The Ultimate 'Seinfeld' 24-Hour Marathon

We all probably agree that episodes like “The Contest” and “The Soup Nazi” are classics, but everyone has their own picks for the best Seinfeld installments, and reasons why those eps are their faves. Maybe they like a certain catchphrase; a certain Kramer and Newman subplot; an appearance by Mickey, Jackie Chiles, or another scene-stealing supporting character. Seinfeld can be a very personal thing. We get it.

But with the 1989-98 series finally making its debut on a streaming service (Hulu), offering the chance to pick and choose the very best of the show’s 180 episodes, we thought some viewing parameters — a place to dive in (or back in) — might be in order. So below, our picks for 48 Seinfeld gems: 24 hours’ worth of episodes that showcase why Seinfeld is the greatest TV comedy of all time. (What, you disagree?)

Oh, and if you feel strongly about our picks, or our episode ratings (based on a Jerry-friendly one to five bowls of cereal), share your feelings with the group via the comments.

“The Phone Message” (Season 2, Episode 4)

Also Known As: The one where George and Jerry plot to steal an answering machine tape after George leaves a nasty message for a woman he’s dating, while Jerry breaks up with Donna because she likes a Dockers pants commercial.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. It’s the first of many times Jerry breaks up with a woman for a wonderfully wacky reason, which becomes one of the character’s trademarks.

Related: 25 Things Even the Most Die-Hard ‘Seinfeld’ Fan Doesn’t Know About ‘Seinfeld’

“The Deal” (Season 2, Episode 9)

Also Known As: The one where exes Jerry and Elaine decide to give their relationship another try, via a set of very specific rules about “this, that, and the other.”

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. The audience finally gets some backstory on the Jerry and Elaine relationship, the show comes up with one of its many clever euphemisms to deal with a sexual topic, and George and Jerry are at their most clueless about women when they’re trying to decide what to give Elaine for her birthday. (Neither Jerry’s gift-wrapped box of $182 in cash, nor George’s gift of half that amount, was a hit.)

“The Chinese Restaurant” (Season 2, Episode 11)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry, George, and Elaine wait for a table at a Chinese restaurant. It’s considered by most critics to be the first truly fantastic Seinfeld installment.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Despite the absence of Kramer, the first episode of the “show about nothing” that was really about nothing was quite something.

“The Pen” (Season 3, Episode 3)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry makes the mistake of taking a pen that writes upside down from his father’s friend Jack Klompus when Jerry and Elaine visit his parents in Florida.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Despite George and Kramer being MIA, it’s easily one of the all-time greatest Seinfeld episodes, partly because it’s one of the most relatable installments (trying to navigate the rigorous routines and arbitrary social rules of the retirement community set), and partly because of Elaine’s “Stella!” meltdown.

“The Library” (Season 3, Episode 5)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry has a seriously overdue library book, George “Can’t-Stand-Ya” reminisces about getting his high school gym teacher fired, and Kramer falls for a librarian and her poetry, much to the chagrin of crusty library cop Mr. Bookman.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Philip Baker Hall, as Mr. Bookman, is the first of several scene-stealing Seinfeld guest stars who, with just one episode, cemented his place in pop-culture history.

“The Parking Garage” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer spend the entire episode trying to find Kramer’s car in the parking lot of a mall, while Jerry and George have an urgent need for a bathroom, Elaine worries her just-purchased goldfish will die, and George has to meet his parents for their anniversary dinner.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Like “The Chinese Restaurant,” the episode takes place in just one location. But with all four friends together, and the characters more developed at this point, “The Parking Garage” provides opportunity for all of them to unleash their neuroses.

“The Pez Dispenser” (Season 3, Episode 14)

Also Known As: The one where George tries to get “hand” with his aloof pianist girlfriend Noel by breaking up with her, which works until Jerry puts a Tweety Bird Pez dispenser on Elaine’s leg and causes her to laugh during Noel’s concert performance.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Because no other TV show in history could wring so many laughs or cause so much ruckus with a Pez dispenser.

“The Boyfriend (Part 1 and 2)” (Season 3, Episodes 17 and 18)

Also Known As: The one where former baseball star Keith Hernandez dates Elaine while forging a bromance with Jerry. Hernandez also gets a chance to squash a beef with Kramer and Newman, who believe he spit on them in the parking lot after a Mets game and re-enact their “Magic Loogie Theory” with a brilliant spoof of the movie JFK.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. So rife with hilarity is this classic episode that the other storylines include George’s desperate scheme to continue his unemployment benefits by dating his unemployment counselor’s annoying daughter (the late Carol Ann Susi); the introduction of the group’s friends Michael and Carol, who keep pestering everyone that “You gotta see the ba-bee!”; and Jerry’s first “Hello, Newman” greeting to his postman adversary.

