Seinfeld - The Complete Fourth Season

Rating: NR

Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: May 17, 2005
Review posted: May 23, 2005

Reviewed by Greg Malmborg

SYNOPSIS

Seinfeld was just starting to gain some momentum through its first three seasons; it was garnering critical accolades but had a small (albeit growing) audience.  NBC was getting nervous over the realization that Cheers, the network’s most successful show, was on its way out and it didn’t have any other shows to offset the potential loss.  The network decided to give Seinfeld the Thursday night slot after Cheers in this fourth season and the rest is television history.  Seinfeld absolutely blew up during this season and became a sensation across the country, even beating Cheers in the ratings towards the middle of the season.  Thursday night became a hugely anticipated event and established “must-see TV”.  And after the huge anticipation and success of the first three seasons on DVD, comes this loaded DVD package of the amazing fourth season.

The show had a very simple premise; it’s about a stand up comic, Jerry Seinfeld playing himself, hanging out with his friends mostly in his apartment and a few outside locales.  That’s about it, the show “about nothing”.  Jerry’s friends include his intensely neurotic and worrisome friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Jerry’s ex-girlfriend turned gal pal Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and his off the wall neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). 

The fourth season begins on a decidedly different note and story structure with Kramer in Los Angeles trying to find his calling as an actor after a fight with Jerry in New York that caused him to leave at the end of season three.  Jerry is called out to do the Tonight Show in L.A. and he decides to take George with him and see if they can find Kramer.  Once in L.A., they find Kramer in a most unexpected way, he’s accused of being a serial killer (the more outrageous storylines begin here) and Jerry and George try and get him out of it. 

After the first couple episodes in L.A., the show returns to its New York locales and the episodes to follow are some of the most famous and classic episodes of Seinfeld’s entire run.  From The Bubble Boy (where Jerry and George meet and fight with an abnormally rude kid who lives in a bubble) to The Virgin (Jerry’s girlfriend turns out to be a virgin appalled at Elaine’s untimely comments) to The Contest (where a masturbation contest takes place between the four characters) to The Visa (where Babu and Jerry butt heads in unexpected fashion) to The Implant (Teri Hatcher guest stars and lets Jerry know just how “real” and “fantastic” she truly is) to The Junior Mint (where Kramer loses his Junior Mint somewhere it should never go), the classic episodes and huge laughs just keep coming and coming.  The biggest overlapping plot point is the clever story of Jerry and George’s continuous struggle to get a TV show approved, written, and cast for NBC.  The show is about Jerry’s life and they try and pitch it as a show about nothing, the show you just happen to be watching.  This was a brilliant move that created so many ironic moments and gags, it helped fuel the show for the entire season’s run.

This is the breakout season that made Seinfeld one of the most beloved and popular sitcoms of all time.

CRITIQUE

Seinfeld has always been one of my favorite television shows and is, by far, my favorite sitcom.  Season 4 is undeniably the finest of all the show’s seasons, full of so many classic episodes you could watch this set over and over and still never tire of it.  If you’re interested in getting the show on DVD but you don’t have the cash to purchase all of the seasons (1 through 3 are out now with all of the rest planned for release in the next few years) this would be the season to get.  Sitcom comedy does not get any better than season four of Seinfeld.

The first three seasons of Seinfeld had many awkward moments and the cast just wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, this fourth season is when it all came together perfectly.  The tone of the show is undeniably set, the mocking, self referential comedy mixed with storylines written to utilize the four unique personalities of the main cast members is played out to perfection.  The quick scenes of biting comedy interlaced with those now famous Seinfeld music riffs and Jerry’s own stand up bits framed each episode in such a magnificent way. 

The cast hits all the right notes and bounces off one another with perfect, meticulous comic timing and physical comedy.  This is one of the best ensemble casts in television history in their absolute primes.  Jerry is obviously the rock of the show, as the show is centered on both his character and his comic sensibilities, and he finally develops into a comfortable sitcom actor.  The first few seasons’ biggest liability was Jerry’s own acting chops, but this season he hones his awkwardness into something endearing and hilarious.  His comedy is self-referential and ironic with a small hint of a sinister side (later seasons go deeper into this black comedy tone). 

The comic genius of Jason Alexander’s George Costanza is the show’s strongest asset and principal reason for its success.  George is one of the funniest characters in television history and this is the season where Alexander truly defines the character.  In the earlier seasons, George started off as a Woody Allen knock-off with a high pitch squeal and a grating persona.  This season he combines that intense neurosis with a continuous self-deprecating humor and a hilarious angry streak that manages to create a character that you would think you’d hate but he manages to be completely endearing.  Michael Richards becomes the king of physical comedy during this season where his hijinks are simply legendary.  A simple task like combing his hair or just walking in a room becomes a clinic in physical comedy skills.  Julia Louis-Dreyfus turns her Elaine character into the hard truth, ballsy female voice of the show.  It is her willingness to make a fool of herself that makes her character so lovable.  The supporting cast is also just as amazing.  From Newman (Wayne Knight), Jerry’s nemesis in the form of an overweight postal carrier with a penchant for overly dramatic montages, to George’s parents (the spot on perfect twosome of Jerry Stiller and Estelle Harris), the cast is just absolutely outstanding.

