The Puerto Rican Day
Encyclopedia
"The Puerto Rican Day Parade" is the 176th and antepenultimate episode of the NBC
sitcom Seinfeld
. It aired on May 7, 1998, and was the 20th episode of the 9th and final season
. It was the show's second-highest-rated episode of all time, with 38.8 million viewers, only behind the series finale. The episode aired one week before the two-part clip show and the two-part series finale aired. Because of controversy surrounding a scene in which Cosmo Kramer
accidentally burns and then stomps on the Puerto Rican flag
, NBC refused to show it again and it was not initially part of the syndicated package. In the summer of 2002, the episode started to appear with the flag-burning sequence intact. On certain channels, such as TBS
, the episode continues not to air.
This episode of Seinfeld has more writer credits (ten) than any other episode. As co-creator Larry David
was returning to write the finale, this was the final episode for the active "after Larry David" writing staff and thus was a group effort.
"The Puerto Rican Day" was a rare late season return to a "plot about nothing" style, filmed in real-time, more commonly seen in early seasons (such as "The Chinese Restaurant
").
after leaving a Mets
game early (to beat the traffic), but run into trouble with a driver in a maroon Volkswagen Golf
. In the car, George
boasts about the clever comment ("That's gotta hurt!!") he recently made during a pivotal moment in a new film about the Hindenburg
disaster
titled Blimp.
As they approach Fifth Avenue, traffic is blocked by the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade
. They almost find a way out down an alley, but are blocked by their nemesis in the maroon Golf, whose driver refuses to let them cross over.
Elaine
gets out of the car, worried about not being able to arrive home for her Sunday night "weekend wind-down" routine, which includes watching 60 Minutes
. She starts walking only to find the traffic move again. She gets into a taxi (where she is oddly infuriated by the sight of a dog with its ear flipped inside out), only to find the traffic immediately stop. Then, she leaves the taxi, only to find the traffic immediately moving again.
George also leaves the car when he sees that the film Blimp is playing in a nearby theater, and he wants to repeat his funny comment for the audience. But his attempt to be funny is undermined by a man with a laser pointer
and when George makes the comment, nobody laughs because they are instead laughing at the laser.
Jerry and Kramer
are finally allowed to take their shortcut when Jerry is forced to make an apologetic wave to the maroon Golf driver. As they pass by the Golf, Jerry calls the driver a "jackass", only to find himself stuck in the alley by oncoming traffic. The maroon Golf driver laughs and won't let him back up again.
A frustrated George then returns to the car, only to find the red dot of the laser pointer appearing all over parts of his body. A panicked George can't see the man holding the laser and worries he will go blind if it touches his eye.
Seeking an alternative way home, Elaine tries to find a way out by walking underneath the viewing stands. In a send up of The Poseidon Adventure, Elaine becomes the leader of a group of similarly distressed people trying to find their way out. She ultimately, however, leads them to a dead end where they have to scream for help to the people above.
Kramer, meanwhile, becomes desperate for a restroom and spots an apartment for sale across the street. To gain access to its restroom, he poses as H.E. Pennypacker, a wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, and bicyclist interested in the property. While there he sees the Mets game (they had left early) on the apartment's television. He excitedly tells Jerry, who also leaves the car and enters the apartment to watch, posing under his alias Kel Varnsen.
George thinks he spots the laser guy and plans a sneak attack, grabbing what he thinks is the laser pointer only to discover it is a pen. Back outside, Kramer accidentally sets the Puerto Rican flag on fire with a sparkler ("Dios mio!") and a mob of people, led by Bob and Cedric (in their third and final appearance), attacks him. He runs back into the apartment.
George also enters the apartment to wash the ink from his hands. Jerry then realizes that all three of them are in the apartment and nobody is watching the car. They look out the window to find it destroyed by the angry mob.
Late in the evening, when the parade's over, Jerry, George and Kramer see the destroyed car in dismay. Elaine arrives, her clothes and hair filthy with food. Then the maroon Golf driver passes by and calls Jerry a "jackass". Defeated, the gang starts walking home and Jerry says "remember where we parked", making reference to season three episode The Parking Garage. While they're shown walking from behind, it is seen that George still has the laser dot on his waist.
, such as the scene where an angry mob of parade-goers damages Jerry's car, and Kramer later utters, "It's like this every day in Puerto Rico
!" The episode sparked angry letters, protests outside NBC's Rockefeller Center
in New York, and complaints from Puerto Rican activists. NBC formally apologized for the episode, and later pulled it from summer repeats. However, it later began to appear in syndication, and is featured in its entirety on the DVD
set for Seinfelds ninth season.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
sitcom Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. It aired on May 7, 1998, and was the 20th episode of the 9th and final season
Seinfeld (season 9)
Season nine of Seinfeld, an American comedy television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on September 25, 1997, and concluded on May 14, 1998, on NBC.-Production:...
. It was the show's second-highest-rated episode of all time, with 38.8 million viewers, only behind the series finale. The episode aired one week before the two-part clip show and the two-part series finale aired. Because of controversy surrounding a scene in which Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
accidentally burns and then stomps on the Puerto Rican flag
Flag of Puerto Rico
The flags of Puerto Rico represent and symbolize the island and people of Puerto Rico. The most commonly used flags of Puerto Rico are the current flag, which represents the people of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico; municipal flags, which represent the different regions of the island; political...