“The Pitch” (Season 4, Episode 3)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry and George pitch an idea for their own sitcom to NBC, in a storyline that mirrors the real-life Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David developing Seinfeld at NBC.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. The story of how Seinfeld came to be unfolding as an episode of Seinfeld is brilliant, and the audience is introduced to memorable characters like Crazy Joe Davola, Russell Dalrymple, and the doomed Susan Ross.

“The Bubble Boy” (Season 4, Episode 7)

Also Known As: The one where George gets into a fight with a boy who lives inside a bubble, and Kramer burns down Susan’s family’s cabin.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. A boy whose medical condition forces him to live in a plastic bubble? A sympathetic little dude in any other venue. But Donald “Bubble Boy” Sanger was a nasty, unlikeable character — proof that the Seinfeld writers were equal-opportunity offenders.

“The Contest” (Season 4, Episode 11)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine make a bet to see who can remain the master of his or her domain.

Bowls of Cereal: 5! One of, if not the best, Seinfeld episodes, and not once did they use the word… you know, that word they didn’t use.

“The Pick” (Season 4, Episode 13)

Also Known As: The one where model Tia Van Camp rebuffs Jerry after she thinks she sees him picking his nose, while Elaine gets overexposed when she allows Kramer to photograph her for her Christmas card, and Kramer confronts Calvin Klein for stealing his idea for a perfume that smells like the beach.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. One of the tells of a great Seinfeld episode: when the B and C plots are as strong as the title story, as in this holiday gem.

“The Outing” (Season 4, Episode 17)

Also Known As: The one where a college newspaper reporter mistakenly concludes that Jerry and George are gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. It continues to be one of the show’s classic episodes, mocking both homophobia and political correctness. And “not that there’s anything wrong with that” continues to be one of the series’s most oft-repeated catchphrases.

Photos: ‘Seinfeld: The Apartment’: Preview the Hulu Exhibit 

“The Implant” (Season 4, Episode 19)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine gets firsthand knowledge of the fact that Jerry’s new girlfriend Sidra’s breasts are real and spectacular, and George gets into a fight with his girlfriend’s brother when George double-dips a chip during a wake.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Only George would accompany a new girlfriend (pre-Will & Grace Megan Mullally) out of town for a funeral to get in “10 dates in one shot,” as Kramer put it, then try to weasel a bereavement airfare out of it and get into a scrap with her brother because of a tortilla chip dip.

“The Junior Mint” (Season 4, Episode 20)

Also Known As: The one where a Junior Mint saves a painter’s life during surgery, and Jerry ruins his relationship with Mulva.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. OK, so the ending, in which Mulva’s female body part-rhyming name turns out to be Dolores, is a bit of a cheat, since that female body part only rhymes if you don’t pronounce it correctly. Still, it’s another fantastic example of the show tackling a racy topic without ever saying the racy words, and combined with the Junior Mint farce, it made for one stellar episode.

“The Pilot (Part 1 and 2)” (Season 4, Episodes 23 and 24)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry and George shoot the pilot for Jerry, their NBC comedy about “nothing,” while Elaine obsesses about the well-endowed waitresses at Monk’s Diner, George obsesses about a spot on his lip, and Kramer obsesses about his bathroom issues.

Bowls of Cereal: 3.5. The concept is great, and Jerry and George (i.e. Jerry and Larry) are at their best, but Kramer and Elaine get subplots that leave them too removed from the Jerry action. Still, it’s a must-see as part of the meta, season-long arc on Seinfeld’s origins.

“The Puffy Shirt” (Season 5, Episode 2)

Also Known As: The one where George’s “low-talker” designer girlfriend Leslie gets Jerry to agree to wear the titular pirate-esque blouse on the Today show, while George moves back in with his parents and lands a ridiculously lucrative job as a hand model.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. This episode has it all: One little shirt leads to Leslie losing her business, George losing his new career, and a humiliated Elaine losing her spot on a charitable benefit committee. And in the end, the shirt that caused all the ruckus ended up on the backs of the homeless, where Jerry declared it wasn’t such a bad-looking garment after all. Many a Seinfeld joke revolved around a fashion disaster (hello, Urban Sombrero), but none fit the show’s comedy like “The Puffy Shirt.”

