15 TV episodes we’ll never get tired of watching

Seinfeld, “The Soup Nazi”

Any episode that generates a catchphrase referenced as commonly as “No soup for you!” is definitely one that needs to be watched over and over again.

On this season 7 episode, Jerry, George, and Elaine discover the hot new soup vendor in New York, who is known for his amazing soup as well as his strict rules and fiery temper. Due to his demeanor toward customers, he was hailed as the “Soup Nazi” who will ban anyone who does anything to anger him. “No soup for you!”

George is the first one of the gang to be banned. When he gets his hand on some of the highly sought after soup, he complains that he didn’t get any better. The Soup Nazi tells him that it’s an extra $2 for bread, but George insists that everyone else got it for free, so the SN raises the price to $3. George complains more, so the chef takes the order out of his hand and shouts “No soup for you!”

Next up, Elaine gets banned, even though Jerry warns her about the proper soup-buying protocol. Jerry comes close to losing his soup privileges when he brings his date with him to the soup stand. The Soup Nazi is disgusted by their public displays of affection, but to avoid being banned, Jerry pretends not to know his date in order to get his hands on that delicious soup.

In the end, Elaine manages to get her hands on all of his soup recipes, after he inadvertently gives Kramer an armoire that he gives to Elaine. When she rubs this fact in his face, he realizes he’ll have to close his business and move back to Argentina.

Besides giving us “No soup for you,” the funniest thing about this iconic episode is the fact that it was actually based on a real person! There was a soup vendor in New York who was notoriously mean, and would ban people for stupid reasons and utter those exact words. He even confronted Jerry Seinfeld once about how he ruined his business.