Seinfeld (TV Series) The Airport (1992) User Reviews

Sitcom episode Story and Comedy Perfection

[calcaylor · 10/10 · 28 September 2017]

To me this episode is essentially perfect as an interesting story with comedic opportunities that are nicely exploited. Briefly, Jerry and Elaine are en route to catch a flight back home from St. Louis as Jerry had an extra flight ticket from a gig that Elaine used to visit her sister. George, who lost a bet to Jerry, is riding with Kramer to pick them up at Kennedy Airport.

What seems like a fairly cut and dried premise fully blossoms in the individual stories. Jerry takes the first class fare relegating Elaine to survive in coach purgatory. Kramer makes a turn that puts their timely arrival in jeopardy and George into paroxysms of anger and anguish. Once they arrive at Kennedy, George gets into an altercation with a crazed criminal in cuffs being escorted by a US Marshall and Kramer comes to realize the man he vaguely recognizes at the airport is an old roommate who left owing him money. But then George is elated to learn Jerry and Elaine's flight plans have changed so now he and Kramer have time to pick them up at LaGuardia instead.

It's really hard to do justice to Dreyfus' portrayal of all of the tortures that a bad coach flight inflicts. It's a clinic in depicting the sweaty, cramped agony of flying second class exaggeratedly compared against Jerry's life of bourgeois privilege in the section closest to the cockpit.

Even if I had 20 pages, I couldn't convey all the comedic opportunities exploited in this episode so I won't even try but I will leave this one teaser. The story culminates in two of the funniest sight gags in the show's history, both done by Kramer, one with Kramer's most epic funny entrances ever.

The definition of a Seinfeld Classic

[juanmaffeo · 10/10 · 6 May 2016]

I think this is probably one of the five most re-watchable Seinfeld episodes. It's over 9000.

The storyline is pretty similar to "The Dinner Party". A main story pushing the episode forward but our characters divided (curiously enough, partnerships of Kramer-George and Elaine-Jerry). Not only is the script so funny but it is extremely entertaining. When you're not laughing out loud you're with a constant smile on your face.

Julia just knocks this one out of the park. Her body language is beyond believe. Jerry, on the other hand, is the opposite. Extremely funny but incredibly subtle. Kramer's secondary storyline is so freaking Kramer and it's fantastic. God bless Grossbard. George doesn't really have a storyline, he just reacts to the airport reschedules but Alexander is on fire in almost every episode on this fantastic season. And who can forget Tia, a character so shamelessly insulting to the model stereotype that you just come to expect that kind of clever humor on this show.

It's just excellent. Play it on loop.

More everything.....

[rodinnyc · 10/10 · 7 March 2022]

There's so much funny in this I give it the full ten,

putting aside how Jerry is always meeting by chance the most beautiful women who all return his interest... I like his interaction with her.

The comparison of the flying experience in first class or business compared to regular seating is so true, I have to admit with Jerry once you've had the other you can't return to coach.

JL Dreyfuss handles the comedic side of a horrible journey stuck in the middle seat perfectly. "They're serving cookies!" Dreyfuss was so forgettable on SNL and here she's a stand out. Her contretemps with the flight attendant about missing the meal service ..... The same with her exchange with the flight attendant in first class. The show really cast some great people in small roles.

Jason Alexander has some good moments here too with the crook being arrested and the Time magazine....and how he unexpectedly encounters this man again....

Good episode showing the cleverness of the writers and in depicting an experience many of us can identify with ...horrible plane travel.

Great humor about airports and airplane travel

[FlushingCaps · 10/10 · 25 April 2014]

The Airport stands out as an outlandish gem in this series, showcasing the differences, exaggerated I am sure, between flying coach or first class.

We begin with Elaine and Jerry in St. Louis, about to catch a flight back to New York. Their flight has been canceled, but they can get two separate seats on another flight, only to LaGuardia, the other airport. Because their flight was canceled, there's no cost difference, they are told, but one seat is in first class, the other coach. Jerry, never one to be a gentleman, jumps at the first class seat, telling Elaine that since she's never flown first class, she won't know what she's missing. Wheras Jerry, knowing what it's like, cannot go back to coach.

From the way they are greeted at boarding, with Jerry getting a friendly "welcome" right after Elaine was just told to head to her seat, we see how extreme the differences will be in their flight. Elaine is squeezed in by a man who puts several bags in the top rack, then holds two large bags on his lap. Jerry has spacious seating and has a beautiful and friendly model right beside him. Elaine literally climbs over the man's bags and legs to use the restroom, which she finds full of "aroma" after the previous user leaves (a walk-on by episode writer Larry Charles). When we see Jerry returning to his seat, he has plenty of room to pass by the model.

Elaine has to wait to return to her seat because the food cart is in the way. She also misses her meal. Jerry sips champagne with the model, and later gets to put slippers on her feet, after the flight attendant offered them to everyone in first class. Elaine gets out again and sneaks into an empty first class seat, but is ordered to return after 5 seconds of bliss.