“The Stall” (Season 5, Episode 12)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine falls for “mimbo” Tony, who George has a man crush on; Kramer gets hooked on a sex chat line; and Jerry’s new girlfriend Jane annoys Elaine when she refuses to “spare a square” in the bathroom.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Another instance where the show does what it does better than any other series in TV history: craftily intersecting all the storylines into one big payoff at the end, when Kramer and Jerry out Jane’s phone sex gig after Elaine gets her toilet paper revenge.

“The Marine Biologist” (Season 5, Episode 14)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine edits the manuscript of a Russian writer, Jerry tells George’s college crush George is now a marine biologist, and Kramer practices his golf swing by hitting balls into the ocean… where one of his golf balls lands in a whale’s blowhole, forcing George to prove his alleged marine biologist skills.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Yet again, every storyline melds together for a very silly, but hilarious Seinfeld ending. George’s retelling of his golf ball retrieval with the whale is a classic Costanza scene; in a June 2013 interview with Andy Cohen, Jerry Seinfeld called it his favorite scene from the entire series.

“The Opposite” (Season 5, Episode 22)

Also Known As: The one where George decides to do the opposite of what he usually does, in every area of his life, leading to his dream job with the New York Yankees, a new apartment, and a new girlfriend. Elaine “becomes George” and has nothing but bad luck, while Jerry balances out his friends’ luck by being “Even Steven,” and Kramer promotes his coffee table book about coffee tables on Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. What’s more perfect than an episode that works on every level and ends with the rarest of Seinfeld occurrences: a happy George?

“The Pledge Drive” (Season 6, Episode 3)

Also Known As: The one where Mr. Pitt eats his Snickers bars with a knife and fork; Jerry and Elaine engage in a comedy of errors with Elaine’s friend Noreen and her high-talking boyfriend; Kramer works at a PBS pledge drive for a free tote bag; and Jerry cashes his Nana’s old birthday gift checks, leading to interference from Uncle Leo.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Uncle Leo’s frantic, on-air plea to stop the telethon when Nana calls in to make a donation is one of the finest moments for one of the series’s best recurring characters, and Mr. Pitt’s trendsetting style of candy bar noshing is one of the wackiest, most memorable quirks bestowed upon a recurring character.

“The Soup” (Season 6, Episode 7)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry gets a free Armani suit that ends up costing him time with obnoxious fellow comedian Kenny Bania, George gets rebuffed by a Monk’s waitress, Kramer gets rid of his refrigerator, and Elaine gets stuck with an arrogant British houseguest who she thought had boyfriend potential.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. The introduction of Bania, the comedy gift that would keep on giving for five more episodes? That’s gold, Jerry, gold!

“The Mom & Pop Store” (Season 6, Episode 8)

Also Known As: The one where George buys a LeBaron convertible owned (allegedly) by Jon Voight, Kramer’s patronage of a mom-and-pop shoe repair shop ends badly, Mr. Pitt wants to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and Elaine wants to date dentist Tim Whatley.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. From the certain knowledge that Kramer’s well-intentioned association with Mom and Pop won’t end well and Mr. Pitt’s giddiness about the parade balloon to the introduction of future multiple Emmy winner Bryan Cranston as Tim Whatley and the Midnight Cowboy homage ending, “The Mom & Pop Store” is one of the series’s most underrated episodes.

“The Race” (Season 6, Episode 10)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine dates a communist and gets blacklisted by a Chinese restaurant, Kramer and Mickey play Santa and his elf at a department store, George answers a personal ad in the Daily Worker, and Jerry gets to live out his Superman fantasies when his girlfriend Lois reveals her boss is Jerry’s old high school track rival.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Jerry breaks the fourth wall with his wink to the camera at the end of the episode, and he pays homage to his hero, Superman, with his second victory over Duncan. In a less heroic, but more hilarious, highlight, Jerry and George use their Monk’s ruse not only to convince Duncan they haven’t kept in touch since high school, but to take jabs at each other about Jerry’s “did you ever notice?” jokes and George’s baldness.

“The Switch” (Season 6, Episode 11)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry suggests a ménage a trois with his girlfriend and her roommate so he can make “the switch,” George suspects his model girlfriend is bulimic, Elaine lends Mr. Pitt’s expensive tennis racket to someone in hopes of landing a new publishing job, and Kramer reunites with his mom, Babs.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. Jerry and George’s all-day planning session to pull off the switch is brilliant in its writing, acting, and production. But most importantly, we find out Kramer’s real name: Cosmo.

