The Tape

"**The Tape**"
"The Tape"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 3; Episode 8
Directed by	David Steinberg
Written by	Larry David ; Bob Shaw; Don McEnery;
Production code	308
Original air date	November 13, 1991
Guest appearances
	John Apicella as Repairman; Ping Wu as Ping; Norman Brenner as Beder;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Cafe"	Next →; "The Nose Job"
	Seinfeld season 3
	List of episodes

Last updated July 21, 2025

"The Tape" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American television sitcom Seinfeld (and the 25th episode overall).^[1] It first aired on NBC in the United States on November 13, 1991.^[1] The episode was written by Larry David, Don McEnery and Bob Shaw, and directed by David Steinberg. In this episode, Elaine leaves an erotic message on a tape recorder as a prank, inadvertently causing George to harbor a secret crush on her.

Plot

After testing new material in his comedy act, Jerry plays back a tape recording to gauge audience reception. Partway through, he is surprised and titillated by an unidentified woman's voice sexually propositioning into the tape recorder. George and Kramer are likewise aroused. Elaine confides to George that she recorded the mystery voice as a prank, leading Jerry to believe that someone in the audience was lusting after him. George is uncontrollably sexually excited by his secret knowledge of Elaine's lascivious side.

Kramer gets a free camcorder, and indulges in filming everyone. He pretends to interview Elaine as a porn star; playfully improvising, she jokes about her and George as co-stars in a porn film. The tease of actual sex with Elaine haunts George as he drives her home, but he fails to proposition to her.

Seeing a Chinese doctor's claimed baldness cure on CNN, George tries to order the cure by phoning China long-distance. He first fails to account for the time zone difference, then the sellers not speaking English. A Chinese delivery boy arrives and George enlists him as interpreter, successfully buying the cure—a foul-smelling, thick topical cream. George is torn between putting the cream on for his own sake and taking it off for Elaine's, and finally covers it with a cowboy hat.

Kramer schemes to reclaim the jacket he relinquished last episode to his mother's ex-boyfriend, who is now in jail.

Jerry identifies and asks out a woman who sat near the tape recorder, and is confused by her reluctance to be intimate. Elaine confesses before the prank goes too far, but not before George tells all to Jerry out of sexual frustration. Kramer overhears while scrutinizing George's hair growth on video. With not just George but all three men turned on by the revelation, Elaine apprehensively leaves. The men fight over the tape recorder.

Production

This episode is the first appearance of Ping, the delivery boy who would return in the later episodes "The Visa", "The Virgin" and "The Pilot".

Use in scientific research

The Simpsons "Bart the General" and Seinfeld 's "The Tape" were used in a Dartmouth College experiment to study brain activity in relation to humorous moments in television shows. The results were published in a 2004 issue of the academic journal Neurolmage. The researchers noted, "During moments of humor detection, significant [brain] activation was noted in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus ... and left inferior frontal gyrus."^[2]

References

1 2 "Seinfeld Season 3 Episodes". TV Guide . Retrieved December 2, 2021.
↑ Quoted in Keay Davidson. "So these scientists go into a lab to see what's funny ... - They find gender differences in how humor affects brain." San Francisco Chronicle . November 21, 2005. A1.

External links

"The Tape" at IMDb

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[tvguide-1] 1 2 "Seinfeld Season 3 Episodes". TV Guide . Retrieved December 2, 2021.

[2] Quoted in Keay Davidson. "So these scientists go into a lab to see what's funny ... - They find gender differences in how humor affects brain." San Francisco Chronicle . November 21, 2005. A1.

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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