50 best ‘Seinfeld’ episodes of all time

Throughout its nine-season run from 1989 to 1998, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David’s sitcom “Seinfeld” upended every conceivable norm society could throw its way. A sitcom landscape once dominated by family-oriented fare was taken over by four perennially single friends—Jerry (played by himself), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards)—whose Manhattan-based misadventures made for some of television’s most memorable moments.

It’s no wonder the show still endures through reruns and streaming services like Netflix, which paid $500 million for the rights to “Seinfeld” for five years, from 2021 to 2026, after Hulu’s $180 million deal expired. The series’ cultural relevance is alive and well, too, with events like the Elaine Dance Contest amusing audiences at an August 2025 Brooklyn Cyclones game. And, as noted in a December 2024 report from CNN, many “Seinfeld” fans still celebrate Festivus, a Christmas-adjacent holiday made famous by a 1997 episode.

Frequently advertised as a show about nothing, “Seinfeld” was, in fact, quite the opposite. Specifically, the 180-episode series knits together multiple seemingly unrelated storylines to masterful effect within any given episode, ultimately leaving no subject unexplored. One might even say that “Seinfeld” was so adept at layering plots and jokes within jokes that it can be hard to remember which joke came from which episode.

Here, Stacker ranked the 50 best “Seinfeld” episodes of all time. The list was curated using IMDb user ratings as of April 2025; if multiple episodes have the same rating, they were sorted by the number of user votes. Counting down from #50 to #1, here are the best episodes from one of the most celebrated television comedies of all time.

#50. The Cheever Letters

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 8
– Air date: Oct. 28, 1992

Jerry gives dirty bedroom talk his best shot and upsets his date in the process. Similarly out of her element is Susan, who discovers that her father once had a torrid love affair with author John Cheever. As luck would have it, the secret never would have come out had Kramer not burned down her father’s cabin in a previous episode.

#49. The Pick

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 13
– Air date: Dec. 16, 1992

Embarrassment abounds in this episode. Elaine sends out a personalized Christmas card that is too personal. Then, Jerry’s girlfriend thinks she sees him picking his nose, which more or less ends the relationship. That same girlfriend works at Calvin Klein, which has a new beach-themed fragrance on the market: Ocean. The only problem is Kramer thought of the idea first.

#48. The Invitations

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 22
– Air date: May 16, 1996

Season seven ended on a rather dark—albeit thoroughly comedic—note with “The Invitations.” In the episode, George is crippled by stress over his upcoming wedding, then granted a last-minute reprieve when Susan spontaneously passes away. The cause of her death? Licking the poisonous envelopes for their wedding invitations, naturally. Not including the series finale, this was the last episode written by Larry David before he exited the show.

#47. The Mango

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 16, 1993

In the season five premiere, Jerry suffers a sexual identity crisis when Elaine reveals that she faked pleasure during some of their previous encounters. To make up for it, Jerry persuades Elaine to give him one last chance in the bedroom, where he struggles to perform. Perhaps one of Kramer’s mangos, supposedly an aphrodisiac, will help.

#46. The Pitch

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 3
– Air date: Sept. 16, 1992

While the “Seinfeld” writers frequently modeled their story ideas after real-life experiences, Larry David took that concept to the next level in season four, when he incorporated a story arc based loosely on the show’s origins. Kicking off the arc is “The Pitch,” in which George and Jerry put together a sitcom “based on nothing.” The sitcom television landscape—and “Seinfeld” itself—was never quite the same.

#45. The Library

-IMDb user rating: 8.5
– Director: Joshua White
– Season 3, episode 5
– Air date: Oct. 16, 1991

The closest “Seinfeld” ever got to “Rashomon” was this episode, in which Jerry swears he returned “The Tropic of Cancer” back to the library in 1971. After speaking with some people from his past, however, Jerry realizes his memory might not be as sharp as he thought. Putting on the pressure is a library cop named Sam Bookman, played by actor Philip Baker Hall. By the end of the episode, Jerry and George are no closer to finding out what happened to the book. Just before the credits roll, it’s revealed that the book ended up in the hands of their old gym coach, Mr. Heyman, who’s now homeless and living outside the library.

