Seinfeld for superfans – answers and explanations
Here are the answers to all 21 questions in the Seinfeld for superfans quiz, each with a short explanation. Haven't played yet? Take the quiz first and compare your score.
Play the quiz · 21 questions1. Which actor played Elaine's dad but wasn't rehired after stealing a knife on set?
Answer: Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney played Elaine's gruff father Alton Benes in the 1991 episode "The Jacket"; the cast loved his performance but he was never asked back after he slipped a butcher knife from Jerry's kitchen set into his coat and mock-stabbed Jerry Seinfeld, Psycho-style.
2. The Soup Nazi was based on which real-life Manhattan soup vendor?
Answer: Al Yeganeh
The character was modeled on Ali "Al" Yeganeh, the Iranian-born owner of Soup Kitchen International on West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan, famous for strict ordering rules; he resented the nickname after the episode aired on November 2, 1995.
3. In Newman's first appearance, 'The Revenge', who voiced him off-screen?
Answer: Larry David
Co-creator Larry David supplied Newman's off-screen voice in "The Revenge" (April 18, 1991); Wayne Knight, who first played Newman on screen in "The Suicide," later re-dubbed those lines for syndicated versions.
4. The building in exterior shots of Jerry's apartment is really in which city?
Answer: Los Angeles
Though the show says 129 West 81st Street in Manhattan, the establishing shots show a 1928 five-story building called The Shelley at 757 South New Hampshire Avenue in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles.
5. Festivus came from a real holiday invented by the family of which Seinfeld writer?
Answer: Dan O'Keefe
Writer Dan O'Keefe adapted Festivus from a holiday his father, Reader's Digest writer Daniel O'Keefe, invented in 1966 to mark the anniversary of his first date with Dan's mother; the aluminum pole was added for the 1997 episode "The Strike."
6. In the Seinfeld pilot, Kramer wasn't called Kramer. What was the character's name?
Answer: Kessler
In the 1989 pilot "The Seinfeld Chronicles," Jerry's neighbor is called Kessler; Larry David avoided the name Kramer because real-life neighbor Kenny Kramer hadn't yet agreed to its use. The 1997 episode "The Betrayal" joked it was just a mistake on the mailbox.
7. In "The Boyfriend," the magic loogie theory names which Met as "second spitter"?
Answer: Roger McDowell
Mets relief pitcher Roger McDowell turns out to be the second spitter in the two-part 1992 episode "The Boyfriend," a parody of the JFK magic-bullet theory. Darryl Strawberry was reportedly the original choice before his legal troubles.
8. Which future star played George in the show-within-a-show "Jerry" in "The Pilot"?
Answer: Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven, later famous as Ari Gold on Entourage, played Michael Barth, the actor cast as George in the fictional sitcom "Jerry," in the season four finale "The Pilot," which aired May 20, 1993.
9. Jason Alexander first modeled George's voice and mannerisms on which filmmaker?
Answer: Woody Allen
Jason Alexander got only a few script pages and thought they read like Woody Allen dialogue, so he auditioned wearing glasses and doing an Allen impression; Larry David hired him but told him to drop the voice.
10. Kramer's mother reveals his first name in "The Switch." What is her first name?
Answer: Babs
Babs Kramer, played by Sheree North, is the long-estranged mother who lets slip that Kramer's first name is Cosmo in the season six episode "The Switch"; she works as a restroom matron.
11. Jason Alexander threatened to quit after which episode left George out entirely?
Answer: "The Pen"
Season 3's "The Pen" (aired October 2, 1991) sent Jerry and Elaine to Florida with no New York subplot, making it the only Seinfeld episode without George; Jason Alexander told Larry David that if it happened again, to make his exit permanent.
12. In "The Frogger," which initials mark George's high score on the machine?
Answer: G.L.C.
At Mario's Pizza, Jerry spots the 860,630-point Frogger record logged as "G.L.C." - George Louis Costanza - in the season 9 episode that aired April 23, 1998, prompting George's doomed plan to move the machine without unplugging it.
13. In "The Jimmy," which crooner serenades Kramer, thinking he's mentally disabled?
Answer: Mel Tormé
Mel Tormé, the "Velvet Fog," appeared as himself in the 1995 season 6 episode and sang "When You're Smiling" to Kramer, who was mistaken for an honoree at a benefit for Able Mentally Challenged Adults after a novocaine overdose.
14. Real-life Kenny Kramer lived across the hall from which Seinfeld creator?
Answer: Larry David
Comedian Kenny Kramer, the model for Cosmo Kramer, lived across the hall from Larry David in the 1980s at Manhattan Plaza, a subsidized building for performing artists in Hell's Kitchen.
15. In the finale, the four are arrested under a Good Samaritan law in which town?
Answer: Latham
In "The Finale" (May 14, 1998), the NBC jet makes an emergency landing in the fictional town of Latham, Massachusetts, where the four are arrested under a new Good Samaritan law for mocking a carjacking victim instead of helping.
16. On Seinfeld, Jerry's apartment 5A is located at which Manhattan street address?
Answer: 129 West 81st Street
Jerry's fictional home is apartment 5A at 129 West 81st Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, near where the real Jerry Seinfeld lived early in his stand-up career; the building seen in exterior shots is actually in Los Angeles.
17. The fake film "Rochelle, Rochelle" is a strange erotic journey from Milan to where?
Answer: Minsk
The fictional art film Rochelle, Rochelle was billed as "a young girl's strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk." First mentioned in the season 3 episode "The Movie," it later became a Broadway musical starring Bette Midler in "The Understudy."
18. In "The Puffy Shirt," what is the first name of the "low talker" who designed it?
Answer: Leslie
Kramer's soft-spoken designer girlfriend Leslie, played by Wendel Meldrum, created the pirate-style puffy shirt in the September 23, 1993 episode written by Larry David; the episode popularized the term "low talker."
19. In "The Rye," what is the name of the cab horse Kramer feeds Beef-a-Reeno?
Answer: Rusty
Kramer's hansom cab horse in the season 7 episode "The Rye" was named Rusty, and the canned Beef-a-Reeno gave him the flatulence that cut short the Rosses' carriage ride. Chef Boyardee refused to let the real Beefaroni name be used.
20. Who composed Seinfeld's slap-bass theme, reworked for each of Jerry's monologues?
Answer: Jonathan Wolff
Jonathan Wolff created Seinfeld's synthesized slap-bass theme after a 1989 call from Jerry Seinfeld, building it around the comedian's vocal delivery and recutting it for each episode's monologue; he also scored shows like Will & Grace.
21. The Soup Nazi was inspired by a real NYC soup shop. What was it called?
Answer: Soup Kitchen International
The character Yev Kassem was modeled on Ali "Al" Yeganeh, who ran Soup Kitchen International on West 55th Street in Manhattan from 1984; writer Spike Feresten turned his strict ordering rules into the episode that aired November 2, 1995.