DVD Review: “Seinfeld: Season 9”

Seinfeld made the right decision to turn down $18 billion or something and end his iconic series after this ninth season. The longtime mainstay of NBC’s Thursday-night Must-See TV of the 90s had been showing its age: episodes, on average, were not as inspired as the series-peak 4th season (The Contest, The Junior Mint, etc.). Still, even mediocre Seinfeld was usually better than most anything else on TV at the time. I still love Jerry Stiller’s Regis-like explosions as George’s dad (Serenity now!) and Patrick Warburton’s blank stare as Elaine’s on-again-off-again (sometimes in the same day) boyfriend Puddy. Good episodes here include The Slicer (Kramer finds unusual uses for his new meat slicer), The Apology (good-naked vs. bad-naked), and The Betrayal (the backwards episode). Of course the still-controversial two-part series finale is included (and no, I still don’t like it). Special features (13 hours worth!) include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, cast and crew reminiscences, and my favorite, Sein-Imation (animated versions of classic scenes). It’s a Festivus for the rest of us.