Some might think this is something one says to a horse. Hence, the standard all future boyfriends had to meet was sponge-worthiness. Sure, Elaine might like a guy enough to jump in the hay without thinking twice, but when the Today Sponge went off the market and Elaine bought up the last case in the city, she learned to be a little more discriminating. What is it about the shiksa that holds such allure? We don’t know - but “Seinfeld” named it “shiksappeal.” (His glibness was justified - it was the Moors who invaded Spain in 711, not the Moops.)Īs any reader of Philip Roth knows, many Jewish men fall victim to the siren song of the non-Jewish woman (a k a the shiksa).
The characteristics of this bubble boy were rudeness, a raging libido, violence and glibness.
When John Travolta starred in the made-for-TV movie “Boy in the Plastic Bubble,” the idea of a young man with no immune system inspired tears and pathos.īut a “bubble boy” became a whole new concept in “Seinfeld’s” hands. At least this is the garment Jerry wore on the “Today” show. You might end up wearing a loose-fitting white blouse - like the ones pirates used to wear - on national television. When a low talker asks you a question, don’t just smile and nod. The “sideler” (n., sid-ler), an underling who sneaks up alongside you to take a share of credit for your work.Īnd, of course, the two face (n., too fas), the woman who will look attractive one minute, ugly the next.
The “low talker” (n., lo-tokr), the quiet person who murmurs their questions and traps you into doing crazy things. The “close talker” (n., kloz-tokr), anyone who stands too close when he speaks to you. Close talker, low talker, sideler, two faceĪmong the many terms and phrases invented by “Seinfeld,” four stand out. In honor of those 25 years, here are 25 things that “Seinfeld” added to the popular vernacular over the course of its nine seasons on the air (1989-98). It didn’t do particularly well at first, but it slowly began gathering viewers and then - yada yada yada - it permanently changed the way that we, as New Yorkers, talk. Go HERE for more detailed information about my work on the Silly Putty series.Twenty-five years ago this Saturday, “Seinfeld” debuted on NBC. I think it goes really well with a Big Salad! Nothing else is Silly Putty and nothing else is Seinfeld. It fits really well into this time period. Of the four packages, it has the most distinctive 90s graphics. It's nice, too, that set people on Seinfeld chose Fluorescent Silly Putty. I've never even seen them for sale on eBay! But now I've seen them on Seinfeld! I have searched the internet for several years and have yet to see them posted anywhere. These packages appear to be extremely rare.
I designed and illustrated four blister cards in this series - Classic Silly Putty, Fluorescent Silly Putty, Glow-In-The Dark Silly Putty, and Glitter Silly Putty. To have this particular packaging appear even incidentally in a Seinfeld episode is such a thrill! Silly Putty was my first major toy packaging commission. But this time, Larry David had me sucked into the story and the characters a little too much.
I'm always looking at TV and movie scenes for products or odd-ball stuff. I blame this for the reason I never caught the Silly Putty before. The scene (the entire show) is very funny. The clerk, by the way, is very interested in Elaine and she soon finds herself trying to elude his romantic advances. It's high on a shelf right behind the stationery store clerk. So, it was a total shock when watching The Big Salad for the umpteenth time when my wife shouted out, "That's your Silly Putty packaging!" WHAT?! I grabbed the remote, stepped the scene back and sure enough, there it was! All this time, Fluorescent Silly Putty hanging in the stationary store where Elaine had gone to buy a very expensive Rolamech 1000 mechanical pencil for Mr. Let's face it, I'm a fan and have studied this show in minute detail.
Since then, I've probably seen this episode countless times - in reruns and in the DVD box set Seinfeld: The Complete Series. I saw it when it first aired on September 29, 1994. I was watching Seinfeld last night with my wife.