#44. The Pothole

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 16
– Air date: Feb. 20, 1997

Future “Sex and the City” star Kristin Davis appears as Jerry’s girl of the week, Jenna, in this episode. What could be a slightly longer relationship is derailed after Jenna uses a toothbrush that falls in the toilet. For Jerry—a perpetual neat freak—it’s simply too much to handle. The tables are turned, however, when Jenna puts something of Jerry’s in the toilet and doesn’t tell him what. When both parties agree to move past the issue, the relationship finally seems back on track until Jenna’s sewage pipes explode while she’s in the bathroom.

#43. The Susie

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 15
– Air date: Feb. 13, 1997

Larry David exited “Seinfeld” after the seventh season, but that didn’t stop the eighth season from churning out some of the show’s most iconic episodes. Among them was “The Susie,” in which Elaine gets mistaken by a co-worker for someone named Susie. Once the situation escalates, Elaine and Jerry realize they have no choice but to kill off the nonexistent woman. The episode ends at Susie’s funeral, where J. Peterman confesses that he and the actual Susie were once an item, and Jerry and Elaine are accused of murder.

#42. The Package

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 5
– Air date: Oct. 17, 1996

In this episode, Jerry and Kramer commit mail fraud, triggering an intense showdown with Newman at the post office. George and Elaine have their own respective adventures. For George, that means engaging in what he thinks is a tit-for-tat picture exchange with an attractive girl at the photo place. For Elaine, it’s searching all over New York for a doctor who will tend to her rash and coming up empty-handed after being labeled as “difficult” on her medical report.

#41. The Caddy

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 12
– Air date: Jan. 25, 1996

In this episode, Kramer and Jerry get into a car crash after being distracted by Sue Ellen Mischke (played by Brenda Strong), a formerly braless candy bar heiress who now wears a bra—a gift from Elaine—as a top. With his golf swing compromised from the crash, Kramer takes Sue Ellen Mischke to court, where his caddy suggests that she try on the bra that distracted them. In an obvious nod to the O.J. Simpson trial, the bra doesn’t fit, and the lawsuit falls apart.

#40. The Wink

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 4
– Air date: Oct. 12, 1995

A squirt of juice from a grapefruit causes George to develop an uncontrollable winking habit. Misconstruing one of George’s winks is Kramer, who consequently sells a birthday card signed by the New York Yankees, meant for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The card ends up in the hands of a little boy, who will give it back if Paul O’Neill hits two home runs in the next game.

#39. The Engagement

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 1
– Air date: Sept. 21, 1995

The premiere of season seven presented viewers with a long-term commitment, a concept they never expected to play out on “Seinfeld.” Specifically, the episode finds George proposing to former girlfriend Susan Ross, kicking off an arc that would run through the entire season. On the opposite side of the tracks is Elaine, who hires Kramer and Newman to kidnap a dog that’s been keeping her up at night, only to subsequently wonder if she has hit rock bottom.

#38. The Bottle Deposit

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 20
– Air date: May 2, 1996

In another two-part episode, “The Bottle Deposit” follows Kramer and Newman as they embark on a cross-country journey in a mail truck, all to play the margins in a bottle deposit scheme—which, as it turns out, is illegal in real life. The plan is compromised when Kramer spots Jerry’s stolen car and hastily gives chase, only to have JFK’s golf clubs thrown at the mail truck windshield. Abandoning the truck, Kramer and Newman make their way to a farm, where chaos naturally ensues.

#37. The Fire

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 20
– Air date: May 5, 1994

Starring Jon Favreau as Eric the clown, this episode takes George’s self-centeredness to some truly shameless heights. It begins when a fire breaks out during a boy’s birthday party. George—who’s dating the boy’s mother—swiftly adopts an “every man for himself” attitude, pummeling both old women and young children on his way out the door. In other words: classic George.

#36. The Stall

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 12
– Air date: Jan. 6, 1994

Jerry’s girlfriend Jane (played by Jami Gertz) won’t share her toilet paper and doesn’t have a “square to spare” when Elaine begs for one from the adjacent bathroom stall. To avoid a potential disaster, Jerry goes to great lengths to keep Jane and Elaine apart. Speaking of disaster, George and Kramer go rock-climbing with Elaine’s boyfriend, Tony, who ends up falling and smashing his handsome face.

