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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HIT ITS STRIDE IN SEASON THREE, November 29, 2004
While there were some select excellent episodes during the first two seasons of Seinfeld, I've always thought Season three was when the show really hit its stride and found its comfort zone where it would remain for the next six years.
This season really defined the whole irreverance of the show and the pure ridiculous idiosyncracies of the characters. Among the great episodes of season three:
"The pen" Jerry visits his parents in florida and Jack Klompus gives Jerry the famous Astronaut pen that writes upside down.
"The Library" The library asks Jerry about a book he checked out in 1971 and never returned, so Jerry looks up an old girlfriend for his defense against a library cop. Phillip Baker Hall is priceless as the Libray Cop Bookman.
"The Subway" Everyone has an uncommon experience while going their separate ways on the subway. George meets a beautiful woman who distracts him from his intended destination, a job interview. Jerry falls asleep and then wakes up across from a fat naked man and winds up discussing with him, the New York Mets & Coney Island.
"The Pez Dispenser" Kramer joins the "Polar Bear Club." Jerry gets one of Kramer's Pez dispensers which makes Elaine laugh during a piano recital of George's girlfriend, and that puts their relationship in jeopardy.
"The Boyfriend Parts 1 & 2" Jerry meets Keith Hernandez and wants to make a good impression. Meanwhile, George is out of time on his unemployment and he works harder than ever on his scheme to get a 13 week extension. He tells the unemployment office he was really close on Vandelay Industries, a company that makes latex products and whose main office is Jerry's apartment. Kramer and Newman hate Hernandez back to a time when they were allegedly spit on by him; however, Jerry supports the "second-spitter theory." The First of Many legnedary Episodes.
There is commentary on several episodes and many more extras. This is the season that would catapault Seinfeld to top 10 status!
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great show now on DVD, December 2, 2004
The third season of Seinfeld is when some of the really great stories came out, making this set a must have for fans of the show. Of course, I loved Seinfeld over its entire run, watching the premiere when it first aired and then watching the series till it ended, so I may be a bit biased in favor of it. The episodes are presented in the order they were filmed rather than the order they aired, which actually makes the continuity better for this set. The special features are only so-so, and I did not bother to look for hidden bits like the first set had, so there might be more to see.
As with the first set, there is for each episode a brief making-of retrospective with various cast and crew sharing their recollections. It is interesting to watch, and the different people giving commentary keeps it from seeming too repetitive. I like the Notes About Nothing, which gives subtitles of minutiae, like Girlfriend and Boyfriend Counters for the cast, Kramer Entrance Counter, things like that.
The best part of this set, like the first set, is the outtakes. While I did not actually time it, I believe that there are more outtakes in this set than in the first set. I watched it three times before moving on, as I laughed so hard at them. Some were already shown on other discs with the pertinent episode's short documentary, but they are still hilarious.
The behind-the-scenes stuff is OK, if a bit dry and somewhat padded in length by clips from the shows themselves. The audio commentaries that can be run are pretty disappointing. There are none with all four cast members, which would have rocked, but some have three (all but Seinfeld), likely due to the money issues that delayed this set so long in the first place. I only listened to a couple, with Kramer, George, and Elaine speaking, as that was the closest to the cast as was available. Not bad, but for 22 minute shows it seems clear to me that they did not put that much time and effort into it. I also would have loved all four cast members together for one of the interviews, but maybe that can happen on a later set.
All in all, I am happy with the purchase, even if the features are not so great, mainly because I love the show and can now watch whichever episodes I like whenever I want. And I am eagerly awaiting the rest of the series, as the later seasons just got better and better.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The show about nothing finally has a DVD with everything, December 19, 2004
I've seen these episodes dozens of times each. I love this show; I love the characters; I love the pencil-thin plots; I love Kramer's scemes; I love Elaine's antics; George's predicaments; Jerry's shallowness; Newman's evilness; Tom Cherones' directing; Larry David's writing; and just about everything else that makes this show Seinfeld.
So of course I got the DVDs for the extras and Colombia doesn't disappoint. Bloopers, unused stand-up material, interviews, commentaries, production notes, photo gallery, and an out-of-place (sort of) Spider-Man II trailer, and inside looks at the making of individual episodes. This DVD set is the ultimate for any DVD fan.
It's not without its faults though. My biggest gripe was with the "Kramer vs. Kramer: Kenny and Cosmo" featurette on the Season Three DVD. The description on the back mistakingly identifies it as a comparison between the real-life Kenny Kramer and the Cosmo Kramer of the show. Once you get five minutes into it, however, you realize it's a documentary about Michael Richard's devotion to giving a good performance on the show.
That in itself is not bad. Michael is a very interesting person and he does reveal some stuff I hadn't known about, but it's the principle of being misled that upsets me. Kenny Kramer is mentioned at the beginning, but it shows a mere three quick clips of an interview with him aboard his reality bus. Honestly, more about Kenny is said on the "Seinfeld story" NBC special.
But the rest is great. Season Three isn't my favorite, but it is pretty good. It marks the point where Seinfeld really became the show it was for the rest of its run. A show about four greedy New-Yorkers with no respect for society. Or nothing, whichever you prefer.
The best commentaries are the ones with Julia (Elaine), Jason (George), and Michael (Kramer). There's also an option called "Notes About Nothing", which is a subtitle feature that will analyze every moment of the episode and give you useless facts. But then... isn't that what the show was about?
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