is present in one form or another throughout most of the show’s episodes. References to the Man of Steel brought some hilarious moments. In season one George and Jerry discuss whether or not Superman has a sense of humor. Ideas from the comics such Bizarro World are further incorporated into the series when Elaine encounters opposites of Jerry, George and Kramer. Unlike our main trio, the Bizarro versions are kind and considerate. Perhaps the most notable nod to Supes is when Jerry dates a girl named Lois and is goaded into racing his archrival. Of course the Superman theme plays and Jerry is triumphant.
#18: Jerry Doesn’t Wanna
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Maybe one day the pirate look will be in vogue but Jerry wasn’t having it when he had to wear a puffy shirt. The whole fashion faux pas was the result of Jerry agreeing to wear a shirt designed by Kramer’s girlfriend Leslie on the “Today Show”. The problem is that she’s a low talker, so Jerry didn’t realize what he was agreeing to wear. Kramer proclaims Jerry’s gonna be the first pirate and he hilariously responds with, “I don’t wanna be a pirate”. His petulant response would come back in other episodes such when he didn’t wanna be a cowboy or when he didn’t wanna be Switzerland for Kramer and Newman’s game of Risk.
#17: Bob Sacamano
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For an unseen character, he certainly has had an impact on the show resulting in hilarious consequences for our main gang. We’re not quite sure what to make of Bob Sacamano but what we do know is he’s apparently Kramer’s friend and he leads a bizarre and interesting life. In one of his early mentions, Kramer receives a bunch of condoms from Sacamano that turn out to be defective. Unfortunately, George used one prior resulting in a pregnancy scare. Jerry befriends Sacamano when he and Kramer swap apartments. Sacamano at one point sells fake Russian hats in Battery Park that end up being poorly made resulting in Elaine nearly getting fired and a Kenny Rogers Roasters shutting down.
#16: Is It Lupus?
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It’s fair to say George is neurotic and one way this trait is displayed is that he’s constantly worried about his health despite not being highly motivated to take care of himself. One particular disease he’s afraid of contracting is lupus, something he’s not very likely to get. In another instance he thinks he’s having a heart attack and he later goes to a healer only to turn purple as a result. When he’s working on the pilot for “Jerry” he almost has a complete breakdown over a slight discoloration on his lip. He loses it when he’s told the results of the biopsy are negative despite that being a favorable diagnosis. His overreactions to these situations leave us in stitches.
#15: We’re Living in a Society
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In a landmark episode for the series Jerry, Elaine and George find themselves waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant. As they wait George desperately needs to use the pay phone to contact his girlfriend, Tatiana. After patiently waiting for the phone to free up, a woman swoops in just before George can get to it. His dejected proclamation of how people are supposed to act in society just kills us. This isn’t the only time George has hilariously been disillusioned with social order. When picking up Jerry at the airport, he asks a stranger for the time but is rebuffed causing him to again utter the phrase.
#14: George’s Eating Habits
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We get it, we love food but George is on another level. We’re talking about someone who successfully incorporated food into his love making. Of course, that’s just one extreme end of the spectrum. The way he eats is ravenous and messy. What’s funny is that George is called out multiple times for his habits. At a tennis match he’s caught on camera eating ice cream in the messiest way. In another instance he’s insulted by a co-worker for scarfing down shrimp at a meeting, spurring him to find the ultimate comeback. He’s also fine with taking food from the trash, although we can’t really blame him for not wanting food to go to waste.
#13: That’s a Shame
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For his part, Jerry is pretty even tempered. He can sometimes get excited but he frequently has a nonchalant response to some of the unfortunate situations his friends find themselves in. In one instance George reveals that his plan to find out if his girlfriend has an eating disorder goes awry and when he tells Jerry his response is “That’s a shame”. It really highlights Jerry’s indifference as a character but also the show’s ethos of not displaying any emotional growth or learning moments. Even funnier is that this gag extends to other characters who also display the same dismissive behavior.
#12: Words Are Important
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A robust vocabulary is advantageous to have but characters on the show often either misuse or mispronounce words. This ends up creating some pretty funny scenarios due to misunderstandings. When talking to Jerry, Kramer brings up the term, ‘statue of limitations’. Jerry corrects him but he defers to Elaine who’s trying to write an IQ test for George. Perhaps the most iconic moment is George playing Trivial Pursuit against the Bubble Boy. When asked who invaded Spain in the 8th century, the Bubble Boy replies the Moors but the card reads ‘Moops’. George’s insistence that the card is correct leads to escalating conflict and the situation even more absurd and has us laughing even harder.
#11: George’s Lies
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Truthfully, there’s probably no one more dishonest than George Constanza on “Seinfeld”. We don’t condone lying but his neuroticism, deep seated need to be liked, and wanting to control how he’s viewed creates some pretty funny situations. The best example of this is George’s constant claim that he’s an architect. Sometimes it makes sense he fibs like when he’s threatened by the Van Buuren Boys and says he’s a former member to get out of the confrontation. The one thing we’ll say is that George is committed to his lies. When he tells the Ross’ he has a place in the Hamptons, when he doesn’t. He drives them to the end of Long Island when they ask to see it. Now that’s dedication.
#10: Who is This?
