The Ex-Girlfriend
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"The Ex-Girlfriend" is the first episode of the
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
''s second season and the show's sixth episode overall. The episode was first broadcast 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 ...
in the United States on January 23, 1991, after being postponed for one week due to the start of the
First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
. During the course of the show,
George Costanza George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecurities, often dooming his romantic rela ...
breaks up with his girlfriend Marlene and leaves some books in her apartment. He persuades his friend Jerry to retrieve them. Jerry starts dating Marlene, who annoys him as much as she did George, but he finds himself unable to break up with her because she has a "psycho-sexual" hold on him. Co-written by the series' co-creators
Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
and
Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...
, the episode was inspired by one of David's personal experiences. Directed by
Tom Cherones Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
, "The Ex-Girlfriend" was the first episode of the show filmed at CBS Studio Center in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
(and would stay there for the remainder of the show's run), the previous season having been filmed at Desilu Cahuenga in Hollywood. The episode received a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 10.9/17 and was positively received by critics.


Plot

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 ...
wants to break up with his girlfriend Marlene, whose tendency to drag out conversations and phone messages irritates him. After an emotional split, he realizes he has left some books in her apartment. Jerry tries to convince George that he does not need the books, as he has already read them, but George nevertheless persuades Jerry to get them for him. Jerry meets with Marlene so he can retrieve the books. She tells him that she and Jerry can still be friends, despite her recent break-up. Jerry and Marlene start dating; though Jerry finds her just as annoying as George did, and fears that George will be enraged when he finds out they are dating, he finds she has a "psycho-sexual" hold on him. Elaine is upset that a man she was once friendly acquaintances with now no longer even gives her a nod of acknowledgment when she sees him. She eventually builds up the courage to aggressively confront him about this. Inspired by her example, Jerry tells George about Marlene. George tells Jerry he has no problem with him dating Marlene. The following night, Jerry asks Marlene to come up to his apartment, but she breaks up with him. She says she did not think his stand-up comedy act was funny, and she could not date someone if she did not respect what they did.


Cultural references

The episode contains a number of
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
references. Elaine mentions that a man she knows used to nod at her whenever she saw him, but suddenly stopped, leading her to state, " he went from nods to nothing." This prompts George to hum the
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
song "
Rags to Riches Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in literature and popula ...
," replacing the chorus with "nods to nothing". During a discussion with Elaine, Jerry mentions the 1958 film ''
The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first feature film leading role) and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe a ...
''. Jerry also mentions the novel ''
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...
'', jokingly stating that "when you read ''Moby Dick'' the second time, Ahab and the whale become good friends". After George receives a bill from his
chiropractor Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudoscie ...
, he states "75 bucks? What, am I seeing
Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
in there?"


Production

The episode was written by series co-creators
Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...
and
Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...
and directed by
Tom Cherones Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
. David based the story on a personal experience of his, when he gave a ride home to a woman who had recently dated a friend of his. He would frequently come up with the idea for an episode and make it into a teleplay with Seinfeld's help; in a 1991 interview with the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', Seinfeld stated: "Most of the stories are from avid'slife. He just has a tremendous wellspring of ideas. I mean, he just fills notebooks with ideas and I try to help him, but Larry is really the designer of the show." David Sims of
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
commented, "''Seinfeld'' started its second season, its first real season after a four-episode test run, very strongly with "The Ex-Girlfriend", and it is the first time we really see George as the character we know and love, that weird dark shadow of Larry David's mind who behaves as no functioning human being honestly could." Among the actresses who auditioned for the part of Marlene were
Amy Yasbeck Amy Marie Yasbeck (born September 12, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Casey Chappel Davenport on the sitcom ''Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Acc ...
;
Jeri Ryan Jeri Lynn Ryan (née Zimmermann; born February 22, 1968) is an American actress who played the former Borg drone Seven of Nine in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', for which she was nominated four times for a Saturn Award and won in 2001. She has reprised ...
, who would go on to star in '' Star Trek: Voyager;'' and
Heidi Swedberg Heidi Swedberg is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her role as Susan Ross, the fiancée of George Costanza, on the television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. Early life Swedberg was raised in New Mexico and attended Sandia High Scho ...
. Swedberg was later cast as
Susan Ross This is a list of characters who appeared on ''Seinfeld''. This list features only characters who appeared in multiple episodes; those that appeared in only one are not included here. Primary characters Jerry Seinfeld George Costanza Elaine ...
for ''Seinfeld''s fourth season. Tracy Kolis, who at the time was known for her appearance in the
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...
'', was eventually cast for the part. She reappeared later in the season six episode "
The Soup ''The Soup'' is an American television series that aired weekly on E! from July 1, 2004, until December 18, 2015 as a revamped version of ''Talk Soup'' that focused on recaps of various popular culture and television moments of the week. The ...
", in which she portrayed a waitress named Kelly. Norman Brenner, who worked as
Michael Richards Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom '' Seinfeld''. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first enterin ...
'
stand-in A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and television production. Stand-ins a ...
on the show for all nine seasons, appears as an
extra Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...
during the second scene, walking by twice in different clothing. The first
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 ...
of the episode took place on October 17, 1990. It was filmed in front of a studio audience six days later, on October 23. Seinfeld's stand-up performances were filmed on October 29, 1990, along with the performances used in "
The Pony Remark "The Pony Remark" is the second episode of the second season of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld'', and the seventh episode overall. The episode was written by series co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, based on a remark David once made. In th ...
" and "
The Busboy "The Busboy" is the 17th episode of '' Seinfeld'' to air, despite being the eighth produced. The episode was the 12th and final episode of the show's second season. It aired on June 26, 1991. Plot Jerry, George, and Elaine are at dinner when a ...
". Filming of the episode took place on stage 19 of the CBS Studio Center in
Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...
, Los Angeles. "The Ex-Girlfriend" was the first episode to be filmed there, as the majority of season one was filmed in a studio called Desilu Cahuenga, in Hollywood, where ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...
'' had also been filmed. Tom Azzari designed the sets for the second season of the show, and was able to re-use various sets from the first season, thanks to
Castle Rock Entertainment Castle Rock Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a label of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself a subsidiar ...
's decision to store them in a large storage facility. The chiropractor's waiting room, in which George believes he was charged too much for a visit, was the only new set which appeared in the episode. Although the scenes in Monk's Cafe were filmed at the CBS Studio Center, the exterior of
Tom's Restaurant Tom's Restaurant is a diner located at 2880 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway (on the corner of West 112th Street) in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is on the ground floor of ...
, a diner at
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
and 112th Street in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
was used as the exterior for the cafe. The second scene of the episode, which takes place on a street, was filmed on CBS Studio Center's "New York Street", a set that consists of four very small store fronts. During seasons one to five, "New York Street" was the only set the writers could use to replicate
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. This scene, and additional scenes which take place in Jerry's car, were filmed on October 22 from 5:00 to 8:30  p.m. One or two members of the crew shook the car to give the impression that it was moving, though it never actually was. Other crew members would move lights around the set to simulate street lights or headlights of other cars. Behind the car, two lights on a wheeled stand were placed to give the impression that there was a car behind it. This technique is called "poor man's process", because it is cheaper than other ways of achieving the effect. The show had previously experimented with this technique in the season one episode " The Stake Out". Some scenes in the episode were cut prior to broadcast. The opening scene in Jerry's car, in which George discusses breaking up with Marlene, originally had George proposing that he would stage his own kidnapping while walking down the street with Marlene, then hide out until she had given up on him. Although it was cut before the episode's broadcast, this scene was included on the ''Seinfeld Volume 1''
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
set. Another scene which was cut featured Jerry's neighbor Kramer entering Jerry's apartment carrying a plate with cantaloupe on toothpicks. Originally, the scene in which Jerry tells George that he is dating Marlene took place in a library, with a librarian repeatedly shushing George and Jerry and kicking them out of the library at the end of the scene. The location was changed to Monk's Cafe because the dialogue had nothing to do with a library.