#35. The Pilot

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 23
– Air date: May 20, 1993

Not to be confused with the show’s actual pilot, season four’s hour-long episode “The Pilot” sees Jerry and George’s sitcom finally hitting the airwaves. No longer exclusively a show about nothing, “Jerry” stars Jerry himself in the lead role: a middle-aged New Yorker who ends up with a court-ordered butler on his hands. After being viewed by a swath of “Seinfeld” characters, NBC cancels the pilot abruptly. Thankfully, “Seinfeld” didn’t suffer a similar fate when it first aired in 1989, despite suffering low ratings at the time.

#34. The Implant

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 19
– Air date: Feb. 25, 1993

In this episode, Jerry has mammaries on his mind as he struggles to figure out whether or not a girl named Sidra (played by Teri Hatcher) has breast implants. To get to the bottom—or top—of things, he enlists help from Elaine, who accidentally lunges at Sidra’s bosom in the gym sauna. Despite the encounter, Elaine’s diagnosis remains inconclusive. When Jerry’s plot is eventually exposed, Sidra heads out the door, but not before informing Jerry that “they’re real, and they’re spectacular.”

#33. The Boyfriend

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 3, episode 17-18
– Air date: Feb. 12, 1992

Sparks fly in “The Boyfriend” first between Jerry and former Major League Baseball star Keith Hernandez, then between Hernandez and Elaine. Suddenly, Jerry and Elaine find themselves battling for his affection. Meanwhile, Kramer and Newman discuss the time Hernandez hit them both with a single loogie, wondering aloud if there was, in fact, a second spitter. And that’s just the first part.

#32. The Chinese Restaurant

-IMDb user rating: 8.6
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 2, episode 11
– Air date: May 23, 1991

Reportedly inspired by Larry David’s own experiences waiting for a table at Los Angeles restaurant Genghis Cohen, this groundbreaking episode finds Jerry and the gang waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant. And that’s pretty much the whole premise. For somewhat obvious reasons, NBC initially balked at the idea, until David threatened to quit the show. In the end, David won, and television history was made.

#31. The Nap

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 18
– Air date: April 10, 1997

George Costanza might be a lazy sociopath. But that doesn’t mean he can’t experience the occasional flash of brilliance. Proving as much is “The Nap,” in which George has a special compartment built into his office desk, allowing him to take midday naps without getting caught. The plan goes awry when Steinbrenner plants himself in George’s office and refuses to leave until George appears.

#30. The Frogger

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 9, episode 18
– Air date: April 23, 1998

George and Jerry visit a pizza place they used to frequent as teenagers. Once there, they discover that the place is about to go out of business, taking George’s top Frogger score along with it. To save the top score, George finds himself playing a game of real-life Frogger as he navigates the arcade machine through traffic.

#29. The Calzone

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 19
– Air date: April 25, 1996

In this episode, George spontaneously finds himself on Steinbrenner’s good side, thanks exclusively to the calzones they both eat for lunch daily. However, once a tipping fiasco gets George banned from the Italian restaurant that makes the calzones, George turns to Newman and then Kramer for help. As one might expect, things don’t go exactly as planned, especially after Kramer shows up at the restaurant with a sack full of pennies.

#28. The Fusilli Jerry

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 6, episode 20
– Air date: April 27, 1995

The first episode to feature David Puddy as Elaine’s boyfriend, “The Fusilli Jerry” has Puddy imitating one of Jerry’s sexual “moves.” Feeling like he’s had material stolen, Jerry demands that Puddy stop using the move. In response, Puddy comes up with his own move, described by Elaine as a “big-budget movie with a story that goes nowhere.” Meanwhile, Kramer makes a name for himself as the “A**man,” and also makes a pasta statue of Jerry that ends up in Mr. Costanza’s rear end.