“The Label Maker” (Season 6, Episode 12)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry gives Tim Whatley tickets to the Super Bowl, and Tim Whatley gives him a label maker: an item Tim has clearly “re-gifted,” since Elaine had given it to him as a thank-you for some dental work. Meanwhile, Kramer and Newman are engaged in a big game of Risk, and George’s girlfriend’s apartment is filled with luxuries like a velvet couch… and a male roommate George wants her to dismiss.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Kramer and Newman’s Risk subplot is one of the rare adventures with the duo that’s sort of a dud. But the re-gifting and de-gifting debacle with Jerry, Elaine, and Tim Whatley is a winner — unlike Jerry, who ultimately ends up at the Super Bowl with Newman.

“The Beard” (Season 6, Episode 16)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine tries to make a gay man “change teams,” Kramer makes some quick cash standing in police lineups, a lie detector test forces Jerry to admit he watches Melrose Place, and George is emboldened by his new toupee, which ends after he gets rejected… by a bald woman.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Jerry’s sports metaphor while explaining to Elaine why she had little chance of converting her gay dreamboat is inadvertently sweet as well as funny. But Elaine’s exasperated reaction to, and aggressive disposal of, George’s “hair hat” is one of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s most Emmy-worthy moments (and she did win the award for Season 6).

“The Jimmy” (Season 6, Episode 19)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine makes a date with Jimmy, a guy who refers to himself in the third person. George goes into business with Jimmy to sell an odd-looking sneaker, Jerry worries he’s being violated by Tim Whatley while sedated during dental appointments, and Kramer — while slurring his words because of the novocaine Whatley administered — is mistaken as an “mentally challenged adult” and serenaded by Mel Torme at a charity benefit.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Jimmy, his shoes, and Tim Whatley’s possibly perverted practice of dentistry tie the storylines together beautifully and make the episode endlessly quotable and entertaining.

“The Fusilli Jerry” (Season 6, Episode 21)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine begins a tempestuous relationship with Jerry’s mechanic David Puddy. Jerry gets upset when he finds out Puddy is using his sexual move on Elaine, Frank Costanza gets angry with Kramer for “stopping short” with Estelle, Kramer mistakenly gets personalized license plates that belong to a proctologist, and Frank takes a nasty spill onto Kramer’s corkscrew pasta statue of Jerry.

Bowls of cereal: 4.5. The debuts of David Puddy, The Assman, The Fusilli Jerry, and The Move are historic Seinfeld events.

“The Understudy” (Season 6, Episode 24)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry is dating Bette Midler’s understudy Gennice in the musical adaptation of the movie Rochelle, Rochelle. George accidentally injures Midler in a softball game and lands Gennice the lead role, and Elaine asks Frank for help when she thinks the Korean women at her nail salon are insulting her in their native tongue.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Kramer’s squealing giddiness at his new friendship with Bette Midler, the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan-ish plot, and, best of all, Elaine’s introduction to new boss J. Peterman lead to a satisfying season finale.

“The Soup Nazi” (Season 7, Episode 6)

Also Known As: The one where Kramer introduces his friends to “one of the great soup artisans,” The Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas, who received an Emmy nomination for the role, which amounted to about ten minutes of screen time).

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Can you even remember a time when The Soup Nazi wasn’t a part of your pop culture world? In addition, this episode also introduces us to Bob and Ray, the gay tough guys who steal Elaine’s armoire from Kramer, “Schmoopie,” Jerry’s baby-talking girlfriend, and Elaine’s impersonation of Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.

“The Pool Guy” (Season 7, Episode 8)

Also Known As: The one where Kramer takes over Moviefone when his new phone number yields a rash of calls from moviegoers, Jerry gets a new and unwanted friend in pool guy Ramon, and George’s “worlds collide” when he finds out Elaine’s new friend is Susan.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Jerry’s efforts to ditch Ramon and Kramer’s Moviefone knockoff would have been enough to make this a good episode, but George’s “worlds colliding” speech — in which he explains how Elaine spending time with Susan will result in “Relationship George” killing “Independent George”/“Movie George”/“Coffee Shop George”/“Liar George”/“Bawdy George” — is the finest of all the series’s Costanza rants.

“The Sponge” (Season 7, Episode 9)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine panics when she finds out her favorite form of birth control, the Today Sponge, is being discontinued. Plus, Jerry asks a woman on a date after getting her phone number from an AIDS charity walk sign-up sheet, and Kramer angers Bob and Cedric when he refuses to wear a red ribbon during the AIDS walk.

