The Non-Fat Yogurt

"The Non-Fat Yogurt"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no. Season 5
Episode 7
Directed by Tom Cherones
Written by Larry David
Production code 507
Original air date November 4, 1993
Guest appearance(s)

"The Non-Fat Yogurt" is the 71st episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It is the seventh episode of the fifth season, and first aired on November 4, 1993.

Plot

Jerry, Elaine and George (as well as Newman) are hooked on a new frozen yogurt shop in which Kramer has invested. They are delighted by the fact that the yogurt is advertised as "non-fat". When Kramer notices that Jerry and Elaine have gained weight, they become suspicious that the yogurt may not be non-fat, so they send it to a laboratory for testing.

Meanwhile, Jerry accidentally uses the word "fuck" (which is censored) near the shop owner's son Matthew, who then starts to use the word frequently. When the boy's mother brings him over so that Jerry can apologize, Jerry curses again when the boy destroys one of his cassette tapes.

Elaine is dating George's childhood nemesis, Lloyd Braun (Peter Keleghan), who works as an aide to the mayor of New York City, David Dinkins, who is running for re-election against Rudy Giuliani. When Elaine suggests an idea for everyone in New York to wear name tags in public, Lloyd takes the idea to Dinkins. The idea is ridiculed and Dinkins is made a laughing stock. Lloyd then breaks up with Elaine but she believes it is due to her weight gain over the frozen yogurt.

When George meets Lloyd Braun, he makes a derisive nudge to Jerry with his arm. When Lloyd notices, George pretends that it is an involuntary spasm caused by an injury. George has to then fake the spasm repeatedly. Eventually Lloyd Braun refers him to Dinkins' doctor, who knows that George is faking it.

Kramer, fearful of losing his investment, tries to sway a lab technician to falsify the analysis of the yogurt. They begin to make out, and accidentally knock a sample of blood with high cholesterol into a test tube belonging to Rudy Giuliani. The sample mixing causes Giuliani's results to show he has a shockingly high level of cholesterol. Having eaten lots of frozen yogurt lately, he blames the frozen yogurt shops over false advertising. When Jerry's local frozen yogurt shop switches to real non-fat yogurt, it tastes awful and business plummets, putting them out of business. The owner's son Matthew calls Jerry a "fat fuck" for ruining his father's business.

Series continuity

This is the first appearance by Lloyd Braun. He was played by Peter Keleghan. Matt McCoy would reappear as Lloyd Braun in "The Gum" and "The Serenity Now."

Kramer laughs at the idea of everyone wearing nametags, yet in the episode "The Kiss Hello" he proposed and executed a similar idea where everyone in their apartment building has a picture and name in the lobby so that everyone can say hi to everyone and be friendlier.

Production notes

As the episode was to air just days after the 1993 New York City mayoral election, the production crew's solution was to produce two different versions of the episode: one in which Dinkins won, and another in which Giuliani won. The cast would record a line mentioning Dinkins, followed by the same line, with Dinkins' name substituted with Giuliani's. After Giuliani was declared the winner, the corresponding version aired on television. Giuliani's cameo was filmed on the morning after his victory. Both versions of the episode were included on the Season Five DVD.

If Dinkins had emerged as the winner, the character of Jackie Chiles, according to Seinfeld, might not have existed. As Dinkins declined to appear in person, actor Phil Morris, who was later cast as Chiles in the seventh season, was going to be used as a spokesman for Dinkins in this episode. The table reading for "The Non-Fat Yogurt" was held on October 20, 1993.

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