Reception

"The Ex-Girlfriend" was first broadcast 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 January 23, 1991, after being postponed for one week due to the start of the First Gulf War. The episode gained a Nielsen rating of 10.9 and an audience share of 17, meaning that 10.9% of American households watched the episode and 17% of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into it. Although ''Seinfeld'' would be considered a hit show by today's standards, NBC was disappointed with its ratings, and, after three weeks, put the show on a two-month break. Critics reacted positively to the episode. Joseph P. Kahn, a critic for the ''
Wilmington Morning Star ''Star-News'' is an American, English language daily newspaper for Wilmington, North Carolina, and its surrounding area (known as the Lower Cape Fear). It is North Carolina's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. It was owned by Halifax ...
'', called the episode's writing and acting "anything but hackneyed" and stated, "One safe prediction, ''Seinfeld'' will be here for a good long run this time around (referring to how its first season only had five episodes)." Joyce Millman of
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
stated that she disliked ''Seinfeld''s pilot episode, but after seeing a scene from "The Ex-Girlfriend" in which Jerry and Kramer discuss returning fruit, she was "awed by Seinfeld and co-creator/writer Larry David's brilliant grasp of, A) working-class Jewish craziness, and, B) the absurd humor of the deeply mundane." In a review of the episode, Jon Burlingame of ''
The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'' stated, "''Seinfeld'' is an offbeat take on the standard sitcom concept. While rarely hilarious, it's often smart and amusing." In his review of the episode, ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' critic Rick Kogan stated, "Hip without posing, it delivers its comedy in sharp and spectacular style". Mike Flaherty and Mary Kaye Schilling of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' called "The Ex-Girlfriend" "The series' most multifaceted (if not most engaging) narrative so far", and graded it with a B. David Sims gave the episode an A, writing, "George is really the most revolutionary character: he's often repulsive and pathetic, but here these are traits we heartily enjoy and sympathize with and want more of... The best thing about this episode is that Jerry almost immediately getting with George's ex-girlfriend creates no drama in the group, though it would on almost any other sitcom." A relatively negative review came from ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' critic Lon Grahnke, who criticized Seinfeld's part in the episode: "this comedy series must ride on the shoulders of its star. And Seinfeld spends too much time shrugging". He also noted Dreyfus was not granted screentime, as opposed to Richards, whose acting performances he described as "get
ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...
tiresome". Overall, Grahnke commented "At his best, Seinfeld draws a chuckle or two from his middle-brow remarks on modern life and its perplexing contradictions. At his worst, the comedian shows the smugness of a detached star who can mechanically control the level of laughter that greets whatever quip he may utter."


References


External links


Episode script
*
"The Ex-Girlfriend"
on
Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ex-Girlfriend, The 1991 American television episodes Seinfeld (season 2) episodes Television episodes written by Larry David Television episodes written by Jerry Seinfeld