"The Andrea Doria" is the 144th episode of American television sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the tenth episode for the eighth season, originally airing on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on December 19, 1996. In this episode, Jerry helps Newman with getting a transfer by filling in for him on his mail route, Kramer's preference for veterinarians over doctors leads to him exhibiting dog-like behavior, Elaine dates a "bad breaker-upper", and

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

tries to win the

pity Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to ''compassion'', '' condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of ''piety''). Self-pity is pity ...

of a tenant association so he can get a new apartment.

Plot

Jerry rents out half his mini-storage unit to Kramer, who rents a quarter to Newman, who uses it for bags of mail. Newman explains that he is disgruntled because he didn't get a transfer to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and so is hiding his assigned mail. However, the mailman who got the transfer is fired for hoarding

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

catalogues, giving Newman another shot. Kramer refuses to go to a doctor for a bad cough. He finds a dog named Smuckers who has a cough, and takes him to a veterinarian, since he trusts vets more than doctors. However, his throat is too tender to swallow the medication, and he begins acting like a dog. Jerry tries to take Kramer to a doctor, but he runs away and gets in an argument with Newman about his moving away. He bites Newman's ankle, leaving him unable to deliver mail. Jerry delivers the rest of Newman's mail, hoping to help him get his transfer to Hawaii and move out of his life. But the post office finds out that Newman wasn't doing his route himself (too many people actually got their mail), so they don't give him the transfer. Elaine's

blind date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

Alan fails to show because he was stabbed by an ex-girlfriend. At first Elaine is enticed by the idea that he arouses such passion, but when another ex-girlfriend throws coffee in his face on their first date, Elaine checks his background and discovers Alan is a "bad breaker-upper." Deeming this an unacceptable flaw, Elaine breaks up with Alan. He retaliates by calling her "big head." The comment holds true when a cab-driver asks her to move her head and a bird crashes into her head. She decides to see Alan again to prove to herself she doesn't care about his comment. On their date, Alan tells her she has a bump on her nose, and she attacks him with a fork.

can't get a new apartment because the tenant association is giving it to an ''Andrea Doria'' survivor, Clarence. George is sympathetic at first, but after Kramer (who owns a book on real-life sea voyages) informs him of the details of the ''Andrea Doria'' (the ship took 10 hours to sink, and only 51 people died), he feels Clarence's case is weak. At Jerry's suggestion, George requests a hearing with the association and tells them various misfortunes of his life, leaving the committee in tears, but Alan gets the apartment instead by bribing the building's super. When George confronts him over this, Alan calls him "chinless". George rubs his chin and looks perturbed.

Production

The

table read The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted. In addition to the ca ...

for "The Andrea Doria" was held on November 14, 1996. The

cold open A cold open (also called a teaser sequence) is a narrative technique used in television and films. It is the practice of jumping directly into a story at the beginning of the show before the title sequence or opening credits are shown. In Amer ...

was filmed on November 18, and took six takes due to various technical problems. Most of the episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience on November 20. In order to make "The Andrea Doria" ''Seinfeld''s annual Christmas episode for season 8, Christmas decorations were put up in Monk's Cafe. Sequences which were filmed but deleted before broadcast due to length restrictions include Jerry noticing the dummy Mr. Marbles among Kramer's items going into storage, Kramer sticking his head out of the window of Jerry's car to clear his sinuses, Jerry offering to carry Newman on his back so Newman can complete his mail route, Jerry sabotaging a FedEx truck by releasing its emergency brake as part of his mail route, and George telling the tenant committee about his short lived hand modeling career in "

The Puffy Shirt "The Puffy Shirt" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It was the 66th episode and originally aired on September 23, 1993. The episode centers on Jerry having to wear an ostentatious "puffy" shirt ...

". In addition, an alternate ending to Jerry's attempt to take Kramer to the doctor was filmed, in which Kramer simply refuses to leave the car. Elaine's descriptor "stab-worthy" is a

callback Callback may refer to: * Callback (comedy), a joke which refers to one previously told * Callback (computer programming), executable code that is passed as a parameter to other code * Callback (telecommunications), the telecommunications event th ...

to "

The Sponge "The Sponge" is the 119th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the ninth episode for the seventh season. It aired on December 7, 1995. In this episode, George and Elaine face sexual crises when the Today brand of contraceptive sponge ...

", while the scene where Kramer leads police to the restaurant is an homage to the TV series '' Lassie''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrea Doria Seinfeld (season 8) episodes 1996 American television episodes