The Mom & Pop Store

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"The Mom & Pop Store"
Seinfeld episode
Kramer talking to Mom and Pop.
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 94
Written by	Tom Gammill & Max Pross
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Original airdate	November 17, 1994
Guest stars
Jon Voight
Season 6 episodes
Seinfeld – Season 6 September 1994 – May 1995
"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100, Part 1" "The Highlights of 100, Part 2" "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
List of Seinfeld episodes

"The Mom & Pop Store" is the 94th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 8th episode for the 6th season. It aired on November 17, 1994.

Plot

George is set to buy a 1989 Volvo 240 Sedan, but instead the car salesman talks him into buying a 1983 LeBaron convertible, said to be previously owned by Jon Voight, as George liked the idea of driving Jon Voight's car. Elaine wants to date Jerry's dentist, Tim Whatley. Kramer tells that a "Mom and Pop" shoe repair store is about to close, and convinces Jerry to lend him his sneakers to take them to the store, commenting that he has a Peter Pan complex on account of his persistence on wearing sneakers as casual footwear. While there Kramer's nose starts to bleed, leading him to notice the wires hanging out of the ceiling and suggest calling an electrician.

At Mr. Pitt's office Elaine is taking the salt off his pretzels while listening the radio. Mr. Pitt wants Elaine to guess an oldie song so he can win a ticket to hold the Woody Woodpecker balloon in the Thanksgiving Parade. The songs mentioned by Elaine, such as "Honeysuckle Jump by Artie Shaw," and "Next Stop Pottersville," are fictional and the titles and music were made up for the episode.

Kramer took all of Jerry's sneakers and left him only a pair of cowboy boots. Elaine, George, and Kramer all get invitations to Whatley's Thanksgiving party but Jerry is uncertain whether he was invited or not.

While riding "Jon Voight's" car Jerry notices a chewed pencil and the owner's booklet. The previous owner was "John Voight", not "Jon Voight". Jerry makes fun of George and gets kicked out the car; he then tries to run from some guys but slips because of the boots, causing him to hurt his teeth. Jerry decides to crash the party where many dentists may be present.

Apparently Mom and Pop couldn't afford to repair the ceiling so they closed the store, taking all of Jerry's sneakers. Elaine goes to pick up the ticket for Mr. Pitt but must withstand loud oldies before receiving it. While walking down the street Kramer sees Jon Voight and tries to ask him about George's car, but gets bitten by him instead.

At the party Elaine can't hear a thing because of the loud music she listened to before, and inadvertently turns down a date from Whatley. Meanwhile, George and Kramer seek a dentist to match the bite marks on Kramer's arm with those on the chewed pencil. As it turns out, the previous owner of the car was not Jon Voight, the actor, but Dr. John Voight, a periodontist friend of Dr. Whatley. While trying to show his teeth to a dentist, Jerry accidentally pushes a small statue of the Empire State Building out the window and pierces the Woody Woodpecker balloon with Mr. Pitt under it.

Later, Jerry receives a call that Mom and Pop are selling his sneakers in a garage sale in Parsippany, New Jersey. Jerry and Kramer decide to head out there and confront Mom and Pop, but as Jerry's car is in the shop they take the bus instead. On their way to New Jersey, Kramer's nose starts bleeding again, in a scene parodying Midnight Cowboy (the film is also referenced earlier when George tries to hum Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'":

Everybody's talkin' at me

Can't hear a word they're sayin'

[George improvises] Just drivin' around in Jon Voight's car...

Guest stars

• Jon Voight - Himself
• Bryan Cranston - Tim Whatley
• Ian Abercrombie - Mr. Pitt
• Elsa Raven - Mom
• Tom Wright - Morgan
• Dan Frischman - "Guy on Phone"
• Rick Fitts - Dentist

Origin

Part of this episode was inspired by events that actually happened to writer Tom Gammill. He purchased a car purely based on the belief that it had previously been owned by Jon Voight, only to find out later that he had been lied to. He kept the car, however, and it was used as George's car in both this episode and Season 7's "The Gum". In an interview for the movie "National Treasure", Jon Voight admitted that the car Gamill purchased was purported to have been owned by his mother, and not himself.

Quotes

• Kramer: They didn't have any kids!
• Jerry: Mom and pop aren't even a mom and pop!

• Kramer: You look like a cowboy!
• Jerry: I don't wanna be a cowboy!

• Jerry: I know sometimes I spell my name with a "G"... and an "i"! [sounding laughter]

• Elaine: So Mom and Pop's plan was to move into the neighborhood, establish trust ... for 48 years, and then run off with Jerry's sneakers?
• Kramer: Apparently.

• Kramer: (Kramer cracks his head on chair arm) What's with your ceiling?
• Mom: What do you mean?
• Kramer: You got wires sticking every which way. It looks dangerous. You should call an electrician.
• Pop: You know in the 48 years we've been here, I don't think we've ever called an electrician.
• Kramer: Well you should. This place could blow any minute.

• Jerry: You don't want to go [to Tim Whatley's party] with me?
• George: Jerry, for all I know, this guy went out of his way to not invite you. How am I going to feel if I show up with an uninvited, unwelcome intruder?
• Jerry: The way I feel when I go places with you?

• Whatley: Hey, who invited you anyway, you're a troublemaker.
• Jerry: [laughs like Woody Woodpecker]

• Kramer: Jerry, these nose bleeds are startin' again.
• Jerry: Oh, maybe we should get you to a hospital.
• Kramer: Hey, I ain't going to no Bellevue. Look at me, I'm fallin' apart here.

Trivia

• For the syndicated repeats, this episode is just one in a few this season to keep Jerry's opening stand-up routine intact.