Seinfeld: The Stand-In | Episode 80 Recap Podcast

Listen to the Podcast: Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur continue their journey to watch every Seinfeld episode as they discuss Season 5, Episode 16, “The Stand-In.” Rob Cesternino and Akiva Wienerkur didn’t offer this podcast cigarettes to stunt it’s growth, as their recap grew to nearly two hours this week covering “The Stand-In”, which first aired February 24, 1994 as part of season five. The episode was written by the Larry David and introduced the great recurring character Mickey. There was some Seinfeld news for Akiva to share this week. There was a Twitter poll done to determine the greatest Seinfeld character. Kramer won the poll with 34%, followed by Jerry at 29%, Elaine at 23% and George in last at 14%. Rob was shocked to see George in last, thinking he’d be first. Rob did his own Twitter poll asking which is the better Poppie moment, him peeing on Jerry’s couch, or not washing his hands. In the short time the poll was up, Poppie peeing on the couch was winning 59% to 41%. This week, Jerry has perhaps the simplest storyline. His friend Fulton is in the hospital and looking for someone to cheer him up, though when he first goes by, he bombs. He even told him the Pachyderm story that all the gang found so funny, but it got no laughs. In his last trip to cheer up Fulton, he decides to do his act, which works with so much success, Fulton ends up dying in his bed. The plot for Elaine this week revolves around Jerry setting her up with his friend Phil Totola. Jerry thinks they’re a great match, and their date went well until the end, when Phil decided to “take it out” in his car at the end of the date. Elaine admonishes Jerry later for setting them up. When George hears the story, he wonders why he hasn’t tried this yet. Phil talks to Jerry later, and he’s unsure of why it didn’t work out, but Jerry just lets it go. George has perhaps the biggest story in the episode. He is dating a woman named Daphne who he finds boring, but since their mutual friend Al tries to warn Daphne that George isn’t good for her, he stays with her for spite. During one of their dates, he tries to get a conversation started about eggs, but she just responds that “eggs are eggs”. Despite this, George is ready to marry her just to prove Al wrong. In the end, she dumps George to get together with the Pachyderm. Kramer’s story is about he and his little person friend Mickey, who have jobs as stand ins for the soap opera All My Children. Mickey is concerned that the kid he stands in for is growing too fast. Kramer recommends lifts, and Mickey finally agrees to it, though he’s worried other little people on the show would be offended by him “heightening”. When everyone wonders what is different about Mickey, another little person Johnny goes through his locker and finds the shoe lifts. He tells everyone else, and Mickey ends up ostracized, leading to him pouncing on Kramer for recommending such a bad idea. Rob and Akiva had several great tangents this week. They had a discussion about what TV shows they are watching. With the new baby to look after, Rob had a chance to catch up on Man in the High Castle, Master of None and The Leftovers. Later, they wanted to do some research on prisons, and if the inmates could pick their best cellmate on an app and call it Prison-der, or Prinder. They briefly talked about Star Wars because the character Tammy played one of the Ewoks. Akiva still hasn’t seen any of them, and doesn’t plan on seeing the seventh, to which Rob wondered if Akiva was doing this as a badge of honor. In discussing the Pachyderm story, Rob wondered how those hit by the pizza Pachyderm drops didn’t get third degree burns. They also discussed if it would be better to have a kid busy with sports, or one doing the acting thing.