The ‘Seinfeld’ Cast Once Performed an Awkward In-Character Tribute to Producer Rob Reiner

Even if you’ve seen all nine seasons of Seinfeld, plus the canonically-hazy Curb Your Enthusiasm reunion special, and that one Comedians in Cars episode featuring George Costanza, there’s still one piece of Seinfeld-themed content, starring all four central characters, that many completists may not be aware of.

No, we’re not talking about the time Jerry and George debated whether or not hot dogs should be considered sandwiches, only to be interrupted by a grinning David Letterman. 

Twitter/X user @MatineeMode recently shared an old clip of the Seinfeld gang hanging out in Jerry’s apartment, chit-chatting about filmmaker Rob Reiner and… actually, they just talk about Rob Reiner. 

The clip was filmed specially for the American Cinematheque Moving Picture Ball, when they honored the Stand by Me director in 1994. Reiner, of course, is one of the co-founders of Castle Rock Entertainment, the company that produced Seinfeld (seemingly from offices housed inside of a haunted lighthouse). 

While the video may have killed at the event back in ‘94, it’s pretty bizarre to watch now. For one thing, in order to make sure that the scene could play out in one shot, Jerry is awkwardly perched on a stool next to George and Elaine, who are sitting on the sofa. Weirder still, there’s no laugh track. It’s more than a little disconcerting to hear the Seinfeld gang’s trademark banter punctuated by long stretches of uncomfortable silence. And Kramer bursting into the apartment with no accompanying laughter or applause is completely bizarre.

The characters discuss several of Reiner’s films, with Elaine and George bemoaning the “depressing” ending of When Harry Met Sally, in which the couple ultimately get together. Presumably, George would have rather seen Sally prematurely expire from licking toxic envelopes. 

They also conspicuously suck up to their boss, with Elaine suggesting that “you just can’t not like him,” and George remarking that he “does set a fine example for a bald man.” When the subject turns to Reiner’s company, Kramer suggests that they too should become a production team (“We’d be like Castle Rock, Jerry!”) before poking fun at several of the executives. In the end they all offer Reiner a bottled water toast. 

And Reiner really did deserve the shout-out from the Seinfeld cast, considering that he was the first executive that Seinfeld pitched the idea for a show to, at the suggestion of Seinfeld’s then-manager George Shapiro. According to Reiner, he immediately saw the potential in what was “essentially a conversational show” and “an extension of Jerry’s act.” He also liked the idea of having the “curmudgeonly, misanthropic, dyspeptic (sensibilities of) Larry David, being pushed through this very accessible, likable, Jerry Seinfeld. It was a marriage made in heaven.” 

At the very least, we have Reiner to thank for the fact that America didn’t have to put up with nine seasons of storylines concerning Kramer’s overexcited pet dog. 

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