The Andrea Doria (Seinfeld)

"**The Andrea Doria**"
"The Andrea Doria"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 8; Episode 10
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Spike Feresten
Production code	810
Original air date	December 19, 1996
Guest appearances
	Wayne Knight as Newman ; Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza ; Estelle Harris as Estelle Costanza ; Tom Gallop as Alan; Ray Stricklyn as Clarence; Diana Bellamy as Mrs. Ricardi; Rick Hall as Vet; Carl Banks as Policeman #1; Barry Cutler as Policeman #2; Kevin Steinberg as Waiter; Ossie Mair as Driver; Fred Pinkard as Old Man; Rene Ashton as Ex-Girlfriend; Brian Blondell as Dog Guy; Theresa Mulligan as Woman; Florinel Fatulescu as Stand Owner;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Abstinence"	Next →; "The Little Jerry"
	List of episodes

Last updated October 01, 2024

"The Andrea Doria" is the 144th episode of American television sitcom Seinfeld . This was the tenth episode for the eighth season, originally airing on NBC on December 19, 1996.^[1] In this episode, Jerry helps Newman with getting a transfer by filling in for him on his mail route, Kramer's preference for veterinarians over doctors leads to him exhibiting dog-like behavior, Elaine dates a "bad breaker-upper", and George tries to win the pity of a tenant association so he can get a new apartment.

Plot

Jerry rents out half his mini-storage unit to Kramer, who rents a quarter to Newman, who uses it for bags of mail. Newman explains that he is disgruntled because he didn't get a transfer to Hawaii, and so is hiding his assigned mail. However, the mailman who got the transfer is fired for hoarding Victoria's Secret catalogues, giving Newman another shot.

Kramer refuses to go to a doctor for a bad cough, despite Jerry’s suggestion. He finds a dog named Smuckers who has a cough, and takes him to a veterinarian, since he trusts vets more than doctors. However, his throat is too tender to swallow the medication, and he begins acting like a dog.

Jerry tries to force Kramer to go see a human-focused doctor, defying Kramer’s protests, but, when Jerry pulls him out of his car, Kramer runs away and gets in an argument with Newman about his moving away. He bites Newman's ankle, leaving him unable to deliver mail. Jerry delivers the rest of Newman's mail, hoping to help him get his transfer to Hawaii and move out of his life. But the post office finds out that Newman wasn't doing his route himself (too many people actually got their mail), so they don't give him the transfer. Upset at Jerry’s blunder, Newman removes his hat and the patch from his coat, only to regret it afterward when Jerry points out that the coat belongs to Newman.

Elaine's blind date Alan fails to show because he was stabbed by an ex-girlfriend. At first Elaine is enticed by the idea that he arouses such passion, but when another ex-girlfriend throws coffee in his face on their first date, Elaine checks his background and discovers Alan is a "bad breaker-upper." Deeming this an unacceptable flaw, Elaine breaks up with Alan. He retaliates by calling her "big head." The comment about her head holds true when a cab-driver asks her to move her head and a bird crashes into her head. She decides to see Alan again to prove to herself she doesn't care about his comment. On their date, Alan tells her she has a bump on her nose, and she attacks him with a fork, which Kramer, despite his sore throat, manages to bring to the attention of the authorities.

George can't get a new apartment because the tenant association is giving it to an Andrea Doria survivor, Clarence. George is sympathetic at first, but after Kramer (who owns a book on real-life sea voyages) informs him of the details of the Andrea Doria (the ship took 10 hours to sink, and only 51 out of 1,706 people died), he feels Clarence's case is weak. At Jerry's suggestion, George requests a hearing with the association and tells them various misfortunes of his life, leaving the committee in tears, but Alan gets the apartment instead by bribing the building's super. When George confronts him over this, Alan calls him "chinless". George rubs his chin and looks perturbed.

