"The Merv Griffin Show" is the 162nd episode of the

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 ...

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 ...

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 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

''. This was the sixth episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on November 6, 1997 and appeared on DVD ten years later. In this episode, Kramer finds the original set for ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'' and uses it to revive the show in his apartment, Elaine contends with a new co-worker who stealthily sidles behind her, and Jerry drugs his girlfriend so that he can play with her collection of toys.

Plot

Kramer stumbles across the set of ''

'' in a dumpster. He takes the discarded set pieces and arranges them in his apartment. He pretends the show is still on the air and acts as the host, playing the show's theme whenever "guests" come onto the set, and conducting interviews with them. Kramer adds

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A * Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer * Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 196 ...

as a co-host for his "show". George's girlfriend, Miranda, is so appalled when George runs over some

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s with his car that she stops having sex with him. George is baffled that pigeons no longer move out of the way when he approaches. Not wanting to worsen his standing with Miranda, George swerves to avoid a pigeon, but instead hits a

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

. Miranda pressures George into paying for surgery required to save the squirrel's life and housing it during its

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

. Jerry is intrigued with his new girlfriend Celia's vintage toy collection that she refuses to let him touch. When Celia asks for a pain reliever, he gives her a nighttime pain reliever so he can play with her toys while she sleeps. George wants in on this, so they treat Celia to a dinner of turkey (which contains

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromatic ...

) and red wine, followed by a four-hour home movie. Once she is asleep, Jerry and George play with the toys. Elaine joins in as well. Jerry tells Kramer about this; Kramer is horrified by Jerry's actions as this might affect the standard of his talk show. Elaine's new co-worker, Lou, moves so quietly that she can't hear him even when he's right behind her. He uses this ability to steal half the credit for her accomplishments by sidling behind her whenever she presents her work. Elaine uses his trick against him by wearing wrestling shoes, but this backfires since Lou's work is shoddy. Elaine gives

Tic Tac Tic Tac (stylized as "tic tac") is a brand of small, hard mint manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero. They were first produced in 1969 and are now available in a variety of flavours in over 100 countries. Tic Tacs are usually sold in sma ...

s to Lou to make him noisy. The sound annoys J. Peterman, who says Elaine will be fired if he hears it again. Elaine suggests Lou use gum instead. Lou says the only gum he enjoys is the

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

gumball machine A gumball machine is a type of bulk vending machine that dispenses individual gumballs in exchange for money. Originally priced at one penny when introduced in the early 20th century, the standard cost of one gumball in the United States is now ...

which they stopped making 20 years ago. Elaine and Lou knock out Celia once again to access her gumball machine. Concerned about his ratings, Kramer changes the format to a tabloid talk show and invites on old friend and animal expert

Jim Fowler James Mark Fowler (April 9, 1930 – May 8, 2019) was an American professional zoologist and host of the acclaimed wildlife documentary television show Mutual of Omaha's ''Wild Kingdom''. Early years Born in Albany, Georgia, Fowler spent ...

, who arrives with a

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

. On the "show", Kramer gets Jerry to admit that he has been drugging Celia. Kramer then brings out an angry Celia (who was "backstage"), and goads on their subsequent argument. George brings the squirrel onto the set to get Fowler to take it off his hands, but the hawk goes after it. The Merv Griffin set is destroyed in the process.

Production

The episode's writer,

Bruce Eric Kaplan Bruce Eric Kaplan (born }) is an American cartoonist whose single-panel cartoons frequently appear in ''The New Yorker''. His cartoons are known for their signature simple style and often dark humor. Kaplan is also a screenwriter and has worked ...

, successfully pitched the story of Jerry borrowing a prized

Super Ball A Super Ball or Superball is a toy bouncy ball based on a type of synthetic rubber invented in 1964 by chemist Norman Stingley. It is an extremely elastic ball made of Zectron, which contains the synthetic polymer polybutadiene as well as h ...

from his girlfriend and then losing it; Jerry Seinfeld, being a toy enthusiast, adapted this idea into his girlfriend having a whole collection of vintage toys. The

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

for the episode was "The Merv Griffin Set". The exterior scenes and the shot of the hawk attacking George were filmed on October 13, 1997, with additional scenes shot on October 14, followed by a live audience taping of the scenes in Kramer's apartment on October 15. Since the real set for ''The Merv Griffin Show'' had long since been destroyed, the ''Seinfeld'' crew had to replicate it, using archival photos of the show for reference. The set for Jerry's apartment had to be dismantled to make room for the Kramer's apartment set. As a result, this is one of the few episodes in which Jerry's apartment is not seen.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merv Griffin Show (Seinfeld), The Merv Griffin Show (Seinfeld episode), The 1997 American television episodes