Power Ranking Every ‘Seinfeld’ Episode Where Jerry’s Apartment Isn’t Seen at All
It’s no surprise that most of Seinfeld takes place in Jerry’s pad. If you lived in a massive Manhattan apartment that defied the laws of physics, you’d never leave the house either.
Since Jerry is the center of the Seinfeld universe, the show’s epicenter in his abode. Sometimes, Jerry’s apartment number is listed as #411, other times it’s #3A, but whatever the address, whatever the furniture and whatever the physical properties of his little pocket dimension may be, all of the kookiest characters in New York are always drawn to Jerry’s place (I mean, Kramer practically spends more time in Jerry’s apartment than his own — or, at least, he eats more in Jerry’s kitchen than anywhere else). Well, except for in the 11 special Seinfeld episodes that are the only entries in the sitcom’s history in which the characters don’t spend a single on-screen moment inside Jerry’s apartment.
Here are those 11 apartment-less episodes in ascending order of entertainment value, starting with…
The Dealership
This one could have used a familiar setting, or at least change of scenery. Season Nine’s “The Dealership” takes place almost entirely in the car dealership where Jerry and George fail to buy a new car and a candy bar respectively. “The Dealership” is one of those late-season episodes that makes us understand why Jerry was ready to end his run.
The Movie
This is far from the only Seinfeld episode that features the main characters struggling to see a movie without dramatic complications, but it’s the first one to feature the fictional and elusive film Rochelle, Rochelle. As usual, the only member of the crew whose plans aren’t completely upended by the most comically mundane complications is Kramer, who has no trouble seeing Checkmate instead.
The Airport
Ironically, by the time Season Four’s “The Airport” aired, the cast was making so much money that any one of them would know exactly what they would be missing, should they ever find themselves stuck flying coach while their opportunistic friend lives it up in first class. Come to think of it, Julia Louis-Dreyfus probably didn’t have a ton of experience with the common person’s cabin in the first place. On a separate note, this episode is one of the many reasons why Kramer would definitely be among the inaugural members of the “No Fly List.”
The Trip (Part 2)
Though perhaps not as iconic as the first part of the Season Four premiere, “The Trip (Part 2)” does wrap up one of the more memorable multi-episode arcs as Kramer beats the charges and returns to the Big Apple unharmed. And thanks to Jerry and George, the real Smog Strangler had a similarly happy ending.
The Parking Garage
Public urination and prescient punchlines about Scientology punctuate the Season Three episode “The Parking Garage,” which is, sadly, one of the many Seinfeld plot lines that dates itself in the age of cell phones. Our thoughts go out to the goldfish who passed away while making this episode possible.
The Limo
It takes a special kind of stupid to mistake Jerry Seinfeld for a neo-Nazi. But then again, it takes a special kind of stupid to be a neo-Nazi. In “The Limo,” Jerry and George’s scheme to score a limo ride and free Knicks tickets backfires as soon as they understand exactly why the mysterious “O’Brien” required such a curious cavalcade.
The Merv Griffin Show
One of the rare episodes that took place more inside Kramer’s apartment rather than that of Jerry’s, Season Nine’s “The Merv Griffin Show” is one of the most ridiculous Kramer schemes in the show’s entire run. By the end of the episode, it’s hard to see where The Merv Griffin Show ends and Seinfeld begins.
The Pen
In addition to being one of the few episodes that doesn’t feature Jerry’s apartment, this is also the only storyline that doesn’t include George Costanza, a point of contention that caused Jason Alexander to threaten to leave the series if they ever excluded him again. “The Pen” doesn’t have Kramer, either, but Michael Richards would keep his anger pent up for another day.
The Subway
Season Three’s “The Subway” is among the most uniquely New York episodes in entirety of Seinfeld. The four core characters all have four very different and very engaging adventures, thanks to the New York Transit Authority. But as is often the case, George gets the short end of the stick as he’s stuck up by a seductive thief who literally takes the shirt off his back.
The Hamptons
“Boutros-Boutros Ghali!” Besides introducing “shrinkage” to the lexicon of every sitcom-watching man who has ever taken a chilly swim, the Season Five classic “The Hamptons” featured an ugly baby, an unusual doctor, a preposterously petty act of revenge and Kramer unintentionally violating an obscure law. Basically, it has everything a Seinfeld episode should contain.
The Chinese Restaurant
The second episode on this list to not feature Cosmo Kramer and, by some evaluations, the greatest episode of Seinfeld ever, Season Two’s “The Chinese Restaurant” comes the closest to earning the oft-misattributed label of “a show about nothing” as Seinfeld mines historically superb comedy from the mundanity of failing to find a table at a restaurant. This is the best entry on the list that didn’t contain a single scene in Jerry’s apartment, and it’s the absolute zenith of sitcom bottle episodes.
