Seinfeld The Stakeout (1989–1998) Online

1989–1998 Jerry Seinfeld Julia Louis-Dreyfus Michael Richards Tom Cherones

Original Title :: The Stakeout
Genre :: TV Episode / Comedy
Year :: 1989–1998
Directror :: Tom Cherones
Cast :: Jerry Seinfeld,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Michael Richards
Writer :: Larry David,Jerry Seinfeld
Type :: TV Episode
Time :: 23min
Rating :: 7.7/10

Seinfeld The Stakeout (1989–1998) Online

Elaine drags Jerry to a birthday dinner for one of her friends where he meets an attractive woman. He promptly forgets her name and refuses to ask Elaine who she is but remembers where she works. Jerry's parents are in town to go to a family wedding and his Dad suggests he stake-out the lobby around lunchtime. George tags along but they can't quite seem to get their stories straight. Elaine hears about it making them both uncomfortable.

Episode complete credited cast:
	Jerry Seinfeld	-	Jerry Seinfeld
	Julia Louis-Dreyfus	-	Elaine Benes
	Michael Richards	-	Cosmo Kramer
	Jason Alexander	-	George Costanza
	Lynn Clark	-	Vanessa
	Philip Bruns	-	Dad (as Phil Bruns)
	Liz Sheridan	-	Mom
	Maud Winchester	-	Pamela
	William Fair	-	Roger
	Ron Steelman	-	Artie
	Joe George	-	Uncle Mac
	Ellen Gerstein	-	Carol
	Janet Rotblatt	-	Woman

This is the first appearance of Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine. Although this is the second episode to air, it was the third episode to be produced. It was decided that it should air second because it provided background information about Elaine and her relationship with Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld).

This episode contains the first mention of George's (Jason Alexander) favorite alias/fictional name "Art Vandelay".

Philip Sterling was originally cast as Jerry's father, Morty, but was replaced with Philip Bruns. Bruns was later replaced in the second season by Barney Martin because it was decided the character should be more cranky. When the show went into syndication, Larry David wanted to reshoot Bruns's scenes with Martin but decided against the idea because the differences in the cast's ages would be noticeable.

The plot is based on a real life experience of Larry David. The names of the people in the the law firm "Sagman, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft" are friends David made at college.

This is the first episode in which George (Jason Alexander) displays his tendency for pretending to be an architect.

Jerry's (Jerry Seinfeld) apartment is set up as a studio, and Jerry refers to the fold out bed as his bed. The door to Jerry's bedroom does not appear until Season 2. In Season 1, there is just a blank wall next to the bookshelf in the bathroom hallway.

WHERE'S NORMAN COUNTER: #1-Tall man entering the elevator. The actor Norman Brenner for 9 years worked as Michael Richards' stand-in. So, besides the main cast, Brenner has probably appeared in more shows than anyone else.

The adult video Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hold while discussing pornography ("He's a public fornicator") appears to be titled Emerald Dimples, which is a real video released in 1985 according to Internet Adult Film Database.

In this episode Jerry's (Jerry Seinfeld) parents are at his house and he tells them that this is the first time Elaine as seen him flirt with another girl before and was feeling a bit awkward to ask her for the girls number. This indicates that Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Jerry are not dating but in "The Pen" Jerry's parents think that Elaine and Jerry are still dating when they arrive at their condo in Florida.

ELAINE'S (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) BOYFRIEND COUNTER: #1-Unnamed Stock Broker.

JERRY'S (Jerry Seinfeld)GIRLFRIEND COUNTER: #2-Vanessa (Lynn Clark).

Elaine was not in the pilot "The Seinfeld Chronicles"; so this is her first appearance. The character was added after the pilot was criticized for not featuring any female characters. Her name was originally Eileen.

KRAMER'S (Michael Richards) ENTRANCE COUNTER: #5.

This episode was nominated for a Writers Guild Award in 1991.

Champagne Video, the video store in this episode, is shown again in episode 4.21, Seinfeld: The Smelly Car (1993).

The show was nominated for the 2004 TV Land Award for Favourite Instrumental Theme Song.

Monk's was nominated for the 2004 TV Land Award for Favourite Greasy Spoon, and, for the 2006 TV Land Award for Most Happening Greasy Spoon Or Hangout.

This is the first episode of the series to show a car scene.

Disc one of the box set contains an error for this episode in the Notes About Seinfeld feature. It's noted that John Mellencamp dropped the "Cougar" from his name in the mid-1980s. This is false - he drop it until 1981 to coincide with the release of his album "Whenever We Wanted."

In an early draft of the script, Morty was named "Leon" and Helen was referred to as "Mother".

The law firm of Sagman, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft was named after four of Larry David's friends from college.

The famous Seinfeld fictions (George's (Jason Alexander) pseudo career as an architect, the fictional importer and exporter, and the fictional Art Vandelay) are introduced in this episode.