Bowls of cereal: 4. This is one of the all-time great Elaine storylines, as she schleps around a 25-block radius to gather a supply of sponges, and then makes her boyfriend hew to a strict personal hygiene code before she’ll deem him “sponge-worthy.” Bob’s ribbon bullying of Kramer — “Who? Who does not want to wear the ribbon?” — also became a catchphrase.

“The Rye” (Season 7, Episode 11)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry steals a loaf of marble rye to replace the one George’s parents stole from Susan’s parents. Elaine dates saxophone player John Germaine, who doesn’t like to do “everything” in the bedroom, and Kramer takes a temporary job as a horse carriage driver, but overbuys at a warehouse club and feeds the horse some of his canned pasta.

Bowls of cereal: 5. Jerry and George are a perfect comedy duo in their wild adventure with the marble rye and the fishing pole, and topics like oral sex and farting are not only elevated to high comedy, but done so without ever mentioning either act by name.

“The Caddy” (Season 7, Episode 12)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine’s high school nemesis, Oh! Henry candy bar heiress Sue Ellen Mischke, causes Jerry and Kramer to have a car accident when she wears a bra as a shirt. Yankees execs think George is dead when he leaves his car parked at the stadium, and Kramer befriends Stan the caddy, who becomes his new golf and life coach.

Bowls of cereal: 4.5. Jackie Chiles makes his return in a spectacular spoof of the O.J. Simpson trial, in which Elaine and Kramer’s lawsuit against Sue Ellen Mischke is done in by an ill-fitting bra.

“The Invitations” (Season 7, Episode 24)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry Seinfeld meets and proposes to Jeannie Steinman, Kramer tries to get a bank to violate its greeting policy so he’ll get $100, and Susan dies after licking the toxic wedding invitation envelopes George insisted on buying because they were cheap.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. It is, without question, the least sentimental, meanest episode of Seinfeld ever — but, well, it’s also one of the funniest. After several schemes throughout the season to postpone the wedding, then several failed schemes in this episode to get Susan to break off the engagement altogether, George’s only escape from a marriage to Susan was death… hers.

“The Bizarro Jerry” (Season 8, Episode 3)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine ditches Jerry, George, and Kramer for her new Bizarro World friends: Kevin, Gene, and Feldman. Jerry dates Jillian until he gets creeped out by her man-hands, George uses his widower status to get into a nightclub filled with models, and Kramer accidentally gets a corporate job at Brandt/Leland.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. The montage of a day in Kramer’s work life — backed by Sheena Easton’s “Morning Train” — is absurd and hilarious, since a normal, nine-to-five business day is the complete opposite of his life. And the contents of Kramer’s briefcase: several sleeves of Ritz crackers, which really is what you would expect Kramer to stuff into his work bag.

“The Little Kicks” (Season 8, Episode 4)

Also Known As: The one where Elaine debuts her infamous “full body dry heave set to music” dance style, George tries to convince Elaine’s employee Anna he’s a bad boy so she’ll go out with him, and Kramer gets Jerry mixed up in a movie bootlegging enterprise.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. George said it best: “Sweet fancy Moses!” Elaine’s Little Kicks joins the TV dance hall of fame, alongside such memorable toe-tapping efforts as The Bartman, The Urkel, The Batusi, The Sprockets dance from Saturday Night Live, and The Brady Bunch’s Silver Platters routines.

“The Chicken Roaster” (Season 8, Episode 8)

Also Known As: The one where George does a “leave-behind” to secure a second date with a saleswoman, Elaine gets busted for abusing the J. Peterman expense account, and Newman and Kramer get hooked on food from Kenny Rogers Roasters — even though the restaurant’s bright red neon sign flashes right into Kramer’s apartment.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Kramer can’t sleep in his apartment because of the “red menace,” so he and Jerry swap residences, and personalities, as Jerry slides into Kramer’s (his) apartment talking about his friend Bob Sacamano.

“The Little Jerry” (Season 8, Episode 11)

Also Known As: The one where Kramer buys a rooster who he names “Little Jerry Seinfeld” and enters in a cockfighting competition, Elaine is dating a guy who shaves his head and then finds out he’s really going bald, and George begins dating a woman who’s in prison.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. Yes, the whole “Little Jerry” plot is ridiculously silly, but Kramer’s attachment to his new fowl pal, the weird but endearing way he names it after his human pal, and the training session he and Big Jerry put Little Jerry through for the cockfight are among the highlights of the season.

