There’s little debate among the Seinfeld fanbase that Season 4’s “The Contest” is the show’s best episode. In fact, TV Guide once ranked it as the greatest episode of television ever to hit the airwaves, which is quite some praise.
But as one of the greatest sitcoms that ever aired — perhaps the pinnacle of the multi-camera half-hour comedy, mixing well-drawn characters with complex satirical storytelling — there are plenty of other brilliant episodes of Seinfeld that could claim to be the best. So, here are five reasons why "The Contest" is Seinfeld’s best episode, and its five closest competitors).
Why It’s The Best: It Was A Turning Point For The Series
After a so-so first season that set a record for shortest run, Seinfeld almost got the can. It managed to keep going through a second, third, and fourth season, continuing to refine its style and slowly growing its viewership.
Season 4’s “The Contest” was the turning point that allowed it to coast through to its ninth season, with Jerry Seinfeld turning down a $100 million offer to do a tenth. “The Contest” was the episode that told America that this was a must-see show, and they’d have to make sure to tune in every week.
Competitor: The Puffy Shirt (Season 5, Episode 2)
One of series co-creator Larry David’s favorites, Season 5’s “The Puffy Shirt” sees Jerry taking part in a televised charity drive and accidentally agreeing to wear a pirate-style puffy shirt on the air, designed by Kramer’s “low-talker” girlfriend.
In the B-plot, George moves in with his parents and stumbles into a career as a hand model. The episode is filled with iconic moments and the plot threads all converge at the end for a satisfying payoff.
Why It’s The Best: It Has A Distinctly Seinfeldian Premise
There are certain sitcom storylines that could be used for any show in the genre, like taking two dates to the same dance or one friend lending money to another and then using it to blackmail them. But a masturbation contest is something that could only happen on Seinfeld.
The premise was reportedly inspired by a real-life contest that Larry David took part in with his friends, and it’s the kind of crazy art-imitating-life idea that made this show so great.
Competitor: The Bizarro Jerry (Season 8, Episode 3)
“The Bizarro Jerry” is the kind of episode that a show can only do when it’s in its eighth season because it relies entirely on the audience knowing the characters. Jerry jokingly calls Elaine’s new friend “the Bizarro Jerry” — a nod to the Bizarro World from the DC Comics universe — because he’s Jerry’s opposite in every way. The episode commits hilariously to this gag, giving us Bizarro versions of George, Kramer, and Newman as well.
Whether it was conscious or not, this episode (along with Season 9’s Pinter-inspired “The Betrayal”) set the template for the kind of experimental episodes that It’s Always Sunny has been using to remain fresh after 14 seasons on the air.
Why It’s The Best: Dovetailing The Storylines
The storytelling technique that made Seinfeld feel so much smarter and more narratively satisfying than the average sitcom was dovetailing parallel storylines. The A-plot and the B-plot would converge at the end of an episode and resolve each other.
“The Contest” is a prime example of this, as Marla leaves with Kennedy and Jerry and Elaine’s romantic entanglements both come screeching to a halt in one fell swoop.
Competitor: The Opposite (Season 5, Episode 22)
In the Season 5 finale “The Opposite,” George realizes that every instinct he’s ever had has been wrong, and Jerry encourages him to do the opposite of what his instincts tell him to. Within days, this technique snags him a date with a beautiful woman and gets him out of his parents’ house and into his dream job with the New York Yankees.
Meanwhile, Elaine’s love of candy leads to the end of her relationship and the implosion of her company, making her the new George, and Jerry realizes that everything in his life is perfectly balanced.
Why It’s The Best: Every Character Has Something Going On
Apparently, after George and Kramer were absent from Season 3’s “The Pen,” Jason Alexander threatened to quit the show, and the writers made sure to never leave out a character again.
In “The Contest,” every character has something hilarious going on: Jerry is dating a virgin named Marla; George’s indiscretion has put his mother in the hospital; Elaine is in an aerobics class with John F. Kennedy, Jr.; and Kramer strikes up a relationship with the nudist across the street. The best Seinfeld episodes bring out the best in all four main cast members, and “The Contest” does just that.
Competitor: The Soup Nazi (Season 7, Episode 6)
“No soup for you!” The writers of Seinfeld actually used to go to a soup store run by a guy like the Soup Nazi, and this Season 7 episode was based on him. It’s rare that a character who appears in one episode of a show (well, two, if you count his cameo in “The Finale”) can make such a lasting impression on fans.
What really makes the episode work is the characters’ interactions with him, from Jerry choosing the Soup Nazi’s soup over his girlfriend to Elaine being the only one to stand up to him.
Why It’s The Best: Its Smart Writing Sneaks Around The Censors
Larry David was deservingly given an Emmy Award for writing “The Contest.” On top of having layered storytelling, brilliant jokes, and a healthy balance of the relatable and the absurd, David’s script uses smart writing to sneak around the censors that monitor network television.
"The Contest" is an episode about masturbation that was allowed to air in a primetime slot on NBC, because the word “masturbation” is never actually used. Instead, David uses creative euphemisms to get the point across. The genius of this episode is that it tackles a taboo subject while also being completely inoffensive.
Competitor: The Marine Biologist (Season 5, Episode 14)
This is one of Jerry Seinfeld’s personal favorites. In “The Marine Biologist,” Jerry bumps into the “it” girl from college and she asks after George. When she says she thought George would end up being a burned-out loser — which he currently is, unemployed and living with his parents — Jerry impulsively tells her he’s now a marine biologist.
She becomes interested and starts dating George, and we see the lengths he’ll go to in order to keep up a lie. The final scene, as George details his rescue of a beached whale whose blowhole was plugged up by Kramer’s golf ball, is perfection.