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Simple yet effective is perhaps the best way to describe this classic running gag from everyone’s favorite show about nothing. The joke worked like this: a member of the gang – usually George – would call Jerry in a frenzy, making an urgent and highly specific request that only Jerry would understand, and he’d reply by asking in a nonchalant manner, “who is this?” The gag works because of the juxtaposition between George’s desperate, often hysterical behavior and Jerry’s cool, calm, collected way of responding to it. Of course sometimes Jerry himself fell prey to the joke, but it always worked best when it was George on the other end of the line.
#9: Elaine and Puddy Breaking Up
David Puddy, often referred to simply as Puddy, was Elaine’s on-again-off-again boyfriend who first popped up in the Season 6 episode, “The Fusilli Jerry.” The running gag between these two was that they broke up and got back together so often it became totally meaningless to both of them. Of course they were never really “meant to be,” not with Puddy’s odd character traits (the face painting anyone?) or his laissez faire attitude toward their relationship, and Elaine’s seemingly never-ending list of turn-offs. The highlight of the gag came in Season 9 when Elaine and Puddy broke up, got back together, and then broke up again all on a single flight.
#8: Fake George Steinbrenner
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“Seinfeld” had a knack for incorporating caricatures of real people into the show to great comedic effect and Fake George Steinbrenner was the crowning achievement. Larry David provided Steinbrenner’s voice while actors Mitch Mitchell and Lee Bear acted as his physical stand-in (though his face was always obscured). The character made his first appearance in Season 5 and had a recurring role until George was traded from the Yankees to Tyler Chicken. Fake Steinbrenner was prone to outbursts of emotion, bad baseball decisions, and for flailing his arms in a ridiculous manner. The real George Steinbrenner was a fan of the show and even had a cameo in Season 7, though it ended up being cut.
#7: George Talking About Himself in Third Person
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“George is getting upset!” Such is the way George Costanza spoke at various points throughout “Seinfeld.” He picked up the habit after meeting Jimmy, a peculiar man who always referred to himself in the third person. George being George decided to try it out for himself. The gag just works, plain and simple. It is easily quotable and a whole lot of fun to try out on your friends. Just don’t do it too much because nobody likes a guy who only talks about himself.
#6: Kramer’s Business Ideas
The physical comedic force that was Cosmo Kramer was nothing if not a loveable goof. Of course when he wasn’t bursting through doors or talking about his many – seemingly nonexistent – friends, he was drumming up new and increasingly bizarre business ideas. From a pizza restaurant where you get to make your own pie, to the infamous “Peterman Reality Tour,” Kramer had an ostensibly never-ending list of ways to make money. Oh, and let’s not forget his coffee table book about coffee tables, which he almost pulled off in Season Five. Of course, it didn’t end well…
#5: George's Fake Jobs
Throughout “Seinfeld,” George held numerous jobs, from his time as a hand model to his years working with the Yankees. And yet, it’s the jobs that he claims to have held, but never actually did, that stand out the most. George at various points throughout the series claimed to be an importer / exporter, a marine biologist, a latex salesman, and an architect. Often times he would also assume the pseudonym Art Vandelay when discussing his pretend jobs. Of course the only thing better than watching George fumble through some half-assed lie about a job he just made up is watching him get fired from his real jobs, which happened quite often.
#4: Jerry Dumping Women Over Minor Flaws
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Jerry dated a lot of women, with the official number listed at 73. And yet, he somehow managed to torpedo every single relationship he was in. This was mainly due to his compulsion for seeking out flaws in the women he went out with, regardless of how small they might have been. Jerry broke up with a woman because she ate peas one at a time and broke up with another because she had “man hands.” Neurotic, fickle, and emotionally detached, Jerry wasn’t exactly boyfriend material.
#3: Get Out!
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The physical humor in “Seinfeld” was always top notch. And while most will point to Kramer as the best physical comedian of the bunch, it’s Elaine’s penchant for pushing people in a fit of excitement that remains one of the show’s most memorable gags. While the situations for when she doled out this peculiar push varied, it was always followed by the exclamation, “Get out!” Elaine was prone to moments of manic behavior, but none more enduring than this one. Nobody was immune to her physicality, as Elaine utilized the signature move on Jerry, Kramer, and George at one point or another.
#2: Hello, Newman
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It would happen every couple of episodes. Newman would bump into Jerry and the two would share the following exchange. Both men had their own way of saying hello, but the one similarity is that they’d both do it in a way that expressed their deep seated hatred for one another. Even Jerry’s mom would address Newman with contempt! The reason behind their dislike of one another was never revealed, but it hardly mattered. The pleasure of this gag came from its consistency and the fact that Newman was such a dastardly little weasel and Jerry was so utterly offended by his presence. And you thought you hated your neighbor!
#1: Kramer’s Crazy Entrances
Who’d have thought that the way Kramer entered Jerry’s apartment would become the most memorable gag? Throughout the show’s 180 episode run, Kramer found increasingly bonkers ways to fly through his neighbor’s door: he slide in, he fell in, he came in with his hands full, he came in bandages, he came in smoking cigars; hell, once he even came through the door holding a still-ongoing game of risk. And every time he did, the audience went nuts. You know you have one of the best jokes in sitcom history when people are still laughing nine seasons later. Just one last thing… did Jerry ever lock his door?