, NBC refused to show it again and it was not initially part of the syndicated package. In the summer of 2002, the episode started to appear with the flag-burning sequence intact. On certain channels, such as TBS
TBS (TV channel)
TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
, the episode continues not to air.
This episode of Seinfeld has more writer credits (ten) than any other episode. As co-creator Larry David
Larry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
was returning to write the finale, this was the final episode for the active "after Larry David" writing staff and thus was a group effort.
"The Puerto Rican Day" was a rare late season return to a "plot about nothing" style, filmed in real-time, more commonly seen in early seasons (such as "The Chinese Restaurant
The Chinese Restaurant
"The Chinese Restaurant" is the eleventh episode of the sitcom Seinfelds second season on NBC, and is the show's sixteenth episode overall. The episode revolves around protagonist Jerry and his friends Elaine Benes and George Costanza waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, on their way to...
").
Plot
The gang are heading back to ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
after leaving a Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
game early (to beat the traffic), but run into trouble with a driver in a maroon Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...
. In the car, George
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
boasts about the clever comment ("That's gotta hurt!!") he recently made during a pivotal moment in a new film about the Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg
LZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
disaster
Hindenburg disaster
The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey...
titled Blimp.
As they approach Fifth Avenue, traffic is blocked by the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade
Puerto Rican Day Parade
The Puerto Rican Day Parade takes place annually along Fifth Avenue in New York City, on the second Sunday in June, in honor of the nearly 4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico and all people of Puerto Rican birth or heritage residing in the mainland U.S...
. They almost find a way out down an alley, but are blocked by their nemesis in the maroon Golf, whose driver refuses to let them cross over.
Elaine
Elaine Benes
Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...
gets out of the car, worried about not being able to arrive home for her Sunday night "weekend wind-down" routine, which includes watching 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
. She starts walking only to find the traffic move again. She gets into a taxi (where she is oddly infuriated by the sight of a dog with its ear flipped inside out), only to find the traffic immediately stop. Then, she leaves the taxi, only to find the traffic immediately moving again.
George also leaves the car when he sees that the film Blimp is playing in a nearby theater, and he wants to repeat his funny comment for the audience. But his attempt to be funny is undermined by a man with a laser pointer
Laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small portable device with a power source and a laser emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light...
and when George makes the comment, nobody laughs because they are instead laughing at the laser.
Jerry and Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
are finally allowed to take their shortcut when Jerry is forced to make an apologetic wave to the maroon Golf driver. As they pass by the Golf, Jerry calls the driver a "jackass", only to find himself stuck in the alley by oncoming traffic. The maroon Golf driver laughs and won't let him back up again.
A frustrated George then returns to the car, only to find the red dot of the laser pointer appearing all over parts of his body. A panicked George can't see the man holding the laser and worries he will go blind if it touches his eye.
Seeking an alternative way home, Elaine tries to find a way out by walking underneath the viewing stands. In a send up of The Poseidon Adventure, Elaine becomes the leader of a group of similarly distressed people trying to find their way out. She ultimately, however, leads them to a dead end where they have to scream for help to the people above.
Kramer, meanwhile, becomes desperate for a restroom and spots an apartment for sale across the street. To gain access to its restroom, he poses as H.E. Pennypacker, a wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, and bicyclist interested in the property. While there he sees the Mets game (they had left early) on the apartment's television. He excitedly tells Jerry, who also leaves the car and enters the apartment to watch, posing under his alias Kel Varnsen.
George thinks he spots the laser guy and plans a sneak attack, grabbing what he thinks is the laser pointer only to discover it is a pen. Back outside, Kramer accidentally sets the Puerto Rican flag on fire with a sparkler ("Dios mio!") and a mob of people, led by Bob and Cedric (in their third and final appearance), attacks him. He runs back into the apartment.
George also enters the apartment to wash the ink from his hands. Jerry then realizes that all three of them are in the apartment and nobody is watching the car. They look out the window to find it destroyed by the angry mob.
Late in the evening, when the parade's over, Jerry, George and Kramer see the destroyed car in dismay. Elaine arrives, her clothes and hair filthy with food. Then the maroon Golf driver passes by and calls Jerry a "jackass". Defeated, the gang starts walking home and Jerry says "remember where we parked", making reference to season three episode The Parking Garage. While they're shown walking from behind, it is seen that George still has the laser dot on his waist.
Controversy
"The Puerto Rican Day Parade" was criticized not only for the flag-burning incident, but also for perceived negative portrayals of Puerto RicansPuerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
, such as the scene where an angry mob of parade-goers damages Jerry's car, and Kramer later utters, "It's like this every day in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
!" The episode sparked angry letters, protests outside NBC's Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
in New York, and complaints from Puerto Rican activists. NBC formally apologized for the episode, and later pulled it from summer repeats. However, it later began to appear in syndication, and is featured in its entirety on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set for Seinfelds ninth season.