November 18, 1992: "Seinfeld" Airs the Episode "The Contest"

Top: Michael Richards (left) and Jerry Seinfeld.

Bottom: Jason Alexander (left) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

November 18, 1992: The NBC sitcom Seinfeld airs its most famous (or infamous) episode, "The Contest."

Jerry Seinfeld (playing a fictionalized version of himself), his ex-girlfriend and still-friend Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and his across-the-hall neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) are having lunch at Monk's Café, near their apartments on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Jerry's longtime best friend, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), walks in, and confesses that, while visiting his parents in Queens, he used the bathroom, found a magazine with some pictures of beautiful women in it, and, how shall I put this... took matters into his own hands. And his mother caught him.

Why George would mention this while the others were eating, only he knew. But he said he would never do it again. The others don't believe him. Jerry says he can go longer without doing it than George. George says, "Care to make it interesting?" In other words, bet money on it. All four of them get in on it, although George, taking note that it's different for a woman, tells Elaine, "You gotta give us odds!" She offers to put up $150, to the $100 for the guys. ($100 then would be about $210 in 2022 money.)

Jerry had told Kramer, "You'll be out before we get the check!" Sure enough, Kramer is the first to plunk his money down on Jerry's kitchen counter, having seen a naked woman walking around in an apartment across the street from Jerry's. For Jerry, the situation is complicated by this, and also by the fact that he's dating a woman named Marla (played by a pre-Frasier Jane Leeves) who claims to be a virgin. It's never stated whether actually having sex violates the term of the agreement.

In George's case, the situation is complicated by the fact that, after she saw him doing it, his mother was so shocked that she fell, hurt her back, had to be hospitalized, and was given a room alongside a younger woman, who received a daily sponge-bath from a nice-looking nurse. George could only see the silhouettes through a curtain, but he couldn't take his eyes off them.

(This would be lampooned 3 months later, in "The Outing," when a reporter mistakenly believed that Jerry and George were a gay couple, George's mother saw the story in the newspaper, threw her back out again, and, this time, in the bed next-door, there was a buff young man getting a sponge-bath from a buff young male nurse. Again, George could only see the silhouettes through a curtain, but it was bad enough.)

In Elaine's case, the situation is complicated by the fact that John F. Kennedy Jr. is working out at the same gym she goes to. And complicated further by the fact that they start dating, and that JFK Jr. had a reputation for womanizing similar to that of his father. (The actor playing him is not credited, and his face is not shown.)

But, other than Kramer, they all claim that they haven't "caved." The expression "Master of Your Domain" was entered into the American pop-culture lexicon. At Monk's, George claims, "I am King of the County," Jerry claims, "Lord of the Manor," and Elaine claims, "I'm Queen of the Castle."

Well, Elaine caves next, and Jerry says, "Oh, my God, the Queen is dead! I thought you'd make it at least into the Spring!" And one thing leads to another, and, as the show so often did, the strings of the plots run together. Marla is about to let Jerry have sex with her, and he tells her she has no idea of what a relief this is, and that proves to be a mistake, because he has to tell her why. She leaves him, and as she walks out of the building, she runs into JFK Jr., who has gotten tired of waiting for Elaine (who had told him that was her building, which it wasn't), and they end up in bed.

Oddly, the episode ends without revealing whether Jerry or George won. The implication is that, after watching the naked woman across the street together, George went home, and he and Jerry "caved" at the same time. Ten months later, the episode "The Puffy Shirt" aired, and George claimed to have won The Contest. But in the show's finale, when everybody thinks the plane is going to crash, George doesn't want it on his conscience anymore, and confesses to Jerry: "I cheated in The Contest!"

It should be noted that this episode and the 1996 episode "The Abstinence" can't both be canon. In the latter episode, George says, "I can do six weeks while standing on my head. I'm like a sexual camel." Furthermore, in that episode, not getting any action, even on his own, made George stop thinking about sex, and allowed his true brainpower to flourish, and made him smarter almost immediately. In "The Contest," George was just as dumb, and just as obsessed with sex, in the first couple of days. Unless, of course, he had already "cheated."

"The Contest" is one of several "Seinfeld" episodes that’s hard to watch now -- but not, in this case, because of the subject matter. Rather, it's because John F. Kennedy Jr. is a character in it, and he died young, a little more than a year after the show's finale.

*

November 18, 1992 was a Wednesday. This was also the day that DC Comics released Superman #75, featuring the story "The Death of Superman." I have a separate entry for this event. The fact that Jerry Seinfeld is a major Superman fan, with a Superman magnet visible on his refrigerator and other memorabilia in his apartment, makes it even weirder.

Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. But there were 3 games played in the NBA. The Orlando Magic beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 120-110 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics, 92-91 at the Boston Garden. The Phoenix Suns beat the Sacramento Kings, 127-111 at the new AmericaWest Arena. (It's now named the Mortgage Matchup Center.)

There were 4 games played in the NHL. The New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. Valeri Zelepukin, Tom Chorske and Alexander Semak scored the goals for New Jersey.

The Minnesota North Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 5-4 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The Hartford Whalers beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Hartford Civic Center. (It's now named the PeoplesBank Arena.) The Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

None of these games held a moment of silence in memory of Superman before they started. 

July 5, 1989: "Seinfeld" Premieres

Still photo from The Seinfeld Chronicles

July 5, 1989: The Seinfeld Chronicles premieres on NBC. New York-based comedian Jerry Seinfeld plays New York-based comedian Jerry Seinfeld -- essentially, a version of himself that hasn't yet made it big.

Jerry created the series with his friend Larry David, a former writer for Saturday Night Live. The character of George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, is based on David. Seinfeld and David co-wrote the pilot episode, which was directed by Art Wolff.

The episode begins with Jerry and George having lunch at Pete's Luncheonette. One of the waitresses, Claire (Lee Garlington), is a friend of theirs. Jerry tells George about a woman named Laura (Pamela Brull), whom he met doing a comedy show in Lansing, Michigan. She had called him, and told him she was coming to New York, and asked if she could stay overnight at his apartment. But Jerry still isn't sure whether she has sex in mind. It turns out, she's engaged, and just wants the apartment to stay in.

It's not a good episode. By itself, it shouldn't have led to a regular series. Neither Jerry nor George nor Claire is especially interesting, or even all that funny. Nor is Jerry's across-the-hall neighbor, Kessler (Michael Richards), whose first name is not revealed.

And yet, the pilot got better reviews than I just gave it. NBC still believed in Seinfeld and David. So some retooling was in order. When the show next aired, with "The Stake Out," nearly 11 months later, on May 31, 1990, the name of the show was simply Seinfeld; the female lead was now Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, an ex-girlfriend of Jerry who stayed friends with him; Richards' character became Kramer, with a different personality; and the lunch spot became Monk's Cafe, with a different set.

Elaine was based on Carol Leifer, a comedian that Jerry had dated, who went on to write for the show. Kramer, who took until 1996 to receive the first name Cosmo, was based on Kenny Kramer, a friend of David's.

The show still took until a 2nd season, in 1991, to catch on with the public. But by the end of that calendar year, the middle of the show's 3rd season, it became the most popular show on TV and a cultural phenomenon. It lasted 9 seasons, until May 14, 1998 -- although it probably should have wrapped up at least 2 seasons sooner.

Garlington and Brull are both still alive, but neither ever appeared on Seinfeld again. Garlington is still acting, while Brull's last credit was in 1996.

*

July 5, 1989 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played on that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-0 at Yankee Stadium. Andy Hawkins pitched a 5-hit shutout. He had more run support than he would have in his "no-hitter" a year to the week later: Luis Polonia hit a home run, and both he and Steve Sax went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4, although he did draw a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Keith Hernandez did not appear in this game.

Early on in the show, it seemed like both Jerry and George were Met fans. In a 1992 episode in which Hernandez guest-starred as himself, it also seemed like Kramer and Newman were Met fans. (In the real June 14, 1987 game, the Mets were in Pittsburgh, they beat the Pirates, and Hernandez was more hero than goat.) Later episodes definitively showed that George and Kramer were Yankee Fans. Newman was shown having fallen asleep while watching a Yankee game, so his fandom is still not clear.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. 

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4. It was later established that Elaine was from Towson, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, and was an Orioles fan. The winning run was scored in the bottom of the 10th inning, by Steve Jeltz on a passed ball by Reds catcher Jeff Reed, on a pitch thrown by John Franco (a future Met, who would be name-dropped on a 1992 Seinfeld episode), with Von Hayes at bat.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4 with the Dodgers.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 12-9 at the Oakland Coliseum. George Brett went 2-for-6 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Bo Jackson went 3-for-6 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base. Mark McGwire went 2-for-5 with a home run, 2 walks and 5 RBIs.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

May 14, 1998: The Finale of "Seinfeld" Is So Bad, Frank Sinatra Dies

May 14, 1998: The final episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC. It was terrible.

Perhaps we should have seen it coming. Just a week earlier, the show aired its next-to-last episode, "The Puerto Rican Day Parade." Between the writing, the stereotyping, and the sight of Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) accidentally burning, and then purposely stomping, a Puerto Rican flag, this episode was so offensive, NBC actually issued an apology for it, and dropped it from the repeat schedule.

