"The Seven" is the 123rd episode of the

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 ...

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 ...

''. This was the 13th episode for the seventh season, originally airing on February 1, 1996. In this episode, Elaine and Kramer turn to

Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

to resolve a dispute over which of them is rightful owner of a bike,

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

wants to name his first child Seven, and

Jerry Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * Jerry (play), a 1914 American play ...

dates a woman who seemingly never changes her clothes.

Plot

Elaine strains her neck trying to get a bike down from the wall in an antiques store.

had been oblivious to Elaine's struggles, as he was working on getting the phone number of a woman, Christie. Elaine impulsively vows to give the bike to whoever fixes her neck. Kramer claims to be skilled in

shiatsu ''Shiatsu'' ( ; ) is a form of Japanese Bodywork (alternative medicine), bodywork based on concepts in traditional Chinese medicine such as Meridian (Chinese medicine), qi meridians. Having been popularized in the twentieth century by Tokujiro N ...

technique and relieves her aching neck. He then demands the bike despite it being a girl's model. Elaine reluctantly gives it to him, but the next day, her neck pain returns worse than ever, so she demands the bike back. Kramer refuses. They appeal to

as a neutral third party to resolve the dispute. He declares that they should cut the bike in half, so Elaine and Kramer can both have it. Elaine scoffs at the proposal, whereas Kramer tells Newman to give the bike to Elaine, saying he would rather it belong to her than be destroyed. Newman gives the bike to Kramer, stating that the bike's true owner wouldn't want it destroyed. Kramer starts keeping a record of what he takes from Jerry's fridge, asking Jerry to bill him. At the end of the week, the bill is more than he can pay, so he sells the bike to Newman. Finding Newman riding the bike on the street, Elaine tries to reclaim the bike by grabbing his scarf as he rides away.

tells

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, the usual English version of Susanna or Susannah. All are versions of the Hebrew name Shoshana, which is derived from the Hebrew ''shoshan'', meaning ''lotus flower'' in Egyptian, original derivation, and severa ...

that he wants to name his future firstborn child Seven (after

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

's jersey number) but Susan finds the name ridiculous. When Susan tells her expectant cousin Carrie and her husband Ken about the argument, they love the name and decide to give it to their child. Feeling that the name will lose its appeal if it is not unique, George follows them to the hospital as Carrie is going into labor, to no avail trying to get them to switch to a different name. Jerry is mystified that Christie is wearing the same dress every day he sees her. When he wrangles a visit to her apartment, he sees a 1992 photo of her wearing the same outfit. Consumed with curiosity, he starts rummaging through her closet looking for other outfits. She catches him and insists that he leave. The next day she breaks up with him over the phone, denying his pleas for an in-person breakup.

Production

The man in the photo with Christie is episode co-writer

Alec Berg Alec Berg (born ) is an American television writer, director and producer. Early life, family and education Berg, who is of Swedish descent, is a graduate of Harvard University. Career He wrote for the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. He is co-creator w ...

. Newman's means of determining the bike's rightful owner is based on the

Judgment of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Old Testament in which Solomon ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered the baby be cut in half, with each woman to receive one half. The first woman accept ...

, a Biblical story in which

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

determined which of two women is the mother of a child. The ending of the episode's George story was abbreviated during editing. Among the cuts were George telling the hospital staff that he is the father of Carrie's child so that he can fill out the paperwork which identifies the child's name, and a scene in which Jerry and Susan admire the infant Seven while George continues to brood.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seven, The 1996 American television episodes Seinfeld season 7 episodes Television episodes written by Alec Berg Television episodes written by Jeff Schaffer