#27. The Strike

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 9, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 18, 1997

While called “The Strike” in honor of Kramer’s temporary job—and subsequent strike—at a New York bagel store, this episode is better known for introducing the world to Festivus. It’s a holiday that George’s father invented involving bizarre rituals, including wrestling matches known as “feats of strength.” As Elaine says concerning George’s often inexplicable personality: “Another piece of the puzzle falls into place.”

#26. The Junior Mint

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 20
– Air date: March 17, 1993

Elaine visits an ex-boyfriend named Roy in the hospital to find he’s whipped himself into shape since they broke up. They make plans to get together after Roy’s surgery, but things take a turn for the worse after Kramer and Jerry—who are watching the surgery from a viewing deck—accidentally drop a Junior Mint into Roy’s body. Meanwhile, Jerry has his own problems in that he can’t remember the name of the girl he’s dating, despite her clue that it rhymes with a female body part.

#25. The Tape

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: David Steinberg
– Season 3, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 13, 1991

George orders an experimental cream from China to reverse his baldness. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. As for Jerry, he’s preoccupied with a tape he recorded during his most recent stand-up routine, which features seductive utterances from a mysterious woman. As it turns out, the woman is Elaine, who was completely joking when she made the recording. Nevertheless, Jerry, George, and Kramer suddenly become infatuated with their dirty-minded friend.

#24. The Subway

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 3, episode 13
– Air date: Jan. 8, 1992

Another episode largely centered around a central location—or in this case, four separate locations—”The Subway” chronicles the misadventures of the show’s four main characters as they ride four respective subway cars. For Jerry, that means sitting across from a naked man. For George: getting swindled by a subway siren.

#23. The Bubble Boy

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 7
– Air date: Oct. 7, 1992

In this legendary episode, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Susan head up to Susan’s family’s cabin, but not before stopping at a house along the way. Residing in the house is a young boy named Donald, a huge fan of Jerry’s who happens to live in a plastic bubble for medical reasons. After losing Jerry on the road, George and Susan arrive alone at Donald’s house, where a bitter match of Trivial Pursuit ensues.

#22. The Parking Garage

-IMDb user rating: 8.7
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 3, episode 6
– Air date: Oct. 30, 1991

Another episode in the location-based tradition, “The Parking Space” finds Jerry and the gang lost in a mall parking garage. While trying to remember where they parked, Jerry gets caught publicly urinating, and Elaine’s goldfish dies. At the end of the episode, they finally find the car, only to discover that the engine won’t start.

#21. The Rye

-IMDb user rating: 8.8
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 4, 1996

Representing a bonafide recipe for disaster, George’s parents come over for dinner at Susan’s parents’ apartment, bringing a loaf of rye bread as a gift. When they realize the bread was not served, the Costanzas take it back, causing George to look bad by association. Eager to make it appear as if the loaf never left the apartment, George and Jerry concoct a scheme involving a fishing rod and Kramer’s horse. What could go wrong?

#20. The Serenity Now

-IMDb user rating: 8.8
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 9, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 9, 1997

Most characters on “Seinfeld” could use some good old-fashioned relaxation. As this season nine episode proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, repeatedly chanting “serenity now” is not that therapeutic. The technique doesn’t work for Lloyd Braun or Mr. Costanza, and it certainly doesn’t work for Kramer, who destroys a bunch of computers in a fit of cathartic rage. Unfortunately, those computers belonged to George, who was hiding them from his father after claiming he sold them to nonexistent customers.

#19. The Puffy Shirt

-IMDb user rating: 8.8
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 2
– Air date: Sept. 23, 1993

In this brilliant episode, Kramer is dating a “low talker,” meaning a woman who speaks with a very soft voice. That makes it hard to hear what she’s saying during dinner with Jerry and Elaine, who find themselves nodding reflexively. As it turns out, Jerry agreed to wear a puffy-sleeved, pirate-style shirt on an upcoming TV appearance, a move that could have disastrous consequences. Meanwhile, George rises to success—and then quickly flames out—as a well-paid hand model. As for the puffy shirt, it’s on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

#18. The Little Kicks

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 4
– Air date: Oct. 10, 1996

Elaine might not be aware of it, but she’s quite possibly the world’s worst dancer. George discovers as much in this episode, when he attends Elaine’s office party and witnesses her dance moves with his own eyes. Meanwhile, Jerry is forced by Kramer’s friend into a career as a movie bootlegger. This is one among many “Seinfeld” episodes to feature made-up films like “Cry, Cry Again” and “Death Blow.”

