TVSquad

(S03E08) I've never been enamored with this episode, even though it's pretty funny. For some reason, the way everybody acts in this one is just enough out of character that something about it just seems off to me.

Don't get me wrong... the thought of Elaine / JLD breathily speaking the unspeakable into a tape recorder makes me a little weak in the knees. But it just seems like everyone's reaction to the tape was just a little too creepy for my tastes. But, again, it's a pretty funny episode; in fact, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing In a Comedy Series. So what do I know?

The plots are definite one-liners: Elaine leaves a smutty monologue on a tape of Jerry's stand-up act. George tries a baldness cure from China. That's about it. The quality comes in the reactions everyone has to both: George's sudden crush on Elaine after he finds out, Kramer's massive camcorder, recording every little bud popping up on George's head, Jerry's confusion when the woman he thinks left the tape doesn't want to kiss on their date.

On to the "awards":

Best line: When George gets delivery guy Ping to talk to the hair institiute, Ping says something to the guy on the phone and laughs. "They got a billion people over there and he found a relative!" says George.
Best facial expression: When all three guys find out that it's Elaine on the tape, the look of lust in their eyes is priceless, as is Elaine's eye-rolling and silent "whoa" as she backs away from them.
Best Kramerism: His awful but hilarious timing as he bursts into Jerry's apartment a) after George tells Jerry he's attracted to Elaine, and b) after George tells Elaine he's attracted to her.

Not too many tidbits from the DVD, but here are some, sprinkled with some of my observations:

• Gotta dig that early-90s camcorder and tape recorder. Both were huge! The digital recorder I use to do my interviews looks like it's about 1/10 the size of Jerry's tape recorder. And I remember having about a dozen pair of headphones just like the ones Jerry had.
• The baldness cure incident is based on something that happened to Larry David and co-writer Bob Shaw when David was living in an apartment next to Kenny Kramer (who of course, is Cosmo Kramer on the show). The part where Kramer videotapes George's head is similar to what Kenny Kramer did with Larry David.
• I'm always amazed at how often all of the Fab Four go to the gym. Elaine's in a leotard in her first scene because she's coming from the gym. Even the stocky George goes to the gym more often than you would think a man of his... uh... stature would go.
  
• Love how, instead of rubbing the baldness cream in, George just leaves white blobs of it sitting on top of his head. Wonder what was in it that made it stink so bad.
  
• In an earlier version of the script, Alicia, the woman who Jerry thought left the message, pulls back because she is a bit freaked out by Jerry's forwardness, but that's left out of the final draft, leaving things a bit confusing.
• The last episode directed by David Steinberg. He got nominated for an Emmy for this episode.
• Elaine would have made a fantastic porn star. That's all I have to say about that.