The fold-out sofa-bed Jerry's (Jerry Seinfeld) parents sleep on in this episode is replaced by a non-fold out sofa in season six's Seinfeld: The Couch (1994). Jerry states that he especially liked that it doesn't fold out as it helps prevent people staying over.

The fictional importer/exporter Art Vandelay is used again in episode 7.14, Seinfeld: The Cadillac (1996), to create an alibi for George (Jason Alexander) for when he meets Marisa Tomei.

When George suggests the name "Bert Harbinson," Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) replies that it "sounds made up." In episode 9.12, Seinfeld: The Reverse Peephole (1998), Kramer (Michael Richards) says the same thing about "Joe Mayo," a real person.

For some reason, the intercom that Jerry uses to buzz people into his building isn't on the wall next to the front door. However, it appears in the following episode, "The Robbery." or it is likely that when Jerry moved in he hadn't installed it yet.

User reviews

Gagas

The Stakeout can be considered the proper start of Seinfeld, as the pilot had no Elaine and the other characters, bar Jerry, weren't that well defined, and boy, does it deliver: while most shows, especially sitcoms, improve in later seasons (even cult phenomenon Happy Days had a few sub-par moments in its first year), the series "about nothing" started superbly and never lost its edge over the course of 175 episodes.

This is the episode where Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) makes her first appearance, and in true Seinfeld fashion her debut doesn't go unnoticed: she and Jerry have a nice chat in a video store, discussing whether they should go to a dinner and telling a "dirty" joke that was pretty bold for 1991 (the stand-up comedian imagines a porn star's father referring to his son as a "public fornicator"). Subsequently, Jerry goes home to find his parents using his couch as a bed (priceless) and then attends the aforementioned dinner, where he meets a woman he is quite attracted to ("Do you date immature men?" "Almost exclusively"). Regrettably, he doesn't remember her name (Vanessa), nor did he ask for her phone number. All he remembers is the name of the law firm where she works (Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft - try forgetting THAT!), meaning he and George have to wait for her outside the building pretending they popped up by chance.

Taking everything that made The Seinfeld Chronicles excellent and fine-tuning it, Larry David and the protagonist define the formula that would make the series immortal: brilliant dialogue about rubbish topics (women using cheques), Jerry's monologues between one scene and the next, and one key moment for each cast member. In the case of this episode, the highlights are the bits featuring Kramer and George: the former shows up to play scrabble with Helen and Morty Seinfeld and invents the word "quone" (as in "to quone something"), while the latter, having to make up an excuse for him and Jerry being outside Vanessa's office, spawns one of the show's best recurring gags ("Art Vandelay. I'm an architect").

In short, The Stakeout is a quintessential Seinfeld episode: clever, well-written and, most of all, endlessly funny. A classic.

Wire

Jerry and Elaine have recently broken up and have a platonic relationship. Jerry agrees to go to a friend's birthday party of Elaine's in exchange for accompanying him to a wedding. During the birthday party for Pamela, Jerry gets wrapped up in a conversation with a beautiful woman that he's very attracted too. They hit it off briefly before Elaine cuts them off to tell Jerry about a weird dream about wooden teeth. Jerry is embarrassed by it all and Elainesenses it, causing her to be very annoyed. Jerry doesn't manage to get much information from the woman. Jerry's parents are in town, staying at his apartment for the wedding. He refuses to ask Elaine who she is and gets advice from his dad. He claims Jerry should stake out the lobby of her work place and pretend he "bumped" into her. With the help of George, Jerry and George manage to conjure up a grand scheme and successfully get not only her name (Vanessa) , but Jerry gets a date as well. Elaine manages to find out about it all and things get very uncomfortable

This is a little slow and green compared to the classics you would see as the seasons went along, but it's still a very memorable episode that I always enjoy. It has many things that are noteworthy. George's desire to be an architect commences, along with the "Art Vandelay" that he would use on a few occasions during this show when he lies about something. These shows were much more realistic, albeit less entertaining than how outrageous and outlandish the episodes would become in later seasons. That's not to say I don't enjoy them, because I really do. This is the first appearance of Jerry's parents, but it would be the last of Phillip Bruns as the Dad. Barney Martin took over shortly after this and rightfully so. Nothing against Phillip Bruns, but Barney Martin is Jerry's dad. Phillip did a good job though. This is NOT Elaine's first episodes. Male Unbonding was filmed before this, but The Stakeout aired before this. Male Unbonding is when Elaine first appeared. Uncle Mac would be replaced by Uncle Leo. Joe George is rather bland as Uncle Mac. This episode is very entertaining for a number of reasons. Many things about the "Ex" storyline that Jerry and Elaine have going on rang true. It's not very often you see exes remain friends with each other. It doesn't usually work out. Jerry worried about stalking Vanessa at her workplace was great as well. You know you wanna see this woman again, but don't wanna come across as a creeper. Jerry's actions were completely real and understandable. If you're new to this show, it's a good episode to watch for history behind Jerry and Elaine's friendship.

