The Summer of George

"The Summer of George" is the 156th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It was also the 22nd and final episode of the 8th season. It aired on May 15, 1997.

Plot

George discovers he has a severance package from the New York Yankees that should last him about 3 months. He decides that he is going to take the summer off, which he declares the "Summer of George." Jerry and Kramer are going to the Tony Awards. Jerry has a real seat; Kramer is a seat-filler. Elaine critiques a co-worker (Molly Shannon) who walks with no arm movements and is accused of being "catty." Jerry picks up his date to the Tonys, a waitress named Lanette (Amanda Peet), only to find out that she has a man (or rather, a "dude") living with her. While filling a seat for a nominee who has stepped away, Kramer is accidentally whisked to the stage by excited Tony winners moving through his row. As a result, he receives a Tony Award for a musical in which Raquel Welch is the star. Elaine tries to work things out with her co-worker, to no avail. Kramer uses his Tony as a ticket into a place he really shouldn't be, Sardi's, where the producers of Scarsdale Surprise have a proposition for him. Jerry's date decides to commit to him. Elaine's complaints to men about her co-worker only seem to pique their interest in the possibility of a cat fight. Jerry's girlfriend begins to wear him out; she is always on the go. George suggests that perhaps they team up to handle Lanette. To keep his Tony award, Kramer must fire the non-arm swinging Raquel Welch from the production. Jerry goes on a date and needs George to handle the invitations for Lanette's party. He is not to skimp this time. Kramer does his duty and pays a price. A mad Raquel walking down the street gets into a cat fight with Elaine, who she thinks is making fun of her by imitating her co-worker's lack of arm-swinging. George gets distracted and slips on an invitation. In the aftermath, the gang is back where they were a year ago, only this time George is the one in a hospital bed. The final scene of this episode pays homage to the ending of Season 7's "The Invitations." "The Summer of George" was originally going to be titled "The Dude."

Era highlights

Little is known as to what George Costanza actually did with his summer. Despite his good intentions, the era appears to consist primarily of a lazy guy with too much time on his hands. What is known is that the era consists of at least the following:

1. Reading a book, from beginning to end and in that order.
2. Playing frolf. He plays at least once.
3. Watching television programming, like The White Shadow and the Tony Awards.
4. At least in the first couple days, he intended to relax or as he termed it, de-compress. Jerry derogatorily refers to this period as decomposing.
5. Purchasing a new recliner with a refrigerator in it, stocked with soda.
6. Mid-morning naps.
7. Insignificant telephone conversations.
8. Banging his head on tables.
9. Assisting Jerry in maintaining his relationship with Lanette (Amanda Peet), a younger woman Jerry is dating. He acts as Jerry's relationship intern, ex, making dinner reservations on Jerry's behalf, coordinating Jerry's outfits, suggesting compliments, purchasing invitations for a party that Lanette is throwing, etc.
10. Growing a mustache.

Post-era

While performing one of his chores for Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza slips on one of the party invitations and falls down his apartment steps, severely injuring his legs. He is taken to New York Hospital. In the presence of Jerry, Elaine Benes and Cosmo Kramer, the doctor gives George the bad news:

Unmoved by this news, Jerry, Elaine and Kramer decide to go for coffee and leave him. As they walk away, he shouts at them : "This was supposed to be the Summer of George!" We next see George in physical therapy, trying to walk with the assistance of parallel bars. He falls. He notes, however, that there is still a little summer left. In this scene, we can also see a physical therapist coaching Molly Shannon's character on how to swing her arms while walking.

References

The line "So what's the deal with airplane peanuts?" which is said by Jerry in the scene where George is deciding between Jerry and Frolf, is referring to Jerry's actual stand-up routine.