The Serenity Now

"The Serenity Now"
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 actors

"The Serenity Now" is the 159th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the third episode of the ninth and final season. It aired in the U.S. on October 9, 1997.[1]

Plot

Frank Costanza is advised to say "serenity now" every time his blood pressure is in danger of going up, but instead of saying the phrase, he yells it. Jerry's girlfriend (Lori Loughlin) gives his Knicks tickets away and comments that she has never seen him get "real mad." George gets Kramer to help him fix his parents' screen door. They remove the old door and Kramer takes it with him. Frank is selling personal computers in his garage and wants to bring George into his business. Mr. Lippman's son takes advantage of "becoming a man" at his bar mitzvah to French kiss Elaine.

Kramer installs the screen door outside his apartment to provide the "cool evening breezes of Anytown, USA," and turns his hallway into a small-town front porch, complete with barbecue grill, lawn chairs, potted plants, and American flag. Kramer sits on his porch with "fireworks" (a sparkler).

George's first impulse is to quit but decides it is finally time to take on his arch-rival, Lloyd Braun, whom Frank has also hired to sell computers. When Jerry learns how to get mad, it releases all his other feelings, including caring, and another that results in his proposing to Elaine.

Kramer fights with the neighborhood kids of "Anytown, USA." George tells Elaine she is attractive to the Lippman men because of her "shiksa-appeal." The result gets the two Lippman men to want to renounce Judaism in order to be with her.

George hatches a scheme to sell more computers: to buy them himself and return them later for a refund; however, continual use of the phrase "serenity now" has an adverse effect on his sales.

Jerry asks Elaine to marry him. George stores computers in Kramer's apartment. Kramer has a nervous breakdown and destroys the computers. George becomes very upset over this, and Jerry encourages George to release his emotions. However, the release of emotions from George has an adverse effect on Jerry, and he reverts to normal.

Elaine seeks help from the rabbi to see if she can reduce her "shiksa-appeal" but instead of giving her advice, the rabbi comes on to her. George's father blames him for nearly bankrupting his company, and it is then revealed that Lloyd Braun was insane the entire time; his phone was never plugged in, and hence he never made any sales. He blames his psychiatric problems on Frank's mantra ("Serenity now, insanity later"). Elaine returns to Jerry and accepts his marriage proposal, but since Jerry is no longer as emotional as before, he doesn't want to go through with it. George then tells his father to say "hoochie mama" instead of "serenity now", which his father follows when Estelle is about to park her car in the garage.

Episode notes

References

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