The writing is also exceptional in this season, where in the first few seasons the writing focused on reality and creating comedy off of it, this season they decided to give a stab at the more off beat and outrageous, which created some huge laughs instead of the giggles from the first few seasons.  They figured out all of the strengths and weaknesses in the cast and exploited those strengths for every laugh they could get.  And the truly bold move of keeping a story arc throughout the season (the NBC production deal) was a simply brilliant move.  The directing of the episodes, mostly from Larry David, is handled wonderfully except for the first few which were handed off to writer Larry Charles and have a decidedly different tone and feel to them (I did not enjoy the L.A. episodes and felt like that whole bit was a bit of a misstep).

It’s hard to choose a favorite episode from this stellar season, as there are so many classic episodes.  This is a season to enjoy over and over again.  If I had to choose, The Junior Mint and The Contest were probably my favorites.  They combined that unique Seinfeld episode arc with outrageous and yet relatable storylines with the cast in pitch perfect harmony.

THE VIDEO

The video transfer is exceptional, crisp, lucid and vivid in color.  I was impressed by this enhanced high definition DVD transfer, everything from the graphics to the outside shots look tremendous (amazing how much better these look than the reruns on TV).

THE AUDIO

The audio is fantastic on this set, the dialogue and score sound tremendous.  The surround (in Dolby Digital 2.0) is more active and fuller than I would have thought for a sitcom.  The audio is a nice surprise.

THE EXTRAS

This set is just absolutely, wall-to-wall loaded with extras.  From the simplest of things such as the DVD menus (which are themed based upon certain episodes) to the lengthy featurettes, everything is just first rate, fun and interesting.  There are so many extras that I must group them by theme.   There are First Look features, which are episodic featurettes that go into each episode’s impact, creation, and detailed making-of.  These are great extras that seem almost overkill at times due to the volume (where just one seems sufficient).  Notes About Nothing are trivia tidbits interspersed throughout which pop up as you watch each episode, they are fun facts about the season for true fans of the show. 

There are nine Yada, Yada, Yada commentaries from cast and crew alike on many different episodes.  They range in quality and the most engaging of commentaries is from writer Larry Charles who never refrains from telling anything but the raw truth and the cast is funny and engaging, especially Alexander and Dreyfus who have not seen many of these episodes in sometime and engage in some very funny and insightful conversation.  But it does feel strange that the cast is so clueless about the making of these episodes.  I mean, it wasn’t that long ago.  The commentary from Jerry Seinfeld is a definite let down for me, he simply laughs and watches each episode without getting into back-story and development as you would expect or bringing his trademark comedy into them.  But there are so many commentaries to choose from, you really can’t go wrong.

There are also deleted scenes and alternative endings for some of the episodes, which are interesting yet are obviously not included for various reasons.   There are rare occasions on DVD sets where certain scenes and endings are not included where they seem to be better or make more sense in theme and storyline, but this is not one of them.  Most of these scenes are not included or discarded for obvious tone issues or performance problems.

There is a featurette entitled The Breakthrough Season, which includes cast and crew interviews about this fantastic season.  Some of the more interesting tidbits are from Jason Alexander where he honestly discusses how much he disagreed with the tone and storylines of many of the season’s episodes.  He disagreed with the L.A. episodes tactics (which I must agree with him) as well as the storyline where him and Jerry begin a series with NBC (he agrees that he was insanely wrong on that one).  There is a Regis and Kathy Lee parody featurette, which is a very funny skit with Jerry and Elaine making fun of a Regis and Kathy Lee show where they were critiquing the show.  There is also a very funny blooper reel on disc two with scenes from various episodes throughout the season, these are extremely funny bits.  There is also a featurette called Master of His Domain that shows us more of Jerry’s comedic stand up bits that would begin or end a show that were never included.  The show is so good you forget how funny he can be when doing his stand up routines.  There are also numerous promotional extras and easter eggs.

This set is loaded with hilarious, entertaining and informative extras, you really can’t ask for much more.     

FINAL THOUGHTS

Seinfeld is one of the best sitcoms of all time, if not the best.  And Season 4 is by far Seinfeld’s funniest and most engaging season.  This is the only season of Seinfeld that won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and everything is clicking on all cylinders. This DVD package delivers the goods, so if you want a season of Seinfeld on DVD, this is definitely the one to get.

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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