The Voice (Seinfeld)
"The Voice" | |
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Seinfeld episode | |
Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 2 |
Directed by | Andy Ackerman |
Written by | Alec Berg & Jeff Schaffer & David Mandel |
Production code | 902 |
Original air date | October 2, 1997 |
Guest appearances | |
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"The Voice" is the 158th episode of the
Plot
George's employer, Play Now, wants to get rid of him after finding out he isn't really disabled, but cannot fire him because he has a one-year contract. When George turns down his boss's request that he quit, he tries to drive George out by moving him into a derelict office, spiking his food, and even barricading his office door, but George continues to show up to work each day.
Jerry is dating a woman named Claire. Behind her back, Jerry jokes that her stomach has a voice, which he lampoons by saying "Helloooo!" Jerry tells Claire about "the voice." Offended, she leaves him. She says they can only get back together if he agrees to never do the voice again. Jerry agonizes and decides he prefers the voice. However, all his friends say they have grown tired of the voice. He talks to Claire and agrees to stop doing the voice.
At
Kramer contends that day-to-day incidental tasks are preventing him from realizing all his big ideas. He gets an intern named Darin from New York University to assist him with his corporation, "Kramerica Industries," leaving him free to develop ideas such as a rubber bladder to prevent oil tanker spills. The university cancels Darin's internship when they find that Kramerica Industries is not a real business and Darin is performing personal tasks for Kramer. However, Darin returns on his own because he believes in Kramerica Industries.
Play Now offers to buy George out of his contract for six months' pay. When he refuses, they open his private bathroom to other employees. In retaliation, George suggests that Kramer test his bladder system at Play Now's offices using one of their rubber balls as the bladder. As Kramer and Darin push the ball of oil out a window, Jerry notices Claire waiting for him just below. He tries to warn her by shouting "Hello!" but she thinks he is doing "the voice" again and does not listen.
Claire files a lawsuit which drives Play Now into bankruptcy, leaving George unemployed and without severance pay. Darin takes the blame for dropping the oil ball on Claire and goes to prison. The incident makes "the voice" popular among Jerry's friends again.
Production
This episode was originally going to be titled "The Backslide,"[3] and the production script was titled "The Bladder System".[4]
The basis of the talking stomach was Seinfeld writer
The scene at the pier where Jerry makes a decision between being with Claire and doing The Voice is an
The character Darin was named after Darin Henry, Larry David's assistant (who also wrote a handful of Seinfeld episodes after David's departure from the series).[4]
The George story was partially inspired by a behind-the-scenes incident on The Cosby Show. The show's producers asked one of the writers to leave the show so that they could hire another writer whom they found preferable. The writer already on staff refused to quit and continued to show up to work despite the antagonism of his bosses, since his contract required that he be paid for a year. Eventually his bosses resorted to buying him out of his contract just to get rid of him.[3]
Sequences which were too complicated to film before a studio audience, such as Elaine's backsliding montage, were filmed on September 1, 1997, and the audience taping was done on September 3.[4]
References
- ^ "Seinfeld Season 9 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ "The Voice" - TV.com
- ^ a b c d Berg, Alec; Schaffer, Jeff; Mandel, David (2007). Seinfeld Season 9: Audio Commentary - "The Voice" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Seinfeld Season 9: Notes About Nothing - "The Voice" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
- ^ a b c Seinfeld Season 9: Inside Look - "The Voice" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.
External links
- "The Voice" at IMDb