#17. The Chicken Roaster

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 14, 1996

In this episode, a Kenny Rogers Roasters moves in next door to Jerry and Kramer’s building, and the restaurant’s glowing red sign keeps Kramer up at night. As a result, he and Jerry switch apartments … and personalities in the process. Jerry forces Kramer to move back upon finding out that Kramer is hooked on the chicken. Unfortunately for Kramer, however, the restaurant shuts down after Jerry distributes rat fur all over its interior.

#16. The Jimmy

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 6, episode 18
– Air date: March 16, 1995

While at the gym, Jerry and the gang meet an interesting basketball player named Jimmy. While Jimmy is a rock star on the court—until he gets injured, that is—he has the idiosyncratic tendency to refer to himself in the third person. That’s a problem for Elaine, who thinks Jimmy’s setting her up on a date with a guy named “Jimmy,” when he’s asking her out himself.

#15. The Switch

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 6, episode 11
– Air date: Jan. 5, 1995

This iconic “Seinfeld” episode is considered downright essential for two reasons. The first is the delivery of one of George Costanza’s most diabolical schemes, which involves having Jerry make a lewd suggestion to his girlfriend of the week to allow Jerry to start dating her roommate instead. The other reason is the reveal of Kramer’s elusive first name: Cosmo. Cosmo?! Cosmo.

#14. The Race

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 6, episode 10
– Air date: Dec. 15, 1994

Like something out of his wildest “Superman”-based fantasies, Jerry starts dating a dark-haired girl named Lois. There’s just one major problem: Lois’ boss is Duncan Meyer, an old rival of Jerry’s who insists correctly that Jerry once cheated in an important high school race. Rather than clear up the matter with another showdown, Jerry boldly declares, “I choose not to race.” After Duncan threatens to fire Lois, however, Jerry is forced to prove himself a worthy runner again.

#13. The Airport

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 12
– Air date: Nov. 25, 1992

Jerry Seinfeld’s stand-up routines frequently skewer airlines, yet his character has no complaints when flying first class in this episode. On the other hand, Elaine has a miserable experience back in coach, prompting her to try and sneak into first class no matter how desperate her attempts may seem. Over at the airport, Kramer and George have their misadventures as they wait for Jerry and Elaine’s plane to arrive.

#12. The Betrayal

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 9, episode 8
– Air date: Nov. 20, 1997

“Seinfeld” fans thought they’d seen it all by season nine, and then “The Betrayal” came along. This boldly experimental episode starts at the end and journeys backward, making it truly unique in the annals of television. Most of the plot centers on Sue Ellen Mischke’s wedding in India, though it’s the show’s backward execution that continues to impress viewers to this day.

#11. The Limo

-IMDb user rating: 8.9
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 3, episode 18
– Air date: Feb. 26, 1992

An episode few “Seinfeld” fans are likely to forget, “The Limo” dives into spy thriller territory, complete with mistaken identities and lethal handguns. It begins when George pretends to be a man named Mr. O’Brien, so he and Jerry can steal O’Brien’s limo ride from the airport. As it turns out, however, Mr. O’Brien is a notorious neo-Nazi, in town for a major speech at Madison Square Garden.

#10. The Abstinence

-IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 9
– Air date: Nov. 21, 1996

In this episode, George is forced to give up sex for six weeks, and the experience opens up new pathways in his previously preoccupied brain. On the flip side of that coin is Elaine, who also gives up sex, only to discover that it plunges her into a dim-witted stupor. Meanwhile, Jerry is bumped from a gig at his old junior high school, and Kramer becomes the new Marlboro Man.

#9. The Bizarro Jerry

-IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 3
– Air date: Oct. 3, 1996

Like something from a “Superman” comic book, this episode finds Elaine making three new friends, each representing a “bizarro” version of Jerry, George, and Kramer. Meanwhile, George finagles his way into a secret underground club filled with gorgeous models. Having slightly less luck is Jerry, who’s dating a woman with oversized “man hands.”

