Seinfeld: The Parking Space | Episode 39 Recap Podcast

Listen to the Podcast: Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur continue their journey to watch every Seinfeld episode as they discuss Season 3, Episode 22, “The Parking Space”. A pack of wild teenagers chasing them down didn’t stop Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur from getting together to recap the next episode in the Seinfeld series. This week, they break down “The Parking Space”, which first aired April 22, 1992 as the penultimate episode of season three. It was written by Larry David and Greg Daniels. Daniels is a legendary comedy writer, most famous for The Office, Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live. Akiva had a bit of news, some Seinfeld related and some not. First, he shared his disappointment in the passing of Harris Wittels, a podcaster, writer and comedian who was a part of some groundbreaking shows. Next he had a story about the defendant in the murder trial of the American Sniper who claimed an insanity defense that the prosecutor tried to prove was crafted from watching his favorite television shows, one being Seinfeld. Lastly, a viewer discovered that reruns of Seinfeld on TBS move 2.5% faster to add in more commercial time. The show opens with a classic Jerry bit comparing compact parking spaces to jeans that are too tight. The episode starts with Jerry and Kramer talking about where Jerry’s car is. Kramer can’t let it go when Jerry teases him about not telling him, actually begging Jerry to tell him. When he learns that George and Elaine took it to a flea market, Kramer is offended that he wasn’t invited. George and Elaine are driving Jerry’s car, with George wearing a new fedora hat he bought at the flea market. He and Elaine discuss how great it was in the 1920s when men wore hats all the time. Akiva felt that women today would probably prefer just to see a bald head, versus wondering if a hat is covering baldness. When Elaine moves the rearview mirror to look at her sunglasses, it distracts George, and he runs over a pothole, causing the car to now make a strange noise. Back at Jerry’s apartment, Kramer is still upset about being left out, and explains to Jerry that once someone crosses him, he’s like ice. We learn that Mike (Moffit according to Wikipedia) was coming over to watch a boxing match. Kramer shares that Mike thinks Jerry is a phony, which really bothers Jerry. Rob thought that Kramer shared this merely because he’s a big gossip, and that George should be considered more of a phony than Jerry. Elaine and George pull up to a great spot in front of Jerry’s building. He spends way too much time pontificating the art of parallel parking that someone noses into the parking spot at the same time as he starts to back in. When he gets out to argue, we see that the driver who went in head first is Mike Moffit. When Elaine goes up to tell Jerry what is going on, she acts flustered, asking for some Hennigans to calm her nerves. She makes up this elaborate story about being chased by teenagers all the way into the city, then at the end, tells him they hit a pothole and now there is a funny sound. So blown away from the story, Jerry pays no mind to the car hitting the pothole. Jerry, Elaine and Kramer join George and Mike down on the street, where neither is backing down from claiming the spot. When Mike sees Jerry, his greeting is way over the top. Rob pointed out that Mike was the real phony here. Elaine tells George that the plan worked, and Jerry isn’t worried about the car. Kramer confronts them about not inviting him to the flea market, to which George asks if he’s supposed to invite everyone he knows every time him goes somewhere. Mike interjects with a rude comment about George’s hat. Akiva said that Mike should definitely be in the top five “jerks” of Seinfeld sub characters.