Additional notes.

Jerry's inner monologue is hilarious

Vanessa would appear once more in The Stock Tip, which is a shame. I liked her

8.3/10

Andromajurus

"The Stakeout" mostly works in spite of some inherent issues that are largely absent when the show really hits its stride. It's still very early days for Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and as such, and also given the less prestigious state of television at the time, they are excused. Unlike the pilot which lacked any clear sense of being a Seinfeld episode, this certainly bears some clear traces of what would become one of the great television series.

The issues with "The Stakeout" are some scenes of bogged down pacing and mildly lethargic dialogue, uncharacteristic of the typically witty and fast-whipped dialogue that define future Seinfeld, as well as the poor utilization of storytelling. George is not introduced in this episode up until the halfway mark at best and Kramer once again has next to nothing to do in this episode which is a little disappointing. While introducing Jerry's parents is a nice touch that helps the audience better understand his character during the early days, Seinfeld and David use Morty (played here by Philip Bruns and not Barney Martin) in the role that George would prove to be a far better fit as Jerry's conspirator and confidante and so it limits George's presence and impact in this episode. I find it a little unfortunate since George has the episode's biggest laughs and perhaps the only truly earned laughs up to this point in the show.

It is fantastic to see 'importer-exporter' and 'Art Vanderlely' make their entry into Seinfeld's vernacular this early into the show, both of which need no explanation to any long term fan of Seinfeld. To see these terms coined here and to see the writers employ continuity throughout the show is fantastic, for a show that largely ignores serialized storytelling (with the notable exceptions of seasons four and seven).

Seinfeld as a show also is not known for drama since Larry David had a famous "no hugs, no lessons learned" notice hanging in the staff offices in later seasons and while there are no hugs, there is something of a lesson learned between Jerry and Elaine, who makes her much needed entry into the show here. They're introduced as people who used to date and now engage in a friendship though Elaine is quick to spark signs of jealousy when Jerry shows interest in another girl. The episode certainly seems interested to ride the drama between the characters which is where I find the episode mostly suffers a little. By the end of the episode, they vow to a more productive and supportive friendship where they look beyond their history together. Once again, Seinfeld is beginning to establish itself more as the show it would become.

The best scene is the titular stakeout in the episode where Jerry and George stakeout the lobby of the law firm that the girl Jerry earlier shows an interest in works at. While they wait, they discuss their alibis of sorts which delightfully reminded me of the two parter from the seventh season, "The Cadillac", where Elaine and George must manufacture alibis for Susan. Nonetheless, the stakeout is truly funny and George immediately shows some of his more true character, such as the great little detail of his interest in architecture.

"The Stakeout" works in short. There are some notable issues I find, largely that some of the scenes lack that zip that makes Seinfeld so enjoyable to watch when it is at its best but that's to be expected here. There's also some poor utilization of the mechanism of storytelling and as I pointed out, this is most notable in just how long it takes for George to be introduced. There's also some actual laughs and a decent and Seinfeld-esque plot even if it does ultimately feel a little underwhelming. The attempts at drama hurt the episode and do not quite fit the show's now infamous descriptor as "the show about nothing" since it is about breakups and the complications that can arise from platonic relationships. Otherwise, this is a solid episode and a step up from its predecessor.

Querlaca

JERRY's monologue: There's something about a cheque that, to a man, is not masculine. I don't know exactly what it is... I think to a man, a cheque is like a note from your mother that says ''I don't have any money, but if you'll contact these people, I'm sure they'll stick up for me... If you just trust me this one time I don't have any money but I have these... I wrote on these; is this of any value at all?'' _______________________

JERRY: (To Vanessa) So, you're a lawyer... VANESSA: Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft. JERRY: (To himself, quickly) Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft. Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim and Taft...

_______________________

JERRY: "Quone"? No, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to challenge that. HELEN: ...32... KRAMER: No, you don't have to challenge that. That's a word. That's a *definite* word. JERRY: I am challenging... KRAMER: Quone: to quone something.

_______________________

ELAINE: Couldn't agree more. JERRY: Good. ELAINE: Good. JERRY: Good. ELAINE: Great! JERRY: Great? Where do you get "great"?

INwhite

In this episode of "Seinfeld", Jerry meets a woman at a dinner party that Elaine brought him to. Jerry immediately likes her, but when he doesn't get his name, he resorts to staking out the lobby of her law firm because he doesn't want to ask Elaine for her number. Jerry's parents also come to visit - they give him advice on women, and Jerry plays scrabble with his mother. This is a funny enough episode. George pretends to be an architect. Really, it is the show about nothing, but it's absolutely brilliant when it comes to the writing.

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Seinfeld The Stakeout (1989–1998) Online

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