"
The Little Kicks" is the 138th
episodeAn episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
sitcom
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. The eponymous series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. This was the 4th episode for the 8th season. It was originally broadcast on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
network on October 10, 1996.
ElaineElaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer.Julia Louis-Dreyfus received extensive critical acclaim...
reluctantly allows
GeorgeGeorge Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "Short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man". He is friends with Jerry Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer, and Elaine Benes. George appears in every episode...
to attend a company party. George attempts to hit on Anna, one of Elaine's employees, but she doesn't seem interested. George is then horrified when he sees Elaine dancing at the party, a dance which causes her staff to lose all respect for her.
"
The Little Kicks" is the 138th
episodeAn episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
sitcom
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. The eponymous series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. This was the 4th episode for the 8th season. It was originally broadcast on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
network on October 10, 1996.
Plot
ElaineElaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer.Julia Louis-Dreyfus received extensive critical acclaim...
reluctantly allows
GeorgeGeorge Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "Short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man". He is friends with Jerry Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer, and Elaine Benes. George appears in every episode...
to attend a company party. George attempts to hit on Anna, one of Elaine's employees, but she doesn't seem interested. George is then horrified when he sees Elaine dancing at the party, a dance which causes her staff to lose all respect for her. Elaine mistakenly attributes this lack of respect to George's presence at the party after talking to Jerry. She advises Anna to keep away from George, which causes Anna to think of George as a "bad boy", making George desirable to her.
JerryJerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...
has gotten tickets to a sneak peek showing of
Death Blow for himself and
KramerCosmo Kramer, referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
. However, Kramer quickly invites a friend, Brody, forcing Jerry to get another ticket. In the theater, Brody starts videotaping the film to make a
bootlegA bootleg recording is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
version to sell on the streets. While taping, Brody becomes sick and has Kramer take him home, leaving Jerry to finish making the tape. Jerry says he won't do it, but agrees when Brody threatens him with a gun. Jerry worries about the possible consequences of the illegal act, and whether or not Brody will like his taping. However, when he sees the finished product, Brody says it's the most beautiful taping he's ever seen, and asks Jerry to do another film called
Cry, Cry Again. Jerry becomes a bootlegging legend on the streets, and demands better equipment for his next film. When Brody won't agree with Jerry's demands, Jerry becomes angry and leaves.
Kramer, seeing Elaine dancing, quickly informs her that "she stinks." Jerry reluctantly confirms this, but Elaine is still not convinced. She videotapes herself over the ending of the bootleg master copy of
Cry, Cry Again. Elaine apologizes to Anna and George, explaining that George really is a good person, which makes him undesirable to Anna. But after hearing Jerry has quit bootlegging, George then decides to take up the job instead, in an effort to restore his "bad boy" image, but gets arrested in the process.
When Brody comes to pick up
Cry, Cry Again that Jerry was going to shoot, all they have was the bad copy Kramer did, which Elaine has recorded her dancing over.
FrankFrancesco "Frank" Costanza is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld . He was born in Tuscany, Italy, and moved at the age of four with his entire family to the United States. He attended Mount St. Mary's University...
comes to bail him out but instead comes into a physical confrontation with Elaine over George's incident.
Jerry and Elaine walk down the street where it's revealed that Elaine beat Frank. When Jerry and Elaine go to Elaine's apartment, everyone dances behind Elaine's back, mocking her dance that they all saw at the end of the
Cry, Cry Again bootleg.
Production Notes
- At the end of the episode, when Jerry replies (to Elaine) that he has remained big, and that it was the bootlegs that got small, he is referencing a famous line uttered by Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress. She was most prominent during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille. She was also one of the first stars to challenge the Hays Code by producing the banned Sadie Thompson in 1928...
in the classic film Sunset Boulevard.
- The song that Elaine dances to at the beginning of the episode is "Shining Star
"Shining Star" is a song by Earth, Wind & Fire from their album That's the Way of the World. Shining Star was Earth, Wind & Fire's first major hit, hitting #1 on both the U.S. Hot 100 and R&B charts...
" by Earth, Wind and Fire.
- Elaine's characteristic dance is played again in a short sequence in "The Slicer
"The Slicer" is the 163rd episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 7th episode of the 9th and final season. It first aired on November 13, 1997.-Plot:...
".
- In the "Inside Look (The Little Kicks)", "The Chronicles (The Clip Show)" and "Not that there's anything wrong with that (Season 8)", it features Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jerry Stiller experiencing the longest outtakes or laughs ever recorded on Seinfeld.
- "Death Blow" and "Cry, Cry Again" are made up movies, as with many other movies in the fictional world of Seinfeld.
Quotes
- George and Jerry (After seeing Elaine dance, horrified): Sweet fancy Moses.
- Kramer (In the style of an action movie narrator): Death Blow. When Someone tries to blow you up, not because of who you are, but because of different reasons altogether (the tagline to the fictional movie Death Blow.)
Relations to Other Media
- In Disney's animated feature film Home on the Range (film)
Home on the Range is a 2004 American animated musical feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on April 2, 2004, and was named after the popular country song "Home on the Range"...
, during the song Little Patch of Heaven in a dance sequence of the barn animals a male duck is seen Dancing the "Little Kicks Dance."