The 10 best 'Seinfeld' episodes of all time, according to data
Best Seinfeld episodes of all time
Throughout its nine-season run from 1989 to 1998, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David's sitcom "Seinfeld" upended every conceivable norm that society could throw its way. A sitcom landscape once dominated by family-oriented fare was taken over by four perennially single friends—Jerry (played by himself), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards)—whose Manhattan-based misadventures made for some of television's most memorable moments.
It's no wonder the show still endures by way of reruns and streaming services like Netflix, which paid $500 million for the rights to "Seinfeld" for five years, starting in 2021, when Hulu's $180 million deal expired.
Frequently advertised as a show about nothing, "Seinfeld" was, in fact, quite the opposite. Specifically, the 180-episode series knit together multiple seemingly unrelated storylines to masterful effect within any given episode, ultimately leaving no subject unexplored. One might even say that "Seinfeld" was so adept at layering plots within plots—and jokes within jokes—that it can be hard to remember which joke came from which episode.
Here, Stacker ranked the best "Seinfeld" episodes of all time. The list was curated using IMDb user ratings as of November 2022; if two episodes have the same rating, the number of user votes is used to break the tie. Here are the best episodes from one of the most celebrated television comedies of all time.
#10. The Abstinence
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Season 8, episode 9
- Air date: Nov. 21, 1996
In this episode, George is forced to give up sex for six weeks, and the experience opens up new pathways in his previously preoccupied brain. On the flip side of that coin is Elaine, who also gives up sex, only to discover that it plunges her into a dim-witted stupor. Meanwhile, Jerry is bumped from a gig at his old junior high school, and Kramer becomes the new Marlboro Man.
#9. The Yada Yada
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Season 8, episode 19
- Air date: April 24, 1997
Giving "Seinfeld" one of its most enduring colloquialisms is this season eight episode, in which George's girlfriend "yada-yadas" through every story, cutting right to the chase. At first, George is delighted with the technique until she potentially "yada-yadas" over an affair with her ex-boyfriend. Tormented by the prospect, George asks her to go back and elucidate on her previous stories. The good news is she didn't sleep with her ex. The bad news, however, is that she's a kleptomaniac.
#8. The Merv Griffin Show
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Season 9, episode 6
- Air date: Nov. 6, 1997
Kramer finds discarded set pieces from "The Merv Griffin Show" sitting out by the trash, and proceeds to create a talk show in the middle of his apartment. At first, Kramer and his sidekick Newman adopt a wholesome, traditional approach, but then they decide to mix up the format, mirroring shows like "Jerry Springer" instead. That doesn't bode well for Jerry, who's been secretly drugging his girlfriend in order to play with her vintage toys. Jerry admits as much on Kramer's show, just before the girlfriend emerges from backstage.
#7. The Hamptons
- IMDb user rating: 9.0
- Season 5, episode 21
- Air date: May 12, 1994
Few "Seinfeld" episodes pack in as many jokes per scene as "The Hamptons." In the episode, Jerry and the gang visit a couple's beach house, where the couple introduces their ugly baby. Soon after, Jerry's girlfriend walks in on George in a state of undress. Normally, George wouldn't mind, but in this particular instance, he'd just been in the pool—where the water was cold.
#6. The Bizarro Jerry
- IMDb user rating: 9.1
- Season 8, episode 3
- Air date: Oct. 3, 1996
Like something from a "Superman" comic book, this episode finds Elaine making three new friends, each representing a "bizarro" version of Jerry, George, and Kramer. Meanwhile, George finagles his way into a secret underground club filled with gorgeous models. Having slightly less luck is Jerry, who's dating a woman with oversized "man hands."
#5. The Marine Biologist
- IMDb user rating: 9.2
- Season 5, episode 14
- Air date: Feb. 10, 1994
Presenting a monologue for the ages is this episode, in which George pretends to be a marine biologist to impress a woman he's dating. The ruse is going well enough until the two come upon a beached whale with breathing problems, whom only a marine biologist can save. As George explains in the historic closing monologue, the sea was angry that day, "like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli." After a wave launches him atop the whale's back, George reaches into the blowhole to withdraw the obstruction: one of Kramer's golf balls.
#4. The Outing
- IMDb user rating: 9.4
- Season 4, episode 17
- Air date: Feb. 11, 1993
In this classic episode, Jerry and George are mistaken for a gay couple—"not that there's anything wrong with that"—by a local reporter. After the Associated Press picks up the story, Jerry must clear things up with friends and family. On the other hand, George decides to go along with the story, using his presumed homosexuality as an excuse to break up with his girlfriend.
#3. The Opposite
- IMDb user rating: 9.5
- Season 5, episode 22
- Air date: May 19, 1994
Things finally start going George's way in this episode, in which he does the opposite of everything he would normally do. Not only does such a maneuver land him a hot date, it eventually scores him a job with the New York Yankees. Making his grand debut as the voice of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is none other than series co-creator Larry David.
#2. The Soup Nazi
- IMDb user rating: 9.5
- Season 7, episode 6
- Air date: Nov. 2, 1995
Inspired by a real-life—and now bankrupted—operation, "The Soup Nazi" centers on a chef with a very strict ordering-out policy. When a customer fails to abide by the policy, the man retracts the order, famously shouting, "No soup for you!" The episode is so enduring and iconic that actor Larry Thomas, who played the Soup Nazi, claimed he's recognized more for the role nowadays than when the episode first aired.
#1. The Contest
- IMDb user rating: 9.6
- Season 4, episode 11
- Air date: Nov. 18, 1992
It's no secret "Seinfeld" co-creator—and real-life George Costanza—Larry David based numerous storylines on his personal experiences. And nowhere does this personal connection work to the show's advantage more than in "The Contest." This edgy, Emmy Award-winning episode finds Jerry and the gang making a bet to see who can be "master of their domain."
The result was must-see TV at its finest and a major contributor to the show's historic success. In 2009, TV Guide named it the best TV episode of all time, and rightfully so. It's also the #1 "Seinfeld" episode based on IMDb user ratings when paired with the number of votes.
