TVSquad

(S03E06) It isn't often that an episode of a sitcom is noted as much for its set design as it is for its writing or acting. But "The Parking Garage", which solidified to Seinfeld fans that it truly was "a show about nothing", is one. The set design is so important in this episode, that the DVD commentary for it is conducted not by one of the writers, Jerry Seinfeld, or Larry David; it's conducted by director Tom Cherones and production designer Tom Azzari.

I mean, the plot to this episode is simple: The Fab Four search a mall parking garage for their car because no one remembers where they parked. That's it. Sure, every character has their own little story: George is late for a dinner with his parents, Jerry is caught peeing in a dark corner, Elaine's worried that the goldfish she bought won't make it in their little baggie, and Kramer's struggling with the air conditioner he just bought. But, in essence, the episode is about looking for a car in a garage.

Of course, funny stuff happens along the way. After Jerry gets caught peeing, he tries to get out of it by telling the guard he has a disease called uromysitisis. Elaine begs people to drive the four around to find the car, only to be ignored, coldly turned down, or laughed at. And, once they find the car, Kramer's got to find where the hell he put the air conditioner.

Here's the "awards":

Best line: George: "I can tell you this. If I am not in front of my house at six-fifteen, when my parents get there, they will put me on an aggravation installment plan that will compound with interest for decades."
Best facial expression: The utterly blank look on the face of the "Man in the Corvette" as he turns down Elaine's pleas for assistance. I especially like it when Elaine asks him, "But wouldn't you get any satisfaction out of helping someone out?" and he just blankly says, "No, I wouldn't."
Best Kramerism: When he finally shows up at the car with the AC, he takes the box and slams it in the trunk. Michael Richards actually got hurt doing that stunt, as you see his head banging against the box as he throws it in the car. More on that in a second.

Observations and info from the DVD extras:

• The externals of the parking garage are from Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, NJ. I know this because I worked there when I was in college; I've seen that garage many times. They'll use that mall for externals again in later episodes.
• I won't get into the gritty details about how the garage set was built, but they had to use the entire studio to make it as large as possible. Anzarri put mirrors up at either end to make it look even bigger. You can tell there are mirrors there, because as the four enter, you see their reflection in one, and at the other end, you see distortion that can only be made by a mirror.
• Since "The Pen" was the previous episode shot, this made two episodes in a row that didn't take place in Jerry's apartment or Monk's coffee shop. In fact, those two permanent sets had to be struck in order to make way for the garage set; they were rebuilt in time for the next episode.
• This episode had either no studio audience (according to the Notes on Nothing) or a limited studio audience (according to Tom Cherones).
• In order to be able to be flexible about the arrangement of the cars, no parking lines were painted on the floor, except for the scene where George rants about a guy who parks his Mercedes across two spots.
• The long-haired and long-bearded guy that walks right by Elaine as she begs him to help her is producer and writer Larry Charles.
• This is the first appearance of the jacket that will get Kramer in trouble (and get him women) in later episodes.
• The last scene was supposed to consist of everyone getting into the car and driving off. But when the car wouldn't start, everyone on the set, including the punchy stars inside, knew they had their ending. If you look carefully, you can see the four laughing inside (it was like three in the monring when they shot that scene).
• Michael Richards insisted that there be a real air conditioner in the box so that Kramer's struggle with it would look real. When he slams the box in the trunk he cuts his lip on the box; ever the trouper, he continues to stay in character while he's bleeding and everyone's laughing. He even says in an outtake, "I really hurt myself, Elaine."

Is it the funniest episode of Seinfeld? Not really. But it demonstrated how different the show was than the others that were on the air at the time. And it was another episode that really hit home to people. Heck, even Cherones admitted that he lost his car in parking lots a few times after he filmed this episode. So how much truer-to-life can you get?