Meanwhile, Kramer and George are driving to the airport to pick up their friends. George is doing this so he won't have to pay Jerry $50 he lost on a stupid bet about him being able to reach a certain canopy while jumping up. He is frantic with worry that the route Kramer chose against George's wishes will make them so late he doesn't get credit for this pickup and will have to pay the $50.

When they arrive, they find the flight was canceled, but their friends are soon to land at LaGuardia. Before driving there, they stop so George can get a Time Magazine. He grabs the last one, just before a handcuffed prisoner can get it. Before his police escorts lead him away, the prisoner tells George to look at the cover, where his picture appears with the caption "Captured." Now George has made enemies with a suspected murderer. This comes into play later in a hilarious way. Kramer encounters someone who owes him money from 20 years ago, which leads to Kramer accosting him and then having to escape from a cop who tells him how Kramer is in a lot of trouble. My favorite (short) scene is when Kramer suddenly reappears after escaping the cop.

From start to finish this episode had me laughing heartily. If you were trying to get a friend who's unfamiliar with the series, this might be one of the best introductory episodes to see. There is nothing off-color or distasteful to anyone, unlike some episodes, and you don't need to know the characters' backgrounds to understand what is happening. One of the very best of this great series.

Kennedy or Laguardia?

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 2 October 2010]

After the unmatched boldness of The Contest, it's back to basics for Seinfeld's fifty-first episode, The Airport, which, much like The Subway in the third season, makes good use of locations that stray from the show's traditions (apartments and diner).

The plot involves Jerry and Elaine coming home after a comedy gig in St. Louis, with the unfortunate consequence that their flight is rerouted from JFK to Laguardia. While in the air, Elaine has to suffer the effects of coach, while Jerry gets bumped up to first class and sits next to an attractive model. Back on the ground, George and Kramer have their own problems as they have to go through last-minute airport changes (the flight is rerouted again) to come and pick up their friends.

Reverting to "formula" would be considered a cheap move in the case of most sitcoms, but since this is Seinfeld, where formula is the least formulaic of its elements, the classic structure is a perfect excuse for 20 minutes of sharp jokes: not only do we get some social satire in the form of the contrast between Jerry and Elaine's plane accommodations, there's also one of the best George scenes ever, as the unrivaled lord of the idiots pulls off one of the program's most unexpected and insane movie references. Let's just put it this way: Costanza ain't no Bette Davis...

Have you ever flown first class?

[ChrisMIN43211 · 10/10 · 19 August 2014]

The Airport is funny. There's no other way to say it.

Starting off with Jerry and Elaine in St. Louis- he's done his comedy gigs, she's visited her sister- they're heading home. But a selfish parking lot attendant driver hinders their chance to go straight to the plane from their rental car. Instead they're stuck at the ticket counter, and a choice must be made. Oh, and their plane isn't going to JFK as planned.

Meanwhile, back in NYC, George and Kramer are on their way to JFK airport, mostly due to George losing a bet. Picking up Jerry and Elaine absolves George of any financial obligation. But instead of going the way George has planned, George and Kramer are stuck in a traffic jam. Upon arriving at the airport, they learn things have changed and soon are back on the road. But not before George taunts a wanted criminal on a magazine cover, and Kramer thinks he recognizes someone from his past.

Thanks to the choice Jerry chooses, The Airport highlights the world of haves- with Jerry in first class (meeting the model Tia, eating hot fudge sundaes), and Elaine in coach (being forced into eating someone's pre-ordered kosher meal). We're in delight with Jerry, but we're also feeling Elaine's pain. Add to that a sudden decision with the purchase of airline tickets, you've got an instant classic in it's own right.

Even if this is the first episode after The Contest.

10/10.

Genius Timing

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 3 September 2022]

Some would take the events of this episode and make it into a mundane offering. We have doors opening and closing thing going on and the writers and actors pull it off to perfection. It starts innocently enough with Elaine and Jerry coming back from St. Louis. George and Kramer are to pick them up. It's all timed beautifully, until a gate is missed and flight cancelled. We watch as Jerry gets a first class ticket and sits with a sultry blonde fashion model while Elaine goes through hell. Kramer takes the wrong way to the airport and destroys everything. Of course, he's the eternal optimist. Soon there are hilarious comings and goings, including a murderer that George can't help insulting, a boorish seat mate foisted on Elaine, and a guy who supposedly stiffed Kramer 20 years ago. There's even more. Watch the show.

Not one of the best but still a Seinfeld material.

[zfiany · 8/10 · 1 July 2009]

Even if it's not one of the best and the best are many actually but still it is a must see episode as all the episodes of seinfeld. I am a Seinfeld addict. I have like three copies of all the seasons because I am scared one of the copies gets ruined due to my never-ending watching ... so I must have spares. Back to this episode... it is funny and has few master scenes and shows the egocentricity of Jerry and the fact that all the four know very well the shortcomings of each character, they can still be friends and they know that they can't live without each others. In fact what always attracted me to Seinfeld is the very idea of how they accept each others because everyone of us has something of the four and I don't fear admitting it and most probably that's what made people relate that much to the characters even in their worst dehumanized acts and that what made the show number one of all times. I can't believe that some people prefer Fraiser or Cheers! The latter two were the most stupid shows ever... there were even better shows but again nothing is better than Seinfeld and hats off to Costanza lord of all sitcoms.