The night before the Seinfeld finale, on his ABC talk show at the time, Politically Incorrect, Bill Maher asked his panel what NBC should do if, 3 minutes into the finale, they get the word that O.J. Simpson has killed again. Should they break into coverage, and handle that instead of showing the finale? The panel all agreed: Yes.

The finale was a disaster. Both in-universe and out. Face it: Any competent lawyer would have explained that the camcorder recorded a crime, providing evidence of it, meaning that "The New York Four" were doing the local police's job for them.

Furthermore, none of those "character witnesses" -- from former restaurateurs Babu Bhat and Yev Kassem, a.k.a. the Soup Nazi, to baseball legend Keith Hernandez and the parents of George's late fiancée, Susan Ross -- were relevant to the case, so Judge Art Vandelay should have told the jury to disregard their testimony completely. The case should have been dismissed.

And if the writers were on their game, they wouldn't have just shown Newman laughing so hard at the verdict that he choked on his popcorn, they would have shown him actually choking, and then, Jerry would have saved him. This would have shown the judge that these people weren't so bad, and he should have vacated the verdict.

I recently saw an article where actual former prisoners were asked how long each of the characters would have lasted in prison. They seemed to agree: Jerry and George would have been killed quickly. Elaine was tough enough that she might have lasted a little longer, until she angered the wrong inmate. But Kramer would have won them over.

I'm not so sure: I think that, as in "The Contest," Kramer would have been the 1st one out.

*

Well, O.J. Simpson didn't commit another murder that night -- that we know of. But there was something big happening that night, although it wasn’t revealed until the next morning: Frank Sinatra had died.

The singer and actor known as "The Voice," "Ol' Blue Eyes" and "The Chairman of the Board," the biggest pop-culture star of the World War II generation, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 82, and had several health issues. So his death had nothing to do with seeing the Seinfeld finale.

Only his 4th and last wife, Barbara – "Lady Blue Eyes," she liked to call herself – was at his side at the end. She told him to keep fighting. She said that his last words were, "I'm losing."

Barbara and Frank. One of the last photos of the Chairman of the Board.

But also among his final words were, "Where are my children?" His daughter Tina, a television producer, believes that Barbara purposely did not tell her, daughter Nancy, and son Frank Jr. (who became singers in their own right) that this was it, so that only she could be by his side at the end.

He is buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, not far from Palm Springs, where he made his final home. His epitaph is the title of the last song he sang in public: "The Best Is Yet to Come."

Also buried there: Actors Dorothy Arnold (Joe DiMaggio's 1st wife), Brad Dexter of The Magnificent Seven, Cameron Mitchell, Patrick Macnee and Howard Hesseman; singers Betty Hutton and Sonny Bono; songwriters Frederick Loewe, Hugo Montenegro, and Sinatra's close friend and frequent collaborator Jimmy Van Heusen; and baseball star Pete Reiser, who had starred in the 1940s, despite an unceasing array of injuries, for Sinatra's favorite team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. Like comic actor Danny Kaye, Sinatra went to Los Angeles before the Dodgers did, and can't be faulted for staying a fan of theirs.

Barbara followed Frank in 2017. Frank Jr. died in 2016. As of May 14, 2022, Nancy and Tina are still alive.

*

May 14, 1998 was a Thursday. Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were between the Conference Semifinals and Finals. There were 2 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal, completing a 4-game sweep. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. The Wings went on to win the Cup for the 2nd straight season.

And these Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 7-5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees led 5-0 going into the 8th inning, but Hideki Irabu's shutout was ruined by a combined meltdown of Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera, before Rusty Greer hit a home run off Willie Banks in the top of the 13th inning. Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Chad Curtis, Jorge Posada and Scott Brosius each had 2 hits, and Curtis hit a home run, but it wasn't enough.

* The New York Mets got swept in a doubleheader by the San Diego Padres, 3-1 and 6-2 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Over the 2 games, Tony Gwynn went 3-for-8 with a home run and 5 RBIs.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Jim Thome and Travis Fryman hit home runs. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Anaheim Angels, 5-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 11-8 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen bases.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-5, but did not hit a home run. He had 15 on the season.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Pat Meares singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit his 15th home run of the season.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 7-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-7 at Coors Field in Denver. Mark Grace hit 2 home runs. Sammy Sosa didn't hit any. He had 7 at that point, and nobody had any idea that he was going to battle McGwire for Roger Maris' home run record.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-1 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mark Portugal pitched shutout ball for 8 innings, with Mark Leiter finishing the 2-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants swept the Montreal Expos, 6-1 and 2-0 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco. Barry Bonds hit a home run in the opener. Danny Darwin pitched shutout ball for 8 innings in the nightcap, with Robb Nen finishing the 4-hit shutout.