The Package (Seinfeld)
"The Package" | |
---|---|
Seinfeld episode | |
Episode no. |
Season 8 Episode 5 |
Directed by | Andy Ackerman |
Written by | Jennifer Crittenden |
Production code | 805 |
Original air date | October 17, 1996 |
Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
Season 8 episodes | |
"The Package" is the 139th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the fifth episode for the eighth season. It was first broadcast on October 17, 1996.
Plot
Elaine cannot receive medical treatment for her rash because of a reputation as being a "difficult" patient. Kramer offers Jerry a method to get a refund on his stereo that is two years out of warranty. George discovers that Sheila (Heather Campbell), a clerk at the photo store, is looking at his pictures. Jerry refuses delivery of a package with no return address. George thinks that Sheila has stuck a revealing picture of herself in with his pictures, when, in actuality, it was a lingerie model's picture that accidentally got mixed in. Kramer convinces George to return the "compliment" by sending seductive pictures of George to Sheila, and offers to take the photos. Uncle Leo signs for Jerry's package. Elaine tries to lift her medical records.
Jerry lets Uncle Leo open the package and there is the sound of an explosion. Leo's stove has exploded, not the package. Eventually Jerry gets the package and opens it up, and it contains his stereo in pieces. Kramer sent the package to him insured; now all they must do is collect the insurance money from the post office. Elaine poses as Uncle Leo's nurse to try a diagnosis for her condition. When that doesn't work, she tries to get Kramer (who poses as the fictitious Dr. Van Nostrand) to lift her records; however, that fails as well, especially when Kramer gets his own records. Newman grills Jerry on suspicion of mail fraud. George drops off his film at the photo store and gets a surprising result. Newman gets a hold of and reveals the pictures that George and Kramer made, and believes them to be a form of male pornography, including a picture of a presumably homosexual man named Ron, who saw the pictures of George taken by Kramer. This later leads to the break-up of George and Sheila, the photo store woman.
During the end credits, Elaine, Kramer, and Uncle Leo are at a medical office in a rural location far from New York City. When the doctor there receives the call about the trio, he doesn't help them and once again upsets Elaine and the two men.
Production
Phil Hartman makes an uncredited voice appearance in this episode as the man who wakes Elaine to confirm the spelling of her surname.
Elaine makes reference to the nipple incident when talking with George about Kramer's photography work. The incident occurred in the Season 4 episode "The Pick". Kramer poses as "Dr. Van Nostrand, from the clinic". Kramer reprises this character in the Season 9 episode "The Slicer". The character is also referenced in "The Strike".