The Junk Mail
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"The Junk Mail" | |
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Seinfeld episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 5 |
Directed by | Andy Ackerman |
Written by | Spike Feresten |
Production code | 905 |
Original air date | October 30, 1997 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Junk Mail" is the 161st episode of the
Plot
Jerry's childhood friend Frankie Merman gets Jerry a new van as a thank you for a show he did for Frankie's car dealership. Jerry does not want the van, but is afraid to refuse it, since Frankie is very emotionally fragile. Jerry takes out a classified ad to sell the van. Kramer offers Anthony Quinn's old T-shirt as a trade for the van. Jerry refuses, but Kramer nonetheless tells Frankie that Jerry sold him the van, uses it to launch an anti-postal campaign, and loans it to George's parents.
Kramer ignores Newman's warnings, and is abducted. Postmaster General Henry Atkins intimidates Kramer into receiving his mail again; as he leaves, Newman is led in with a bucket over his head and his hands zip tied together. He says to Kramer, "Tell the world my story.”
George's parents make up excuses to cut him short on his weekly phone call and leave the house when he visits. When George confronts them about this, they tell him they are cutting him loose. George sexually propositions his cousin Rhisa to force his parents to get involved in his life. However, Rhisa agrees to the relationship and insists on keeping it secret. When he hears that his parents are borrowing the van, George schemes to make out with Rhisa in it so his parents will catch them when they pick it up. Jerry searches
Production
Spike Feresten wrote "The Junk Mail" largely as an expression of his frustration at getting Pottery Barn catalogs in his mailbox on a near daily basis.[3]
The Postmaster General in the episode, Henry Atkins, is a fictional character; the real Postmaster General at the time the episode was produced was
The character David Puddy jokingly suggests that Elaine might fall in love with the
Newman's warning to Kramer on how the U.S. Postal Service will retaliate for Kramer's refusal to receive his mail is a parody of a scene from the film Three Days of the Condor, when Joubert muses on how Turner might be killed by the CIA.
Among the scenes which were filmed for the episode but cut before broadcast are an opening scene in which Elaine tries to refill her coffee at Monk's herself, and the ending scene, in which it is revealed that Jerry's van was purchased by Jack, who refurbishes it as a Nobody Beats the Wiz van and takes Elaine on a date in it, loudly introducing her to prospective customers as "Lady Wiz".
Analysis
Writer Spike Feresten has not publicly commented on the scene where Henry Atkins intimidates Kramer, which has been subject to conflicting interpretations. Some have interpreted it as a parody of a scene in Absence of Malice which also featured actor Wilford Brimley (Atkins in "The Junk Mail"), while others argue that it is more closely derived from a scene in Network.[4]
References
- ^ "Seinfeld Season 9 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ "The Junk Mail" - TV.com
- ^ Seinfeld Season 9: Inside Look - "The Junk Mail" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
- ^ a b c Seinfeld Season 9: Notes About Nothing - "The Junk Mail" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
External links
- "The Junk Mail" at IMDb