![]() ![]() It happens to be about masturbation, but it could just as easily be about dating a woman with man hands, or a giant ball of oil being dropped out of a window. So it’s not surprising that “The Contest” no longer feels edgy, or dangerous, or iconoclastic. This article has used the word “masturbation” a dozen times already, and you probably didn’t even blink at it. You can joke about it without a single layer of euphemism. Today, people talk about masturbation on network television with impunity. (Well, that and the fact it’s about jacking it.)īut the nature of edginess, by and large, is that eventually, the edge dulls. This is what people primarily remember “The Contest” for. Phrases were invented to dance around the issue at hand (ahem)-“master of your domain” and things of that ilk. Now, not only is masturbation never directly mentioned, but no real euphemisms are used, either. In the end, there are simply no winners when you try to see how long you and your friends can go without masturbating, or so “The Contest” posits. It is alluded to, later, that George won, but then it becomes known that he cheated to win the contest. We don’t find out the winner during the episode, but Jerry’s girlfriend is horrified when she finds out about the contest, and ends up dating JFK Jr. Elaine ends up the second character out, much to everybody’s surprise. Throughout the episode, we see everybody in bed-those still in the contest tossing and turning, and the others sleeping soundly. Also, he’s George-a man with little to no self-restraint anyway. George’s mom is in the hospital next to a beautiful woman getting sponge baths from a beautiful nurse. Kennedy Jr., AKA John-John, which builds up her anxiety. Elaine has the chance to get romantically involved with John F. Jerry’s also dating a virgin, played by Jane Leeves (who went on to play Daphne on Frasier), so he’s still sexually frustrated. There’s a beautiful nude woman in an apartment across the street from Jerry, which leads to Kramer being knocked out of the contest very quickly, in the episode’s biggest laugh moment. Naturally, a series of logistical issues begin to unveil themselves for our main quartet. Jerry, George, and Kramer put in 100 bucks in a competition to see who can go the longest without engaging in a bit of self-gratification, and Elaine chips in $150 to get in, given the presumption among the contestants not masturbating will be easier for her. Jerry is dubious, and thus the titular contest begins. As such, George vows to never masturbate again. George’s mother stumbles upon him masturbating in her house, and, in her shock, winds up in the hospital. So, here in 2016, over 20 years later, where does “The Contest” fit into our modern world?įor those who do not recall, and given how often Seinfeld airs in syndication this may be an exercise in futility, here’s a brief synopsis of the plot. That can’t help but date “The Contest” to some degree. Way back then, they had to talk around the subject on a network show. It pushed the envelope, even though it never mentioned the topic at hand. For the time that it aired, it was an incredibly edgy half-hour of television. It’s considered, by many, if not most, to be one of the greatest Seinfeld episodes of all time. Very nice that you could share that though, with America,” Conan shot back.“The Contest” won Larry David an Emmy Award for writing, and was named the best TV episode of all time by TV Guide in 2009. But I was weakening in the last couple of days,” Larry David confessed. Are you the one that won the contest, just as George did in the show?” Conan O’Brien asked. “Because in the show, you pretty much are the George Costanza character. ![]() I was talking to a friend of mine one day, and we decided on this contest.” Cause you know, you gotta be motivated to do it. “I needed some motivation to get out of that. There was too much of it going on, I wanted out! I didn’t wanna have anything to with it anymore,” David replied. “I just…got a little tired of it, you know? It seemed like it was, it seemed like it was in the air. “Yeah that was based on something that actually happened to me,” Larry David told Conan O’Brien, who then asked why he engaged in such a competition. In the case of “The Contest,” that may be because the plot actually happened to Larry David. They’re so beloved because they are relatable. ![]() Seinfeld, and even Curb Your Enthusiasm, are ultimately shows about the ludicrous, frustrating, and sometimes unnavigable situations life and society throw our way. ![]()
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