The Cartoon

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Seinfeld episode
"The Cartoon"

Kramer in his vow of silence.
Episode no. 169
Airdate January 29, 1998
Writer(s) Bruce Eric Kaplan
Director Andy Ackerman
Guest star(s) Kathy Griffin
Seinfeld - Season 9
September 1997 - May 1998
  1. The Butter Shave
  2. The Voice
  3. The Serenity Now
  4. The Blood
  5. The Junk Mail
  6. The Merv Griffin Show
  7. The Slicer
  8. The Betrayal
  9. The Apology
  10. The Strike
  11. The Dealership
  12. The Reverse Peephole
  13. The Cartoon
  14. The Strong Box
  15. The Wizard
  16. The Burning
  17. The Bookstore
  18. The Frogger
  19. The Maid
  20. The Puerto Rican Day
  21. The Clip Show, Part 1
  22. The Clip Show, Part 2
  23. The Finale, Part 1
  24. The Finale, Part 2
List of all Seinfeld episodes

The Cartoon is the one-hundred and sixty-ninth episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 13th episode for the 9th and final season. It aired on January 29, 1998.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kramer's brutal honesty gets Jerry in trouble with Susan Ross's old college roommate, Sally Weaver. Elaine obsesses over the meaning of a cartoon that appears in The New Yorker. Elaine and later Kramer comments that George's new girlfriend looks a lot like Jerry. In fact Kramer says "just because they look alike, that doesn't mean you're (George) secretly in love with Jerry." Jerry confronts Kramer's frankness. Sally claims that Jerry has ruined her life and she's quitting the business. Jerry can't have that on his conscience; he talks her back into the business. Kramer makes an important life decision: the only way to keep his mouth shut is to stop talking. Before he finally stops talking, Kramer's constant references to the looks of George's girlfriend drive George out of Jerry's apartment.

Elaine goes to The New Yorker offices to seek an explanation for the cartoon. She discovers that the editor didn't understand the cartoon either. He simply liked the kitty. Sally opens her new one-woman show about "Jerry Seinfeld, the Devil." Elaine's complaint gets her the opportunity to do her own cartoon for the magazine. Jerry confronts Sally about the content of her show. Newman is her biggest fan; finally, he can see a "show that is about something." Kramer discovers the disadvantages of not talking. George worries about why he really likes his girlfriend. A clip of Sally's show appears on Channel 9 news; it features Jerry's latest confrontation with her. Elaine works all night on her first cartoon; it is okay, but it is not the gem that Elaine thinks it is. Jerry calls Sally and the message he leaves on her answering machine appears in her show as well. Later the lawsuit he filed appears in her cable special. Jerry decides to cut off all communication with Sally. Elaine's first comic appears in The New Yorker. J. Peterman thinks it is a great cartoon, until he realizes it is a Ziggy and he can prove it ("Quick Elaine, to my archives.")

George and his girlfriend discuss their relationship, until she gets chewing gum in her hair. Sally starts talking to the silent Kramer, until he can't take it anymore. He tells her to shut up, then he apologizes and says that he hasn't spoken for days. Sally tells him to lay it on her. To remove the gum from her hair, George's girlfriend cuts her hair; her new hairstyle looks exactly like Jerry's. George runs out of the apartment screaming. Elaine tells Jerry about the Ziggy incident. Ziggy responds to The New Yorker. Elaine shows Jerry the comics. The Ziggy says with the pig at the complaint booth, "The New Yorker is stealing my ideas." Jerry laughs. Sally's new cable show is about to come on and Jerry is convinced she'll have nothing to talk about, and is proven wrong because Kramer talked with Sally at Monk's Coffee Shop. George decides to take a few days off from his relationship with "Jerry".

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Superman reference

  • Elaine: ...And he said I could submit some of my own cartoons.
Jerry: Wow! that's incredible... But you don't draw.
Elaine: I do too.
Jerry: What, your sad little horsies? The house with the little curl of smoke? The sunflower with the smiley face? The transparent cube...
Elaine: [as she leaves] It's better than your drawings of naked Lois Lane.
Jerry: Where did you see that? Those are private!