Over the course of its 180 episodes, Seinfeld generally went to some fairly bizarre locations for comedy. A few of its darkest episodes, like “The Limo,” through which George (Jason Alexander) unwittingly poses as a well-known white supremacist, and “The Opera,” which sees the return of “Crazy” Joe Davola, have been written by the identical man, Larry Charles. Charles additionally penned the Season 5 episode, “The Bris,” which covers the whole lot from suicide, the ethics of circumcision, and considered one of Seinfeld’s most weird plot strains, Kramer’s (Michael Richards) discovery of the so-called pig-man. Whereas visiting mates who lately had a child, Kramer by accident barges into the incorrect hospital room and is horrified to search out what he refers to as a “pig man.” As lately revealed by Charles in his memoir Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts and Laughter, the pig-man was really impressed by the 1973 British satirical drama O Fortunate Man! starring Malcolm McDowell.
Larry Charles Was Chargeable for A few of ‘Seinfeld’s Weirdest Episodes
Described as “a present about nothing,” a lot of Seinfeld’s comedy revolves round mundane conditions and petty relationship battle, however will generally venture into dark and absurd territory. Although the collection had a proficient workforce of writers, together with Larry David himself, Charles was the person behind a number of the present’s most memorable episodes. Together with the groundbreaking Season 4 episode, “The Outing,” Charles additionally introduced the present to a few of its darkest locations, comedically. Within the Season 2 episode, “The Child Bathe,” Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is shot and killed throughout a dream sequence. In his Season 5 episode, “The Fireplace,” George reaches a new low when he pushes youngsters and an previous lady out of the way in which to flee a home fireplace throughout a baby’s celebration. “The Opera” from Season 4 looks like a mini-horror film when “Loopy” Joe Davola (Peter B. Crombie) stalks Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) dressed as Pagliacci the clown.
Seinfeld can also be identified for incorporating references to motion pictures and different tv collection – both real and fictional – into its episodes and plot strains. There are references to and parodies of flicks like Midnight Cowboy, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, JFK, and extra. Charles did so in a few episodes as effectively, making a Dragnet-style plot line within the Season 3 episode, “The Library,” that includes Philip Baker Hall in one of many present’s finest visitor roles. And for considered one of Seinfeld’s darkest and most weird episodes, Season 5’s “The Bris,” Charles made reference to Lindsay Anderson’s O Fortunate Man! when Kramer discovers what he believes to be a pig-man on the hospital.
Associated
I Love ‘Seinfeld,’ but 30 Years Later, I Wish I Could Erase This Episode From My Memory
And also you thought Bryan Cranston’s Walter White was a nasty man.
The Pig-Man in “The Bris” Was Impressed by a Scene From ‘O Fortunate Man!’
All three plot strains of “The Bris” cowl some fairly darkish territory. The episode revolves round Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer’s mates Stan (Tom Alan Robbins) and Myra (Jeannie Elias), who’ve simply had their first child. Whereas visiting them within the hospital after the beginning, George gloats about his excellent parking spot proper in entrance of the hospital doorways, however issues shortly take a darkish flip when a affected person takes his personal life by leaping off the hospital roof and touchdown on George’s automobile. On his approach as much as see the newborn, Kramer misremembers the room quantity and walks into the incorrect room, the place he finds a pig-man (half pig, half man). He quickly launches into a conspiracy in regards to the authorities performing genetic mutation experiments on people to create pig-men armies.
Later, Stan and Myra ask Jerry and Elaine to be their son’s godparents, leaving it as much as Elaine to rearrange the bris and rent a mohel, and tasking Jerry with holding the newborn through the circumcision. This episode pushed the envelope in a number of methods. Although it wasn’t the primary episode to make gentle of suicide, Jason Alexander took subject with the way in which the mohel was portrayed, threatening to boycott the episode if Larry David didn’t tone down the character, which he discovered to be anti-Semitic, and David finally acquiesced.
Charles took some massive swings for this episode, and by far one of many weirdest plot strains within the historical past of the collection surrounds Kramer’s pig-man conspiracy. In a recent interview with NPR, Charles discusses how he was the author who additional developed Kramer’s character and gave him his conspiratorial tendencies, so it is smart that he can be the one to write down Kramer as a believer within the existence of human-animal hybrids developed by the federal government. Kramer “frees” the pig-man ultimately, giving him a piggyback trip out of the hospital, although Seinfeld by no means totally reveals us what the pig-man appears like. However should you have been imagining one thing just like the medical doctors from the “Eye of the Beholder” episode of The Twilight Zone, the truth of what this character is predicated on is much more disturbing.
The pig-man is definitely based on a scene from the 1973 surreal comedy drama O Lucky Man!, the second movie within the Mick Travis Trilogy. O Fortunate Man! includes a collection of outlandish vignettes within the picaresque adventures of Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), together with one through which he indicators as much as endure mysterious medical experiments. Whereas exploring the medical analysis facility, he comes throughout one other man in a hospital mattress and asks him how a lot they’re paying him. When he doesn’t reply, Mick pulls the sheets again to find, effectively, a pig-man. Solely his head is human, whereas his physique is that of a big pig.
It’s a disturbing picture to make sure, however, just like the pig-man in Seinfeld, it’s performed for laughs. Horrified, Mick screams bloody homicide, runs by means of the halls of the hospital, and smashes by means of a second-story window to flee. It’s secure to say that wouldn’t fly on NBC.
In fact, there was by no means really a pig-man in Seinfeld, with Kramer finally admitting he was only a “fats little psychological affected person.” However, this unhinged scene from O Fortunate Man! helped flip “The Bris” into an iconic episode, for higher or for worse, inspiring a type of weird plot strains that makes Seinfeld stand out as such a singular present.
All episodes of Seinfeld might be streamed on Netflix within the U.S.
