"The Alternate Side" is the 28th episode of the sitcom ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''. The episode was the 11th episode of the show's third season, and aired on December 4, 1991. The episode was written by

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...

and Bill Masters, and was directed by

Tom Cherones Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. The idea for the Woody Allen story came from David's experiences working with Allen; he briefly appeared in ''

Radio Days ''Radio Days'' is a 1987 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also narrates the story. The film looks back on an American family's life during the Golden Age of Radio using both music and memories to tell the story. ...

'' (1987) and ''

New York Stories ''New York Stories'' is a 1989 American anthology film consisting of three segments with the central theme being New York City. The first is ''Life Lessons'', directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The s ...

'' (1989). He would later have a lead role in ''

Whatever Works ''Whatever Works'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed and written by Woody Allen and starring Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Ed Begley Jr., Michael McKean, and Henry Cavill. It was released on June 19, 2009, received mix ...

'' (2009). The episode repeatedly uses the line "these pretzels are making me thirsty", one of the first popular lines to emerge from the show, which inspired fans to throw pretzels during Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up comedy performances during the few months following its premiere. In 2012, Jerry Seinfeld identified this as his least-favorite episode, saying the stroke patient storyline made him feel uncomfortable.

Plot

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'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...

's car is stolen and he is able to have a conversation with the thief (voiced by

) on the

car phone A car phone is a mobile radio telephone specifically designed for and fitted into an automobile. This service originated with the Bell System and was first used in St. Louis on June 17, 1946. Overview The original equipment weighed , and th ...

. Kramer asks the thief to retrieve his gloves and send them back to him.

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

takes a job moving people's cars from one side of the street to the other, covering Sid's shifts while he travels to visit his sick nephew, to comply with

alternate side parking Alternate-side parking is a traffic law that dictates on which side of a street cars can be parked on a given day. The law is intended to promote efficient flow of traffic, as well as to allow street sweepers and snowplows to reach the curb withou ...

regulations. Elaine cares for her 66-year-old boyfriend, who has a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

just before she is about to break up with him. Kramer gets a single line in a

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

film: "These

pretzels A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

are making me thirsty." Overwhelmed by his new job, George causes a car collision and traffic jam, making it take longer for the ambulance to reach Elaine's boyfriend, causing additional neural damage that could have been prevented. Also due to the delays caused by George, a disgruntled Woody Allen says that he may never shoot a movie in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

again. Additionally, George's poor performance causes many of Sid's long-time customers to cancel. That results in Sid being unable to finance his nephew's operation to save his foot, so it will have to be amputated. While filming his scene during the Allen movie, Kramer slams his beer mug on the bar and accidentally injures Allen with a flying shard of glass. He is fired from the set. Kramer gets his gloves back from the car thief but has no information about the car, which irritates Jerry.

Critical reception

The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' listed the "pretzels" line as one of "''Seinfeld'''s 25 greatest contributions to the English language." An article about Elaine's boyfriends, meanwhile, suggests that in the context of Woody Allen films, "perhaps Elaine's strange relationship with Owen, a senior citizen at 66, can be explained as some kind of ''

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

'' reference.". Another article, while criticizing Elaine's relationship with an older man as inappropriate, argued that it "went with her characterization to be superficial enough to choose men like this".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alternate Side Seinfeld (season 3) episodes 1991 American television episodes Television episodes written by Larry David