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It's been 37 years since Seinfeld premiered and changed the face of network comedies, and 32 years since the best episode of the show aired, lifting it to a stratosphere that few, if any, modern sitcoms have been able to match. When Seinfeld first premiered, people probably didn't know it was going to be the enduring series it ended up being, but they might have had a feeling.
The first season of Seinfeld doesn't look like the rest of the show, but it's still wildly funny. Later seasons of the show are where Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, and the rest of the cast figured out what kind of show they were making, and all the pieces began to fall into place together.
From season 3 onward, you can find dozens of Seinfeld episodes that could be considered the best, and the heights of the series are at such a level that most modern sitcoms don't have a single episode that's as good as the tenth-best episode of Seinfeld. When it comes to the best Seinfeld has to offer, most sitcoms can't touch it.
Seinfeld season 5, episode 22 is "The Opposite", the best episode of the series and a perfect encapsulation of what makes the show so great. In "The Opposite", George (Jason Alexander) figures out a new way to turn his luck around, and that's by purposefully doing the opposite of everything he usually does.
This approach lands him the life he's always dreamed of. Conversely, Elaine's (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) life goes down the gutter, while Jerry discovers that his life seems to be on an even keel, no matter what he does. Kramer (Michael Richards) tries to sell a coffee table book about coffee tables, complete with little folding legs. It's all hilarious, has plot development in a show with few of them, and a great example of what the series does right.
The Opposite Is As Funny Now As It Was In 1994
"The Opposite" gets its characters maybe more than any other episode of Seinfeld, and the show is never more funny than when the writing and what we know about the characters is linked up perfectly. George's deduction that everything he does is wrong, is excellent, but it's even more hilarious when you realize he's actually correct in that assessment.
Ordering the wrong thing, being upfront about his professional and personal failings, and laying into the man who could be his future boss all end up rewarding George. He ends the episode with a new job, a new girlfriend, and a new lease on life. Of course, this is Seinfeld, so it doesn't last that long.
Seinfeld never gives its characters a break, usually throwing the worst and the most ridiculous at them, but "The Opposite" shows that the quartet is just as responsible for what happens to them as anyone. Case in point, George's life would be a whole lot better if he just stopped acting so "George-like" all the time.
The Jerry and Elaine parts of the episode are a nice balance to the George plot as well, showing how, no matter what happens in the series, they can't all succeed at the same time. One person's success is another's loss, and this attitude goes a long way to explaining why Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer aren't always ecstatic about another's success.
Kramer's side story is also one of his best. A coffee table book about coffee tables is one of those absurd Seinfeld ideas that makes more sense the more you think about it. Episodes like these are what make Seinfeld still funny all these years later, and are the ones that you should show newcomers when you want to get them hooked.
