Can You Spare A Seinfeld Quiz?

Question: Which of Seinfeld’s four main characters did not appear in the show’s first episode?

Answer: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s iconic character was not in “The Seinfeld Chronicles.” Instead, the male members of the cast interacted with a sassy waitress named Claire, who was replaced by Elaine when the pilot was picked up for a full first season. (Incidentally, Michael Richards’s character was referred to as “Kessler” and not “Kramer” in the episode, which is later explained away as having derived from a misspelling on the intercom buzzer at Jerry’s and Kramer’s building.)

Question: What is the Latvian Orthodox name for the mysterious attraction women feel toward Kramer?

Answer: Kramer inadvertently makes Sister Roberta of the Latvian Orthodox church fall for him because of his kavorka (“the lure of the animal”). He ends the attraction by bathing in vinegar and wearing assorted foul-smelling foods around his neck.

Question: What is the topic of discussion in both the first and last conversations between George and Jerry on Seinfeld?

Answer: Both the first scene of the series and the last scene of a conversation between George and Jerry revolve around the poor location (in Jerry’s eyes) of the second button on George’s shirt. The latter conversation is not the final scene of the show, however, as the final episode’s closing credits run over a scene of Jerry performing poorly received stand-up to his fellow inmates at Latham County Prison in Massachusetts.

Question: When trying to fool an unemployment office, which job does George tell them he is applying for with Vandelay Industries?

Answer: Although he has always wanted to pretend to be an architect, George tells the unemployment office that he’s pursuing a job with the latex company Vandelay Industries. His ruse is foiled when Kramer answers Jerry’s phone (which George has given as the Vandelay number), while George is in the bathroom, and denies that the number has anything to do with “What-delay Industries.”

Question: In the episode “The Opposite,” Elaine’s consumption of which chewy candy inadvertently leads to her losing both her boyfriend and her job?

Answer: Elaine gets dumped by Jake Jarmel after he learns that she stopped to buy Jujyfruits from a movie-theater concession stand before heading to see him in the hospital. Later, a mouthful of the candy prevents her from warning her sick boss that he forgot his handkerchief at her desk, thereby scuttling a company-saving merger when he refuses to extend his germ-ridden hand to his proposed partners.

Question: What is “Golden Boy?”

Answer: In the episode “The Marine Biologist,” Golden Boy is a yellow T-shirt that Jerry has had for six years. At the end of the episode, he reveals that Golden Boy didn’t make it out of his most recent load of laundry and has been replaced in Jerry’s shirt rotation by his son, Baby Blue.

Question: Which of the following is not an alter ego used by one of the four main Seinfeld characters?

Answer: The best-known alias in the show is Art Vandelay, which George uses throughout Seinfeld’s run, while Jerry calls himself Kel Varnsen and Kramer goes by Martin Van Nostrand. Although he never appears on-screen, Kramer’s friend Bob Sacamano is a real person in the Seinfeld universe.

Question: What is Newman’s first name?

Answer: While the character may truly have a first name, it’s never revealed over the course of the show. In fact, the business card he hands out in the episode “The Package” simply says “Newman.”

Question: What is the name George planned to give his child?

Answer: George had long dreamed of naming his child—regardless of sex—Seven, because of its uniqueness and as a tribute to his favorite baseball player, Mickey Mantle. His plan is thwarted when Susan mentions George’s idea to her pregnant cousin, and she and her husband decide to name their forthcoming child Seven, overruling George’s desperate attempts to convince them to go with Soda.

Question: Which film does Elaine want to see before being forced into watching The English Patient when her preferred movie sells out?

Answer: Elaine is excited to find out how a family got into a large brown paper bag, but her hopes are thwarted, and she’s forced to watch The English Patient (which she loathes), never learning if they got shrunk down or if it’s just a giant sack.

Question: Who is George’s favorite explorer?

Answer: After Jerry expresses his admiration for Magellan, George notes that his favorite explorer is de Soto because he discovered the Mississippi. (”Yeah, like they wouldn’t have found that anyway,” retorts Jerry.)

Question: Why does Elaine break up with Carl, the mover who relocates Jerry’s old couch to her apartment?

Answer: Elaine is immediately smitten with the ruggedly handsome mover when he shows up to Jerry’s apartment. Their romance gets off to a perfect start until the pro-choice Elaine—after being needled by Jerry—asks how he feels about abortion (he opposes it), which she previously had stated would be a deal breaker in any potential relationship.

Question: Which cast member of the acclaimed television drama Breaking Bad (2008–13) never appeared on Seinfeld?

Answer: Aaron Paul is the only one of these three Breaking Bad actors to have never had a role on Seinfeld. Bob Odenkirk and Anna Gunn each appeared in one episode as romantic interests of Elaine and Jerry, respectively. Bryan Cranston played dentist (and man who converted to Judaism for the jokes) Tim Whatley in five episodes of the series.

Question: While eating shrimp in a meeting, George is told by a coworker that “the ocean called—they’re running out of shrimp.” What is the comeback line he later thinks up?

Answer: When George unleashes his retort at a meeting at his now ex-coworkers new job, he’s told “what’s the difference—you’re their all-time best seller!” He then uses Kramer’s suggested insult and says “I had sex with your wife,” only to learn that the man’s wife is in a coma.

Question: Which role was not played by series cocreator Larry David?

Answer: He was never credited for any of his numerous roles on the show, but Larry David supplied the voice of George Steinbrenner, played Frank Costanza’s lawyer (who wears a cape for some reason), and was the offscreen voice of Newman when Jerry’s obnoxious neighbor was first referenced, in the second-season episode “The Revenge.” (David’s lines were dubbed over for syndicated broadcasts by Wayne Knight after he was cast as the on-screen Newman.)