Getting To The Bottom Of The Bottle: 25 Best Bottle Episodes

Photo: NBC

Seinfeld – “The Chinese Restaurant”

For a show that has lovingly been referred to a “show about nothing,” this episode about nothing fits right in. However, when creator and writer Larry David first proposed the idea to producers of the show, they were reluctant to get on board, fearing audiences would be bored, as noted in DVD commentaries on the episode since. He stood his ground, even threatening to quit if it didn’t make the cut, and the episode aired just as written.

It features the gang waiting in line at a Chinese restaurant, and that’s about it. The show is about as Seinfeld as it gets, featuring the real life hassle of going into a restaurant and waiting far longer than the time they’ve been quoted. They are on their way to the movie, Plan 9 From Outer Space, but get waylaid by the hassles of everyday life. The major plot points revolve around George trying to use a phone that is constantly busy, Jerry possibly recognizing a woman in the restaurant, but being unsure where he’s seen her before, and Elaine refusing healthy cookies because she didn’t like the taste.

Kramer doesn’t appear at all in the episode, which has also become part of the mythology of the episode.  It is arguably one of the most well known of the entire series. It was so popular among audiences, it inspired another bottle episode in the next season with “Parking Garage.”