You're right! Another subtle thing is that the line is actually, "What is that, a Titleist?" The "What" really cements Kramer's reaction. Not only does it change the line's rhythm nicely; it's also a tiny, hopeless bit of deflection that says so much about the dissonance he's feeling between total disbelief and undeniable recognition. It goes to show that this was truly a golden moment, when one word and a voice crack can speak volumes.
Even when you don't know what a Titleist is, what he says just happens to sound like "a tidal cyst". Especially just after George mentioned a tidal wave. There's no such thing in real life, but one can easily imagine there to be. So you think Kramer is talking about some calcic sea growth or something, and the joke still works.
And -- speaking as someone who is exactly Jerry's age -- is there anyone who has played golf, who has not asked EXACTLY that question? It is a stock line, and yet the ONLY possible line, and hilarious in this bizarre context.
Kramer's delivery is gold. But his face previous to it is just acting magic. His face is literally hanging motionless from his skull. It's one thing to put a funny embarrassment face and get away with a big laugh. But his expression right there oozed reality AND embarrassment. I'd say what Richards did there was as much of a comedic feat as Alexander's monologue or his gesture with the ball.
I love how all of these older interviews show the cast looking younger and spritely, and Larry David looks exactly the same as he does now. Exactly. “Forever Old” is the fountain of youth, my friends.
@@dannysmith4649 I'm convinced Steve Martin went back in time when he was in The Jerk. How he looks the in that compared to Three Amigos and even Cheaper by the Dozen is a mystery.
When I was unemployed in 2002, I was feeling really beat down and frustrated by the lack of jobs in our area and the constant rejections, so I decided to take a day off from job hunting and watch TV. I had never watched Seinfeld when it originally aired. That afternoon I saw the Marine Biologist and it really lifted my spirits.
Now that Netflix has added Seinfeld, I really wanted my girlfriend to watch it with me, as she's British and didn't really know much about this show. I chose one episode for her to watch, The Marine Biologist, and it blew her away and got her hooked on Seinfeld. Out of 180 episodes, this will always be my favorite. Some of the best comedy writing that has ever been done for TV.
The Chicken Roaster (aka “Kenny Roger’s Chicken Roaster) will always be my pick for most underrated best writing/performance episode. But the marine biologist is of course a classic.
Dude I did the same thing with my British girlfriend too, same episode, except she didnt and doesnt like the show, Ive tried but she could never get on board. needless to say this probably isnt gonna work out.
I thought the two best Jewish stereotype lines came from this series - like an old man returning soup at the deli and when George told Jerry that he was leaving when they were trying to get away from Elaine's father and Jerry said we can't leave what will we say and George said we'll say we're frightened and we're going home now
@@EricBarryComedy1 Wow, good catch! Kramer's arm movement fits perfectly, Elaine's does not. They could easily have placed a card with keywords for the monologue off cam on Kramer's right side. They often used cuecards for the actors in Friends, on the table, in the sink and so on - not sure about Seinfeld.
To me this was a brilliant bit at many levels. Not least of which was the irony of his ‘being’ a marine biologist. And how he perceived his lofty story was being subtly undermined, leading to his dismissive instinct. Brilliant!
@@jordimelis4463 Maybe so, but Jerry had the vision to enlist Larry in the first place. Even Larry David admitted he couldn't see himself writing more than the first 4 episodes.
Fantastic that the other three members of the cast didn't try to compete with him in the scene. Kramer let George get the laughs before offering his line. George responds to get the next wave of laughs. Fantastic!
I have watched this countless times, replaying over and over those few speechless seconds of the subtle expressions on Kramer's face when he produces the ball; their talent was amazing. They really are the Beatles of TV.
It very well could be. Back in the old days, before we could watch these scenes endlessly on RU-vid, before we could buy seasons on DVD, before Tivo, when the most you could do was maybe record a few episodes on VCR, this episode stood out to me. It kind of caught the spirit of Seinfeld, since the episode ended up back at the diner. I grouped it with another George anecdote-punchline at the diner. "So you didn't get the job?" "No. But I was the only one at the table that didn't get violently ill." Though this one was funnier.
The best sitcom of all time! How the 6 of them managed to get together is a miracle: Larry David and Jerry are geniuses - and Jerry, Jason, Michael and Julia together are a once in a lifetime ensemble. Absolutely brilliant!
Some of the funniest moments on this show were just the characters telling an outrageous story with little or no footage, just leaving the visualization to the audience's imagination and carrying it with delivery and timing. Like the Keith Hernandez spitting story, Kramer trying to get the severed toe to the hospital, etc.