Blurb

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 19 June 2020]

I like how Kramer takes big steps and George runs like a girl

Jerry and Elaine are traveling from St. Louis on their flight back to New York City. George and Kramer plan on picking them up at the airport due to George's bet with Jerry.

[luca-33190 · 9/10 · 8 August 2015]

One of the most memorable episodes of Seinfeld. "The Airport" is an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and Elaine, are traveling from St. Louis to New York JFK. (Due to Jerry having a show, and Elaine visiting family) At the airport, the flight to JFK is canceled, but there is an opportunity to fly into LaGuardia, with a chance for one person to upgrade to first class. Jerry, who was not very considerate toward Elaine, grabs the opportunity. You can definitely see both Jerry and Elaine's perspectives of where they were seated. (Jerry meets supermodel, hot fudge sundaes, slippers, lilac scented bathroom) On the other hand, poor Elaine had to deal with rude neighbors, not receiving a meal, and a stinky bathroom. Meanwhile, George and Kramer are preparing to pick them up, and go wild in the midst of traveling from JFK to LaGuardia and then back again. (Due to the bet that George made with Jerry) An absolute classic, and a wonderfully produced episode of Seinfeld! The ending is hysterical, with Elaine's suitcase not where she expected it to be! (Won't spoil it!) Enjoy a classic episode of the Seinfeld crew, away from the hustle and bustle of NYC!

The way Jerry says Thaank-U was the best part

[ThunderKing6 · 10/10 · 26 January 2023]

A mayhem of an episode. This is iCONIC, CLASSIC writing.

January 25 2023.

About: George and Kramer team up to meat Jerry and Elaine at the Airport.

Kramer remembers an old fella who owes him money and decides to chase him on to a plane to get his money back

Elaine suffers in coach with a bag man and a lady who chews loud. She always comes face to face with a rude stewardess,

Jerry enjoys First Class with a blonde babe

George took the last magazine from a murderous villain.

Damn. What a great episode.

Story and Production: Pure perfection. So mush going on it it was hilarious.

Laugh meter: 10

Highlight: Jerry saying Thank You and George mocking the psycho

Goof: When Jerry are at the Airport, the lady at the machine said there is only 1 seat in first class and 1 seat in coach. In the plane, you can see that there are at least 2 empty seats, means this was an awful goof.

Main villain: Stewardess and The Airline company

Should you watch this?: Yes. A great episode. Worth a rewatch after your 6th watch.

Airplane!

[safenoe · 6/10 · 19 April 2024]

Jennifer Campbell guest stars as Tia Van Camp in The Airport, and I first watched this episode when I became a fan of Seinfeld back in the 1990s, and it's been interesting to reflect on the episodes 30 years later, wow that's three decades, as The Airport debuted in 1992, so that's 32 years ago. The first class-economy class plot is okay, but interestingly, the series ended with Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer on a private jet which ended with them being on trial so that's ironic.

Anyway, it's also ironic that Julia Louis-Dreyfus's father was billionaire Gerard Louis-Dreyfus, who could have brought numerous private jets instead of having to fly coach.

not funny painful to watch

[berilzaman-882-81958 · 1/10 · 17 December 2023]

Ok, i am one of the ones just watching this show now for the first time and I guess this show for me didn't aged well. First of all it is not funny and the meanness is just so painful to watch. Sorry but this show is blah. The cruelty and the selfishness shown as humor is lets say Hollywoody- support the dark hahahhahahahahaha.

While humor in entertainment has the power to influence societal attitudes, it's essential to consider the impact of cruelty portrayed as humor, especially in the context of social media and its influence on upcoming generations. The portrayal of cruelty as comedic can contribute to desensitization, normalizing behaviors that might be harmful or hurtful in reality.

In the realm of social media, where content spreads rapidly and is easily accessible to a wide audience, the influence of humor is magnified. Memes, jokes, and comedic content often shape the cultural narrative and can inadvertently reinforce certain behaviors. When cruelty is masked as humor, there's a risk of perpetuating stereotypes, encouraging insensitivity, and fostering a culture where negative behaviors are downplayed or dismissed.

Furthermore, the younger generation, being avid consumers of online content, can be particularly susceptible to the influence of humor in shaping their worldview. Social media platforms serve as powerful mediums for cultural transmission, and content that glorifies cruelty may impact the way individuals perceive and interact with the world around them.

It's crucial for creators, influencers, and consumers alike to be mindful of the potential consequences of humor that normalizes cruelty. By fostering a culture of empathy, understanding, and positive engagement, we can contribute to a more inclusive and compassionate society. As audiences, we have the collective responsibility to critically assess the content we consume and promote media that uplifts rather than undermines the values we wish to see in the world.