Gone...and back

Sometimes characters would disappear for a while, and then resurface again years later.

Elaine's annoying actress roommate Tina appeared in a couple early episodes, the last in 9/25/91, and then randomly popped up again 5/19/94 one last time.

Putty made his first appearances in 1995 (the last in 5/11/95), then disappeared for a few years and showed up again 1/8/98, when he became a featured character.

Which did I miss?

Employment

George: You know how these interoffice politics work.
Jerry: No. I never had a job.

Unlike Jerry, George and Elaine were involved in a few lines of employment. Here they are, in chronological order:

George:
Real estate agent for Rick Bahr Properties ("Drink up!")
Pendent Publishing ("I gotta plead ignorance on this thing...")
Kruger Industrial Smoothing ("I could go either way with you...but what the hell, we need someone")
The New York Yankees ("George likes his chicken spicy")
Play Now Sporting Goods ("I'll see you in hell, Costanza")

Elaine:
Pendent Publishing, for Mr. Lippman
Personal Assistant to Mr. Pitt
The Peterman Catalog, for Mr. Peterman

What's in a name?

A couple real life names were put to use on the show:

The real Lloyd Braun is Larry David's lawyer and manager.

The real Alec Berg was a writer for Seinfeld (and now for Curb Your Enthusiasm). In "The Face Painter", Berg's name is given to an attorney friend of Jerry's who gives him New York Rangers playoff tickets.

Though never seen (but frequently mentioned), Kramer's friend Bob Sacamano was modeled after writer Larry Charles' friend of the same name.

And most famously, the real J. Peterman was the founder of the actual J. Peterman Catalog, just like the one portrayed on the show.

What Happened to the Mets?

In the early years of the show, Jerry, George, and Kramer were die-hard Mets fans, often referencing the team, watching games on TV, and talking of attending games. Then, around season 3 or 4, suddenly and without notice, their allegiance shifted to the Yankees. While the Mets were experiencing a decline in popularity since their 1986 championship and the Yankees were on rise in the early 90s, this change was never acknowledged. Was it simply a reflection of the NYC pulse of the time, or was there more behind it?

Levels, wood, bladders, etc.

Kramer has had more than a few hair brained schemes. Here are a few, as well as some additional quotes:

The Beach cologne:

Kramer: You know I got a great idea for a cologne. The Beach. You spray it on and you smell like you just came home from the beach.
Jerry: A cologne that smells like the beach. I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's not a bad idea.

Wood:

Kramer: Well, I'm staining my floors and, y'know, I don't want to get my hands dirty.
George: What, the whole apartment?
Kramer: The whole apartment. And I'm buying that fake wood wallpaper. I'm gonna surround myself in wood. It's gonna be like a log cabin. 'Cuz I *need* wood around me. Wood, Jerry...wood.

Make your own pizza restaurant: (appears in season 1, and not again until season 6 - nice)

Kramer: It's a pizza place where you make your own pie! We give you the dough, the sauce, the cheese...you pound it, slap it, you flip it up into the air...you put your toppings on and you slide it into the oven.

Bladder system:

Kramer: Well, this will really free up my time so I can focus on more important things, like my bladder system.
Jerry: Alright, it’s time to go.
Kramer: Jerry, it’s not for people, it’s for oil tankers. You see the idea is for a rubber ball inside the tanker so if it crashes, the oil won’t spill out.

The Levels:

Jerry: What are you doing?
Kramer: Levels.
Jerry: Levels?
Kramer: Yeah, I'm getting rid of all my furniture. All of it. And I'm going to build these different levels, with steps, and it'll all be carpeted with a lot of pillows. You know, like ancient Egypt.

10 cent MI bottle deposit:

Kramer: A free truck? Oh boy, that completely changes our cost structure. Our G and A goes down fifty percent!
Newman: We carry a couple of bags of mail, and the rest is ours!
Kramer: Newman, you magnificent bastard, you did it!

A few other not fully realized schemes, but amazing ideas nonetheless:

Kramer: You can't get a refund. Your warranty expired two years ago.
Jerry: So were going to make the Post Office pay for my new stereo?
Kramer: It's just a write off for them.
Jerry: How is it a write off?
Kramer: They just write it off.
Jerry: Write it off what?
Kramer: Jerry all these big companies, they write off everything.
Jerry: You don't even know what a write off is.
Kramer: Do you?
Jerry: No. I don't.
Kramer: But they do. And they are the ones writing it off.

Kramer: You want to get outta here? Here's what we do. We leave the car here, we take the plates off, we scratch the serial number off the engine block, and we walk away.
Jerry: Walk away?
Kramer: You've got insurance. You tell them that the car was stolen, and then you get another one free.
Jerry: Isn't there a deductible?
Kramer: All right, what is your deductible?
Jerry: I don't know.
Kramer: Yes, because they've already deducted it.
Jerry: From what?
Kramer: The car, which we're leaving. So the net is zero. See - you pocket the money, if there is any, and you get a new car.

And finally:

Kramer: The bus is outta control. So I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel, and now I'm driving the bus.
Jerry: Wow.
George: You're Batman.
Kramer: Yeah, yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to and he starts choking me. So I'm fighting him off with one hand and I kept driving the bus with the other, ya know. Then I managed to open up the door and I kicked him out the door, ya know, with my foot, ya know, at the next stop.
Jerry: You kept making all the stops?
Kramer: Well, people kept ringing the bell.

Movie References

Through the seasons Seinfeld has snuck in some classic movie references. How about these:

1.

The Mom & Pop Store...
Kramer: Uh, Jerry...these nosebleeds are starting again.
Jerry: (wipes Kramer's brow) Maybe we should get you to a hospital.
Kramer: Hey, I ain't goin' to no Bellevue! Look at me, I'm fallin' apart here.

...from Midnight Cowboy
Ratso Rizzo: Just get me on a bus. You ain't sendin' me to Bellevue...That's funny? I'm fallin' apart here..

2.

The Chicken Roaster...
Elaine: I work for your mail order catalog.
Peterman: You're an errand girl, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.

...from Apocalypse Now
Willard: I'm a soldier.
Kurtz: You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.

3.

The Andrea Doria...
Jerry: Elaine, Newman is my sworn enemy. And he lives down the hall from my home - my home, Elaine! Where I sleep, where I come to play with my toys.

...from The Godfather II
Michael Corleone: My home! In my bedroom! Where my wife sleeps...and my children play with their toys.

SNL Connection

Seinfeld has had a close connection to Saturday Night Live over the years - starting with Julia herself, a cast member from 1982-1985. Larry David was a writer for the show in 1984-1985 - had this timing not worked out Elaine Benes could have been a blond.

Other SNL characters that have had roles in the show are John Lovitz (The Scofflaw - 1995), Molly Shannon (The Summer of George - 1997), Chris Parnell (The Butter Shave - 1997), Rob Schneider (The Friars Club - 1996), and Janine Garofalo (The Invitation and The Foundation - 1996).

Video Teaser for Curb-Sein Reunion

Click for video

MIA

While Jerry appeared in all 180 episodes, the other 3 major characters were not always present:

George appears in every episode except for "The Pen" (third season). In the DVD extras, Jason Alexander confessed that he told Larry David he would quit if he was ever written out of the story line again.

Kramer appeared in all but two episodes: "The Chinese Restaurant" and "The Pen", in the second and third seasons, respectively.

Elaine did not appear in three total episodes: The first episode, The Trip (Part 1) and The Trip (Part 2). Also, Elaine appears only minimally in "The Pitch" and "The Ticket", due to maternity leave.