"The Alternate Side" is the 28th episode of the sitcom ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

''. The episode was the 11th episode of the show's third season, and aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on December 4, 1991. The episode was written by

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He is known for his dry wit, portrayals of awkward social situations, and brutally honest takes on everyday life. He has received two Prim ...

and Bill Masters, and was directed by

Tom Cherones Thomas Harry Cherones, Jr. ( ; born September 11, 1939) is an American television director, director and Television producer, producer of several TV series. He is best known for his work on ''Seinfeld'', where he directed 81 of the 86 episodes ...

. The idea for the Woody Allen story came from David's experiences working with Allen; he briefly appeared in '' Radio Days'' (1987) and ''

New York Stories ''New York Stories'' is a 1989 American anthology film consisting of three segments with the central theme being New York City. The first is ''Life Lessons'', directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The ...

'' (1989). He would later have a lead role in '' Whatever Works'' (2009). The episode repeatedly uses the line "these pretzels are making me thirsty", one of the first popular lines to emerge from the show, which inspired fans to throw pretzels during Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up comedy performances during the few months following its premiere. In 2012, Jerry Seinfeld identified this as his least-favorite episode, saying the stroke patient storyline made him feel uncomfortable.

Plot

Jerry's car is stolen and he is able to have a conversation with the thief (voiced by

) on the

car phone A car phone is a mobile radio telephone specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile. This service originated with the Bell System and was first used in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 17, 1946. Overview United States The original equ ...

. Kramer asks the thief to retrieve his gloves and send them back to him. George takes a job moving people's cars from one side of the street to the other to comply with alternate side parking regulations, temporarily taking over the job for a man named Sid while he's away visiting his sick nephew. Elaine cares for her 66-year-old boyfriend Owen, who has a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

just before she is about to break up with him. Kramer gets a single line in a

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

film: "These pretzels are making me thirsty." Overwhelmed by his new job, George causes a car collision and traffic jam, making it take longer for the ambulance to reach Owen, causing additional neural damage that could have been prevented. Due to the delays caused by George, a disgruntled Woody Allen says that he may never shoot a movie in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

again. Additionally, George's poor performance causes many of Sid's long-time customers to cancel, resulting in Sid being unable to finance his nephew's operation to save his foot, meaning that doctors will need to amputate it. While filming his scene, Kramer is fired after slamming his beer mug on the bar and accidentally injuring Allen with a flying shard of glass. Kramer gets his gloves back from the car thief but has no information about the car, which irritates Jerry.

Critical reception

The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' listed the "pretzels" line as one of "''Seinfeld'''s 25 greatest contributions to the English language." An article about Elaine's boyfriends, meanwhile, suggests that in the context of Woody Allen films, "perhaps Elaine's strange relationship with Owen, a senior citizen at 66, can be explained as some kind of ''

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

'' reference.".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alternate Side Seinfeld season 3 episodes 1991 American television episodes Television episodes written by Larry David Woody Allen