The Serenity Now
"The Serenity Now" | |
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Seinfeld episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 3 |
Directed by | Andy Ackerman |
Written by | Steve Koren |
Production code | 903 |
Original air date | October 9, 1997 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Serenity Now" is the 159th episode of the
, who is experiencing emotions for the first time.Plot
An instructional tape advises
Jerry's girlfriend Patty observes that he never gets angry, and concludes he is repressing his emotions. At her continued goading, Jerry expresses real anger for the first time. Uplifted by the release of emotion, Jerry begins expressing anger all the time, driving Patty to break up with him. He begins experiencing other newfound emotions; he cries over Patty leaving him, tells George and Kramer he loves them, and asks Elaine to marry him.
Elaine goes to the
Kramer is inspired to turn the hallway area outside his apartment door to resemble a front porch in "Anytown, USA", with lawn chairs, potted plants, American flag, wind chimes, and screen door. This draws vandalism from kids. He uses Frank's "serenity now" mantra but eventually his pent-up anger releases and he takes it out by smashing all of George's computers. When George suggests that Lloyd's sales should offset this financial disaster, Frank reveals that he never even plugged in the phone Lloyd made sales calls on; he apparently just played along with Lloyd's delusional "sales" so George would have someone to compete against.
To ease George's resulting despondency, Jerry urges him to confess all his emotions, which disturb Jerry so much he becomes emotionally repressed again. Elaine accepts Jerry's proposal, but he is no longer interested. Frank and
Production
While driving with his arguing parents, writer Steve Koren was bewildered to hear his father shout "Serenity now!" at the top of his lungs as part of a rage controlling exercise he had heard about from an audio tape, and questioned whether the phrase was meant to be yelled. He ended up basing many of the episode's George scenes on conversations with his parents.[3]
Most scenes in the episode were filmed before a studio audience on September 10, 1997.[4]
As typical for a Seinfeld episode, a number of scenes were cut to get the episode to fit into its time slot, including a scene in the Costanza garage which parodied the "always be closing" scene from
References
- ^ "Seinfeld Season 9 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ "The Serenity Now" - TV.com
- ^ a b Koren, Steve (2007). Seinfeld Season 9: Audio Commentary - "The Serenity Now" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Seinfeld Season 9: Notes About Nothing - "The Serenity Now" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
External links
- "The Serenity Now" at IMDb