#8. The Yada Yada

-IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 8, episode 19
– Air date: April 24, 1997

Giving “Seinfeld” one of its most enduring colloquialisms is this season eight episode, in which George’s girlfriend “yada-yadas” through every story, cutting right to the chase. At first, George is delighted with the technique until she potentially “yada-yadas” over an affair with her ex-boyfriend. Tormented by the prospect, George asks her to go back and elucidate on her previous stories. The good news is she didn’t sleep with her ex. The bad news, however, is that she’s a kleptomaniac.

#7. The Merv Griffin Show

-IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 9, episode 6
– Air date: Nov. 6, 1997

Kramer finds discarded set pieces from “The Merv Griffin Show” sitting out by the trash, and proceeds to create a talk show in the middle of his apartment. At first, Kramer and his sidekick Newman adopt a wholesome, traditional approach, but then they decide to mix up the format, mirroring shows like “Jerry Springer” instead. That doesn’t bode well for Jerry, who’s been secretly drugging his girlfriend to play with her vintage toys. Jerry admits as much on Kramer’s show, just before the girlfriend emerges from backstage.

#6. The Hamptons

-IMDb user rating: 9.0
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 21
– Air date: May 12, 1994

Few “Seinfeld” episodes pack in as many jokes per scene as “The Hamptons.” In the episode, Jerry and the gang visit a couple’s beach house, where the couple introduces their ugly baby. Soon after, Jerry’s girlfriend walks in on George in a state of undress. Normally, George wouldn’t mind, but in this particular instance, he’d just been in the pool—where the water was cold.

#5. The Marine Biologist

-IMDb user rating: 9.2
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 14
– Air date: Feb. 10, 1994

Presenting a monologue for the ages is this episode, in which George pretends to be a marine biologist to impress a woman he’s dating. The ruse is going well enough until the two come upon a beached whale with breathing problems, whom only a marine biologist can save. As George explains in the historic closing monologue, the sea was angry that day, “like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli.” After a wave launches him atop the whale’s back, George reaches into the blowhole to withdraw the obstruction: one of Kramer’s golf balls.

#4. The Outing

-IMDb user rating: 9.4
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 17
– Air date: Feb. 11, 1993

In this classic episode, Jerry and George are mistaken for a gay couple—”not that there’s anything wrong with that”—by a local reporter. After the Associated Press picks up the story, Jerry must clear things up with friends and family. On the other hand, George decides to go along with the story, using his presumed homosexuality as an excuse to break up with his girlfriend.

#3. The Opposite

-IMDb user rating: 9.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 5, episode 22
– Air date: May 19, 1994

Things finally start going George’s way in this episode, in which he does the opposite of everything he would normally do. Not only does such a maneuver land him a hot date, it eventually scores him a job with the New York Yankees. Making his grand debut as the voice of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is none other than series co-creator Larry David.

#2. The Soup Nazi

-IMDb user rating: 9.5
– Director: Andy Ackerman
– Season 7, episode 6
– Air date: Nov. 2, 1995

Inspired by a real-life—and now bankrupted—operation, “The Soup Nazi” centers on a chef with a very strict ordering-out policy. When a customer fails to abide by the policy, the man retracts the order, famously shouting, “No soup for you!” The episode is so enduring and iconic that actor Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi, claimed he’s recognized more for the role nowadays than when the episode first aired.

#1. The Contest

-IMDb user rating: 9.5
– Director: Tom Cherones
– Season 4, episode 11
– Air date: Nov. 18, 1992

It’s no secret that “Seinfeld” co-creator—and real-life George Costanza—Larry David based numerous storylines on his personal experiences. And nowhere does this personal connection work to the show’s advantage more than in “The Contest.” This edgy, Emmy Award-winning episode finds Jerry and the gang making a bet to see who can be “master of their domain.”

The result was must-see TV at its finest and a major contributor to the show’s historic success. In 2009, TV Guide named it the best TV episode of all time, and rightfully so. It’s also the #1 “Seinfeld” episode based on IMDb user ratings when paired with the number of votes.

Data reporting by Luke Hicks and Wade Zhou. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.