Production

The table read for "The Andrea Doria" was held on November 14, 1996.^[2] The cold open was filmed on November 18, and took six takes due to various technical problems.^[2] Most of the episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience on November 20.^[2] In order to make "The Andrea Doria" Seinfeld's annual Christmas episode for season 8, Christmas decorations were put up in Monk's Cafe.^[2]

Sequences which were filmed but deleted before broadcast due to length restrictions include Jerry noticing the dummy Mr. Marbles among Kramer's items going into storage, Kramer sticking his head out of the window of Jerry's car to clear his sinuses, Jerry offering to carry Newman on his back so Newman can complete his mail route, Jerry sabotaging a FedEx truck by releasing its emergency brake as part of his mail route, and George telling the tenant committee about his short lived hand modeling career in "The Puffy Shirt".^[2] In addition, an alternate ending to Jerry's attempt to take Kramer to the doctor was filmed, in which Kramer simply refuses to leave the car.^[2]

Elaine's descriptor "stab-worthy" is a callback to "The Sponge", while the scene where Kramer leads police to the restaurant is an homage to the TV series Lassie .^[2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine Benes</span> Major character on the TV show Seinfeld

Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend in the sitcom is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld, and she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer. Louis-Dreyfus received critical acclaim for her performance as Elaine, winning an Emmy, a Golden Globe and five SAG Awards. She reprised the role during season 41 of Saturday Night Live in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cosmo Kramer</span> Fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld

Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to simply by his surname, is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998) played by Michael Richards.

Newman (<i>Seinfeld</i>) Major character on the TV show Seinfeld

Newman is a recurring character in the television show Seinfeld, portrayed by Wayne Knight from 1992 until the show's finale in 1998. He is Jerry Seinfeld's arch-nemesis and Cosmo Kramer's close friend.

"The Bottle Deposit" is a two-part episode, the 131st and 132nd episodes, and 21st and 22nd episodes of the seventh season, of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, first aired on May 2, 1996. It was originally an hour-long episode, but was split into two parts for syndication.

"The Engagement" is the first episode of the seventh-season and the 111th overall episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. The episode broke with the standalone story format of earlier seasons, making a major change in the series status quo by having regular cast member George Costanza become engaged to Susan Ross. Susan was a recurring character during season 4 of the series but had not been seen since. The episode aired on September 21, 1995.

"The Glasses" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom Seinfeld. The 67th episode of the series overall, it was written by the writing team Tom Gammill and Max Pross, their debut for the series, and directed by Tom Cherones. It first aired on NBC on September 30, 1993.

"The Sniffing Accountant" is the 68th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld, being the fourth episode of the series' fifth season. It aired on NBC on October 7, 1993.

"The Package" is the 139th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the fifth episode for the eighth season, originally airing on NBC on October 17, 1996.

"The Chicken Roaster" is the 142nd episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the eighth episode for the eighth season, originally airing on NBC on November 14, 1996. The episode's story follows the mishaps which follow when Kenny Rogers Roasters opens a branch in the characters' neighborhood. The restaurant's neon sign shines into Kramer's apartment, disturbing first him and then Jerry after they switch apartments, but Jerry opposes Kramer's efforts to shut the restaurant down since a college friend of his is assistant manager at the branch. Meanwhile, Elaine is in danger of being fired from J. Peterman after she misuses the company account for personal purchases.

"The Pothole" is the 150th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 16th episode for the eighth season. It aired on NBC on February 20, 1997. In the episode, Jerry is unwilling to kiss his girlfriend after she unknowingly brushes her teeth with a toothbrush that fell in the toilet, George tries to recover his keys from a paved-over pothole, Kramer adopts a highway and handles the maintenance work himself, and Elaine moves into a janitor's closet so that she can get delivery from a favored Chinese restaurant. This episode earned Andy Ackerman an Emmy Award for Outstanding Direction. Jerry Seinfeld, in an appearance on The Tonight Show the night before the episode aired, declared "The Pothole" to be one of the best episodes of the series.