“The Yada Yada” (Season 8, Episode 19)

Also Known As: The one where Tim Whatley converts to Judaism, and Jerry thinks it’s only so Whatley can tell Jewish jokes. Plus, Kramer and his friend Mickey double-date, but argue about which girl each of them is with, and George’s new girlfriend uses the phrase “yada, yada, yada” to shorthand some very pertinent details in her life.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Elaine’s subplot, where she apparently has sex with an adoption agent to try and get her friends a baby, is still disturbing. But the rest of the episode is perfection, from Whatley’s Jewish jokes and Jerry’s dentist jokes to Kramer and Mickey’s dating dilemma (and matching shirts) and Robert Wagner guest starring as Mickey’s dad, who accuses Jerry of being an “anti-dentite bastard.”

“The Muffin Tops” (Season 8, Episode 21)

Also Known As: The one where George pretends to be a tourist so he can date a New York Visitor’s Center rep, Jerry shaves his chest hair, Elaine starts a muffin top business, and Kramer starts the Peterman Reality Tour when his life stories end up in J. Peterman’s autobiography.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. George’s tourist scam puts an end to his Yankees gig when Steinbrenner trades him to Tyler Chicken in exchange for all-chicken concessions at Yankee Stadium (“Instead of beer, alcoholic chicken”). Elaine’s muffin tops business is also a hit, but it’s a classic Seinfeld storyline when Kramer launches the Peterman Reality Tour: a spoof of the Kramer Reality Tour, the real-life New York City tourism event launched by Kenny Kramer to capitalize on his connection to the show.

“The Serenity Now” (Season 9, Episode 3)

Also Known As: The one where Frank starts selling computers out of his garage, Jerry overcompensates when his new girlfriend says he doesn’t express his emotions, Kramer gets a screen door, Elaine’s “shiks appeal” makes her the object of affection of her old boss Mr. Lippman and his teenage son, and George competes with his old nemesis Lloyd Braun to be Frank’s top computer salesman.

Bowls of Cereal: 4. While Kramer is trying to embrace a more mellow life with his screen door, Frank is trying to calm himself with his “serenity now” catchphrase (which is immediately ineffective since he shouts it), and Jerry is allowing himself to feel things so deeply he gets flummoxed by the “salty discharge” that comes from his eyes.

“The Merv Griffin Show” (Season 9, Episode 6)

Also Known As: The one where Kramer finds the set of The Merv Griffin Show in a Dumpster and reassembles it in his apartment to host his own talk show. Jerry is dating a woman he drugs so he can play with her vintage toy collection, George upsets his girlfriend when he runs over pigeons, and Elaine has to deal with a “sidler”: a guy who keeps sneaking up to her at work.

Bowls of Cereal: 4.5. No one can condone the wine box and tryptophan drugging, of course, but the gang’s reaction to classic toys of their childhood may have been worth it. But the best moments of the episode, and one of the best Kramer storylines of the series, are the Merv Griffin Show set, in which Cosmo interviews his friends (and Wild Kingdom host Jim Fowler) and talks to the audience like… well, like there actually is an audience. That might have made a funny Seinfeld spinoff, in fact: Cosmo Kramer hosts a talk show and interviews real celebrities, from his apartment.

“The Betrayal” (Season 9, Episode 8)

Also Known As: The one where the action unfolds in reverse, as George, Jerry, and Elaine go to India to attend Sue Ellen Mischke’s wedding, while George learns Jerry slept with a woman he wants to date, and Kramer stays behind in New York because his friend FDR (Franklin Delano Romanowski) used his birthday wish to wish Kramer drops dead.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Gimmick? Yes. Successful? Very, from the closing credits (which open the episode) to Jerry’s first meeting with Kramer — then known as Kessler — 11 years earlier.

“The Strike” (Season 9, Episode 10)

Also Known As: The one where Jerry dates a woman whose good looks are dramatically affected by lighting, Elaine uses a fake phone number to avoid a date with a guy wearing a denim vest, Kramer goes back to work at H&H Bagels after being on strike for 12 years, George starts The Human Fund, and Frank Costanza introduces everyone to the holiday he invented: Festivus.

Bowls of Cereal: 5. Festivus has become a real American holiday that people continue to celebrate every December, and the fact that this episode’s title doesn’t even refer to the Costanza family fest is a testament to what a surprise impact Festivus, the episode, and the series have on popular culture.

All 180 episodes of Seinfeld are streaming now on Hulu.