"They're real and they're spectacular" was a hair away from perfect, because you can hear Jerry, ever so quietly under the beginning of the laugh, say "Oh" in between "real" & "and". The best act break laugh, and probably my favorite laugh in the series, was, "And you wanna be my latex salesman."
I could never forget the grand crescendo of that episode. My Mum and Dad were watching it with me and when the joke finally hit we were crying with laughter……..genius. 😂😂
Kramers facial expressions just added gasoline to that fire .. 😂... the slight raising of the left eyebrow... the little childlike smirk... he KNEW he'd been caught before he even said "Titlest ? " 😅
I saw him do Truman live at the Tiffany theater on Sunset Blvd. We were first row center watching him do the one man show. Believe me when I say this Jason Alexander was Truman. He was absolutely fantastic. Can you imagine a one man show for 90 minutes live without any TelePrompTers.
It's interesting how the stories differ. Jerry says that he and Larry had a late night writing session coming up with the monologue George goes in the cafe about the whale. ("The sea was angry that day...") Jason says that they were filming the last scene, which was just Jerry and Kramer in the cafe. It didn't get as big of an audience response as Larry wanted, so he and Jerry wrote the monologue on the spot, gave it to Jason to memorize it. Jason says he spent 15 minutes reading it, and then they put up some screens blocking the set so they could do one rehearsal take, Larry told the audience they're going to try something different, and they recorded the iconic scene in one take. Jerry said they were worried about Jason needing a day to learn it. Jason says he was given it on set and had to learn it immediately before shooting. In this video, Jason says that Larry told him they wouldn't be able to rehearse, but in another interview he said they blocked the set with screens for one rehearsal take. I think Larry's version of the story is closer to Jason's (with the monologue being written on the spot while filming as opposed to the night before). I wonder what really went down...
Yeah I remember when I first saw this episode! I was laughing so hard when he showed the golf ball! To this day, it's still funny. I'm still cracking up! Hahahaha! :)
I have used a memorization technique from elementary school all the way through college that i developed in 4th grade that has never failed me. We had to learn the poem "The midnight ride of paul revere". We also had to recite it from memory in class. So what i did was i took a blank sheet of paper and covered all but the first word. I read the first word aloud then the first word without looking. Then the first amd second word. Then the first and second word without looking. Then the first three words. Then the first 3 words without looking and so on. If I made a mistake I start all over again back to word one. It takes some discipline and time but I have found whenever I need to study or remember something no other technique works better. I was the only kid in my class to get a 100%. I wonder if Jason uses the same technique or something similar to remember a long monologue like that.
Congratulations to the Pros working as background actors in that scene. They held it together and didn’t react at all when the big laugh came in. THATS more difficult than most people realize.
I am SO happy that is Larry David’s favourite scene! I remember thinking how perfect it was, and I burst out laughing… something I didn’t always do when I watched Seinfeld. Truly one of the greatest comedy closing scenes ever… “Is that a Titleist?”
Michael isn’t Jewish. Julia is partly Jewish. Their being Jewish is incidental to this shows brilliance. No need to call it out - smacks of an implied superiority on your part.
I was away for my first year of university when I saw this. Living in a house that was split into five apartments. I could hear laughter coming from all over the place when he pulled out that golf ball. An absolutely perfect moment of TV, back when we all had to watch it at the same time.
This was the first episode of Seinfeld I saw, at my friend's house in the year nineteen-ninety five. I remember just before the reveal, I said to my friend: "It was a golf ball, wasn't it?" For the life of me I can't imagine how I guessed that.
There is no doubt, Jason is amazing!!! I think this is the funniest scene I ever saw. Because I've seen it hundreds of times before and I still laugh again and again, even though I know what's coming and can recite George's entire monologue by heart...
Those four were absolutely the best. How they all were able to get thru that scene without laughing and breaking down was gold You do see a small smile from Kramer probably trying not to laugh but he is incredible One of the best Seinfeld episodes ever
Iconic comedy….. Funny forever…. When you have seen every episode so many times over so many years, and still you watch, still you laugh….. Everyone on that show deserves to be rich forever. And no taxes..ever And bring back the 8 track tapes
Is it only me who thinks that the golf ball thingy wasn't the funniest thing in the scene, but rather the "the sea was angry that day, my friends... Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli" line?
The show wherein a man delivering an entire page flawlessly in one take & another man (first man's on-screen father) struggling to deliver half a line after several takes BOTH make you laugh your guts out.
Such a great cast. This show as a whole really reminds me of The Dick Van Dyke show. A great cast with Dick, Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie and Mary Tyler Moore. A show about nothing as is Seinfeld. It just had great writing and wicked funny.
