Review of Seinfeld, Seasons One and Two, on DVD

Episode Guide:

Season 1
The Seinfeld Chronicles: In the introduction to the life of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Jerry struggles with a potential relationship that is wrought with ambiguous messages. His friend, real estate agent George Costanza (Jason Alexander), tries to give him advice on how to take all of the signals she is giving him. Unfortunately, his skepticism about the relationship is founded when Jerry discovers she is married. The series start is a bit shaky because the character of Elaine hasn’t been introduced, Kramer appears to be a typical wacky neighbor type, and George is doing too much of a Woody Allen impression to make him interesting. But the show shakes out these kinks and Seinfeld is off the ground and running almost immediately.

Male-Unbonding: Jerry tries to “break up” with a particularly sensitive friend while Kramer tries to get the gang on board with an idea for a pizza place where patrons can make their own pizzas.

The Stake Out: Jerry meets a beautiful woman at a party and tries to find her by staking out the lobby of her office. Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is jealous and annoyed when she sees Jerry flirting with her friend and George contributes by introducing his favorite fake name, Art Vandelay, in this episode. Jerry’s parents are introduced as well in this episode of Seinfeld, but Morty Seinfeld is not played by the hilarious Barney Martin until the next season.

The Robbery: Jerry’s apartment is broken into and George and Elaine try and convince him into moving to a nicer place. George gets jealous when Jerry takes a beautiful garden apartment and Elaine is excited by the prospect of moving away from her annoying roommate. But in the end, Jerry doesn’t want his friendship with George to end over an apartment and he ends up back in his old place.

The Stock Tip: George gets Jerry involved in a serious stock tip, but Jerry begs out after the stock takes a dip. His relationship with his new girlfriend is ruined by a trip to Vermont and George’s commitment to the stock leads to newfound wealth that upsets Jerry.