Unlike other shows, not only was Seinfeld known for its great main cast of characters but also for many notable supporting characters, who would show up from time to time such as Newman, Puddy, Frank & Estelle Costanza, and more. Perhaps one of the best supporting characters on the show was Elaine's boss, J Peterman.
Based on the real J. Peterman Clothing Company, which uses dramatic texts instead of photos to describe their clothes, John O'Hurley would portray J. Peterman, Elaine's eccentric and theatrical sounding boss. J Peterman was one of the many Seinfeld characters who would often appear in an episode, sometimes only briefly, and steal the scene or episode they were in.
The Understudy - 7.9
In "The Understudy," John O'Hurley as J. Peterman makes his first appearance. After a failed attempt to find out what the Korean nail salon workers are saying about her, Elaine becomes an emotional wreck as she walks rainy NYC streets and bumps into J. Peterman, who points out she's wearing his company's jacket.
They go to dinner and he describes a pair of shoes by prefacing it with a dramatic adventure he once had. After he compliments Elaine's shirt, she describes it in the same fashion, through a romantically adventurous monologue that impresses him, so he gives her a job writing for the catalog.
The Van Buren Boys - 8.2
In "The Van Buren Boys," Elaine is tasked with ghost-writing Peterman's autobiography; Jerry quips maybe he'll get someone to "ghost read it." However, she quickly discovers that well-traveled and adventurous Peterman lives a pretty boring and mundane life, watching TV and clipping coupons.
When Elaine tells Peterman a Kramer story, he requests she buy his stories to use for the book. Elaine then has to take inane Kramer stories and make them Peterman's, including a story where Kramer tries to return pants but falls in mud (ruining the very pants he was returning). This storyline would come back episodes later when Kramer starts the Peterman Reality Bus Tour, due to the fact that his life makes up the Peterman biography.
The Foundation - 8.3
The penultimate season opener finds Peterman having a nervous breakdown. He claims his mind is as "barren as the surface of the moon" and can run the catalog no longer. So, he travels to Burma ( "You may know it as Myanmar now, but it will always be Burma to me") and leaves Elaine to run the catalog in his absence.
At first, Elaine is nervous, but after some advice from Kramer that he's taken from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, she takes over the company with confidence. However, her first act in charge is producing the Urban Sombrero, which proves to be a disaster.
The Shower Head - 8.4
Elaine is all excited she gets to accompany Peterman on a trip to Kenya but unfortunately, Peterman informs her she cannot come because she failed her urinalysis due to testing positive for opium ("White Lotus, Yam-Yam"). Elaine soon realizes it was due to her eating poppy seeds (which is what opium is made of).
Meanwhile, much to his dismay, Kramer's new low-flow shower head has been installed, so he goes to Elaine's office looking haggard and demanding he use her shower. In a brilliant convergence of events, the kind Seinfeld was known for, Peterman overhears the conversation thinking Kramer is Elaine's drug dealer and throws him out of her office (for turning it into a "den of iniquity") and physical comic genius Michael Richards performs one of his greatest stunt falls on the show.
The Secret Code - 8.6
In "The Secret Code," George is left with J. Peterman after both Jerry and Elaine bail on a dinner. Peterman receives a call that his mother is "on death's door" so George is forced to accompany him to her home. When Peterman visits with his mother, it's revealed that the J in his name stands for "Jacobo" (the real Peterman's first name is actually John).
"The Secret Code" is one of the many episodes in which it appears a member of the cast killed someone. Alone with Peterman's mother, George takes the opportunity to reveal to her his secret bank code, Bosco. She begins yelling the name before she finally dies and, later, Peterman blames George for her death.
The English Patient - 8.7
Elaine and her boyfriend go see the Ralph Fiennes film The English Patient and she hates it (she would rather see the comedy "Sack Lunch"). However, everyone else really loves it, especially Peterman ("I thought I knew what love was") so as to not upset him, she claims she hasn't seen it but that just causes him to make her drop everything and come watch it with him.
Ultimately, she can't hold in her hatred for the movie ("Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already, die!"). Upon learning of Elaine's intense distaste for the film, Peterman fires her and only agrees to take her back if she travels to the Tunisian filming locations for inspiration.
The Susie - 8.8
"The Susie" is one of the more outlandish Seinfeld episodes but also one of Peterman's funniest. After a co-worker thinks Elaine's name is Susie, Elaine concocts a story that Susie has "taken her own life" so she doesn't have to pretend to be her anymore.
Elaine informs Peterman who promptly bursts into tears (despite the fact she doesn't exist) and then a funeral is held that, despite being for an imaginary person, is packed with people. Peterman takes it upon himself to regal to the mourners of a time, while working late "surrendered to temptation" with Susie ("And it was pretty good").
The Frogger - 8.9
Elaine becomes irritated over the constant celebrations in her office so she takes a sick day. However, upon returning, her co-workers throw her a get-well party causing her to unload on them. Unfortunately, the celebrations have given her a sugar rush so she ventures into Peterman's office to find something.
There she eats a slice of cake Peterman reveals to be from the 1937 wedding of King Edward VIII to Willis Simpson, valued at $29,000. Elaine then tries to replace it with a different cake. Peterman brings in Irwin Lubeck (the world's foremost appraiser of vintage pastry) who informs him the cake is an Entenmann's ("Do they have a castle at Windsor?"). At first, Peterman is devastated, but instead of firing Elaine tells her, due to the age of the cake, "what she is about to go through is punishment enough."
The Bottle Deposit - 8.9
Peterman is going out of town so he tasks Elaine with bidding on President John F. Kennedy's golf clubs and authorizes her to spend $10,000. However, her nemesis, Sue Ellen Mischke begins to outbid her and Elaine ultimately ends up paying $20,000 for them.
To make matters worse, the golf clubs are in Jerry's car which his mechanic has absconded with. When the clubs are recovered, they are bent and damaged due to being thrown out of the car. Of course, Elaine is nervous about showing Peterman the mangled clubs. However, he states "I never knew Kennedy had such a temper," leaving him disappointed but Elaine off the hook.
The Chicken Roaster - 9.0
After making some unauthorized purchases for herself as head of the J. Peterman Company, Elaine needs to prove all of them are for work-related purposes. However, George loses the hat she bought him and, despite trying to pass off a fake, is told only Peterman can save her now from termination.
The problem is Peterman is still in the Burmese jungle so she travels to Myanmar to get him to sign off on the hat to save her job. She finds him in a cave (he's the only white poet warlord in the neighborhood) and the episode parodies Apocalypse Now with Peterman acting like Colonel Kurtz who proceeds to recite Marlon Brando's famous "grocery clerk" line to her.
Unfortunately, Peterman won't sign off unless he can see the missing hat, and when Elaine shows him the catalog with the Urban Sombrero, Peterman just replies "the horror, the horror." Another one of the wilder episodes of Seinfeld is also one of its funniest. It's also clear O'Hurley is having the time of his life.