"The Junk Mail" is the 161st episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It was the fifth episode of the ninth and final season. The episode aired on October 30, 1997. In this episode, Jerry is gifted a van by a childhood friend and cannot turn it down for fear of hurting his feelings, Elaine mistakenly thinks she has fallen in love when the sight of a man triggers memories of an old commercial he appeared in, and Kramer, tired of getting swamped with junk mail, tries to stop all delivery of his mail, only to uncover a conspiracy by the United States Postal Service to keep the public from realizing that mail is pointless. Produced when e-mail was becoming a mainstream form of communication, the episode reflected the popular prediction of the time that postal service would soon become obsolete.

"The Switch" is the 97th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, and the 11th episode of the show's sixth season. It aired on January 5, 1995. In this episode, Jerry wants to switch from dating a non-laughing woman to dating her roommate, Elaine has difficulty retrieving a tennis racket she loaned out, and George enlists Kramer's mother to spy on his seemingly bulimic girlfriend, leading to him learning Kramer's first name.

"The Label Maker" is the 98th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 12th episode for the sixth season. It aired on January 19, 1995. The episode follows a pair of Super Bowl tickets which are repeatedly gifted from one person to another, while Kramer and Newman take drastic steps to keep each other from cheating at Risk and George fears he is competing for his girlfriend's affections with her roommate. The episode popularized the term regifting.

"The Kiss Hello" is the 103rd episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 17th episode for the sixth season. It aired on February 16, 1995. Although this was the 102nd episode to air, the cast and crew of the series credit this as the 100th episode because it is the 100th episode created. In this episode, Kramer posts the names and photos of all the tenants in his apartment building on a board in the lobby so that everyone will know each other. Jerry is uncomfortable with such pervasive socialization, bringing him to conflict with his neighbors at the same time as he investigates his Nana's story that his Uncle Leo owes his mother Helen $50.

"The Doodle" is the 106th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 20th episode for the sixth season and aired on April 6, 1995. In this episode, Jerry's apartment is infested with fleas, George struggles over his girlfriend's opinion of his physical appearance, Kramer indulges his love for Mackinaw peaches, and Elaine loses a literary manuscript that she is expected to review for a job interview.

"The Diplomat's Club" is the 108th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 22nd episode for the sixth season. It aired on May 4, 1995. The episode was the final appearance of Mr. Pitt as a recurring character, as he comes to suspect Elaine of plotting to kill him in order to receive the benefits from his will. In the episode's other plotlines, Jerry takes an ill-fated trip to Ithaca with an overly pampering assistant, Kramer returns to his gambling habit by betting on flight arrivals, and George tries to prove he is not racist by getting a black friend.

"The Shower Head" is the 126th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the sixteenth episode for the seventh season. It aired on February 15, 1996. It had 32.3 million US viewers. This episode focuses on Jerry and George's struggles to get their respective parents to move out of New York. Meanwhile, the tenants of Jerry's apartment building are made miserable by the new low-flow showerheads, and Elaine takes a drug test for work which comes back positive for opium.

"The Calzone" is the 130th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 20th episode of the seventh season, originally airing on April 25, 1996. In this episode, George Costanza gets the ear of George Steinbrenner by having calzones for lunch with him, Elaine repeatedly goes out to dinner and movies with a guy who never actually asks her out, and Kramer heats his clothes in dryers and ovens.

"The Cartoon" is the 169th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 13th episode for the ninth and final season. It aired on January 29, 1998. In this episode, aspiring actress Sally Weaver becomes a success with a show where she vilifies Jerry, Elaine struggles to see the humor in a cartoon that appears in The New Yorker, and George is disconcerted when Elaine and Kramer point out that the woman he is dating looks a lot like Jerry.

References

↑ "Seinfeld Season 8 Episodes". TV Guide . Retrieved December 10, 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Seinfeld Season 8: Notes About Nothing - "The Andrea Doria" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.

External links

"The Andrea Doria" at IMDb

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[tvguide-1] "Seinfeld Season 8 Episodes". TV Guide . Retrieved December 10, 2021.

[NaN-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Seinfeld Season 8: Notes About Nothing - "The Andrea Doria" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2007.

[1]

[2]

v t e Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend"† "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip"† "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"†
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats"† "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100"† "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac"† "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit"† "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle"† "The Finale"†
† Indicates two-part episode