| "The Fusilli Jerry" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Seinfeld episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 6 Episode 21 | ||
| Directed by | Andy Ackerman | ||
| Story by | Marjorie Gross & Jonathan Gross andRon Hauge &Charlie Rubin | ||
| Teleplay by | Marjorie Gross | ||
| Production code | 619 | ||
| Original air date | April 27, 1995 (1995-04-27) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Seinfeldseason 6 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"The Fusilli Jerry" is the 107th episode of the NBC sitcomSeinfeld. Featuring the introduction ofDavid Puddy, the episode also features Kramer receiving vanity plates that say "ASSMAN" as well as marital problems between George's parents. This is the 21st episode of the sixth season.[1] It aired on April 27, 1995.[1]
Since its release, "The Fusilli Jerry" has seen positive critical reception and has appeared on rankings of the bestSeinfeld episodes.
Elaine starts datingJerry's mechanic,David Puddy. During their first night in bed, Puddy performs a sex move which she recognizes as Jerry's. Jerry is appalled when he hears about this. He goes to chew Puddy out, and finds someone else to look into his car. Puddy maintains that he was doing the same move before Jerry told him about it, but is so psyched out by Jerry's accusation that he can't do the move, so he usesGeorge's move. Jerry suspects that his new mechanic is over-pricing the repair bill on his car, so Elaine asks Puddy how much he charges, proving Jerry's theory. He gives Puddy permission to do the move so he can take his car back to him.
George is unable to excite his girlfriend Nancy during sex, and asks Jerry to teach him the move. He can't remember the details correctly and eventually resorts to taking notes on his hand. His girlfriend is disgusted when she notices the notes.
Kramer goes to theDepartment of Motor Vehicles for his newlicense plate, but is instead givenvanity plates which say "ASSMAN". He suspects that the plate was meant for aproctologist, and uses this theory to his advantage, by parking in a "Doctors Only" spot when he goes to pick up George's motherEstelle after her eye job. The plate also scores himcat calls from passing drivers, and a date with a big-bottomed woman named Sally.
Estelle cannot cry for ten days or risk ruining the eye job. When Kramer drives her home, he runs over a pothole and braces Estelle by placing his arm across her breast, which she interprets as her husbandFrank's move ("stopping short"). Frank is upset at this, and finds Kramer at Jerry's apartment. A fight ensues, causing Frank's rear end to land on a "Fusilli Jerry" — a pasta statue made by Kramer that resembles Jerry doing a stand-up routine.
Later, when the gang takes Frank to a proctologist, Kramer spots a picture of a boat called "ASSMAN". He approaches the doctor and confirms that their plates got mixed up. That night, Frank and George come home from the proctologist, and Estelle is so overwhelmed with relief that she starts to cry, ruining her eye job.
"The Fusilli Jerry" had a large number of writers.Marjorie Gross and her brother Jonathan came up with the Jerry, George, and Elaine stories;Ron Hauge andCharlie Rubin came up with the license plate story; and Marjorie Gross wrote the actual teleplay.[2] The writers had not intended forDavid Puddy to be funny himself, only to serve as a foil toElaine, and so were impressed with how funnyPatrick Warburton made the character in his audition.[3]
The sequence whereFrank Costanza falls on "Fusilli Jerry" required numerous takes, with actorJerry Stiller making a different vocalization of pain on each take.[3] Throughout the sceneJulia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Elaine, had to dig her fingernails into her skin to keep from breaking out into laughter at Stiller's performance; she can be seen doing this in the finished episode when Stiller first comes in.[4]
"The Fusilli Jerry" has generally attracted positive reception from critics. In 1995, John P. McCarthy ofVariety said of the episode, "OnlySeinfeld could deal with proctology, lovemaking techniques and corkscrew pasta in the same half-hour, and with hilarious results."[5] David Sims ofThe A.V. Club called the episode "the 'classic' episode of season 6, the episode with tropes everyone remembers, much like 'The Puffy Shirt' of season 5, 'The Contest' of season 4 and so on and so forth." Sims also praised the clever intersection of the episode's plotlines as well as Kramer's story arc, dubbing the episode the "best Kramer episode ever."[6]
Rolling Stone named the episode one of the "10Seinfeld Episodes You Forgot You Loved" that gets "unfairly overlooked."[7]Vulture named "The Fusilli Jerry" the fourteenth best Seinfeld episode, praising the "brilliant way" Kramer stops short on Estelle Costanza as well as the introduction of David Puddy.[8]