- Seinfeld co-creator Larry David revealed his favorite episode of the show during an online fundraising event for the Democratic Party of Texas.
- David favors the episode titled “The Contest,” and says that during its production he was prepared to quit the show if the network executives wanted to change it.
- The episode is widely considered to be one of the best of the series, and David says the popularity of the show increased dramatically after it aired.
I have a confession: I’m a huge Seinfeld fan. I’ve seen every episode probably a dozen times or more. There’s just something about it that makes me laugh almost every time. It’s a great show and, in my opinion, one of the finest things to ever appear on television. If you asked me to pick my favorite episode, it might take me days to decide… but not creator Larry David.
As you might imagine, the cast and crew of Seinfeld have been asked about their favorite episodes quite a bit over the years. At a recent virtual fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Texas, Larry David joined cast members like Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and answered some questions of fans. Inevitably, the question over the best episode came up, and David has some pretty solid rationale for his choice.
According to David, his favorite episode of the show is “The Contest.” If you’re drawing a blank, here’s a brief refresher: It’s the episode where Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer attempt to go the longest without pleasuring themselves. If you think that’s a somewhat risque topic today, imagine how television executives felt about it back in 1992.
“This one, I didn’t even put on the board because I didn’t want them asking,” David said. “I just wanted them to come and see the read-through. [When they did,] I had worked myself up into a lather because the read-through really went great. I was watching [the network executives] and I couldn’t tell how much they liked it. But I was ready to pack the whole thing in if they didn’t let us do this show: ‘I’m quitting. I’m quitting. I’m gonna quit.’ Fortunately, they didn’t say a word. I was shocked.”
Larry David also believes that the episode may have singlehandedly pushed the show to an entirely new tier of popularity in the television landscape. “It really catapulted us to another place,” he said, noting that the popularity of the show seemed to increase dramatically after it aired.
There are plenty of classic Seinfeld episodes that hold up just as well today as the day they aired, and “The Contest” is definitely one of them. The show has aged relatively gracefully overall, despite plenty of very obvious 90s references, and it’s cool to see one of the shows most important people reveal his own choice for the best of the best.
