Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian (DVD)

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16) "The Outing"—A reporter mistakenly "outs" Jerry and George.

17) "The Shoes"—After copping a peak at the NBC exec's daughter's cleavage, Jerry and George lose their pilot, while Elaine, meanwhile, thinks the world is obsessed with her Botticelli shoes.

18) "The Old Man"—A very funny episode finds Jerry, George, and Elaine volunteering to spend time with senior citizens, except Jerry loses his, George's fires him, and Elaine can't stand to look at hers.

19) "The Implant"—Jerry asks Elaine to go undercover, so to speak, to find out if his girlfriend's breasts are real, while George loses his girlfriend after being caught "double-dipping" (a phrase that became legendary around water coolers).

20) "The Handicap Spot"—Hilarious hijinx as George parks his father's car in a handicapped spot and an angry mob trashes it. Dad Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) debuts.

21) "The Junior Mint."

22) "The Smelly Car"—A valet stinks up Jerry's car; meanwhile, George learns that he drove Susan (Heidi Swedberg) to lesbianism.

23-24) "The Pilot" Parts 1 & 2—Finally, the pilot is a go, but the NBC president becomes obsessed with Elaine, and Kramer gets the trots.

Video: You yadda-yadda fans have never had it so good. This season was remastered in High Definition, and the picture quality is great. The colors are vibrant, and the grain is in the Midwest, where it belongs. The picture is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Audio: Could you listen to those jazz riffs between scenes without top-quality sound? The English soundtrack is in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and in truth it sounds fuller than that, especially when the musical interludes kick in. Spanish and French language tracks are in Dolby Digital 2.0, but I don't notice much of a drop-off. Subtitles are in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Extras: As with the other sets, this one is packed on four discs in four clear, slim keep-cases that fit into a cardboard sleeve and box. There's a color bi-fold insert that lists the episodes and credits (surprising, not the air-dates and guest stars), but for descriptions of the episodes you have to look at the backs of the keep-cases. There are 13 hours of bonus materials, which, of course, counts the commentaries.

Disc 1 holds the first six episodes plus supervising producer Larry Charles on commentary for "The Trip," Parts 1 & 2, while there are "inside looks" (the equivalent of mini-feature introductions) for "The Trip," Part 1 and "The Pitch/The Ticket" and deleted scenes for "The Trip," Part 1 and "The Wallet. The main features are also included on Disc 1: a full-length documentary on "The Breakthrough Season" and a hilarious parody that the cast did on Regis and Kathie Lee. On the episodes there's also a "notes about nothing" feature that's a pop-up trivia track, some of which are quite interesting, some of which are so random and drawn-out that they're distracting and out-of-synch with the onscreen images.

Disc 2 has episodes 7-11 with commentary on "The Cheever Letters" provided by Alexander, Louise-Dreyfus, and Richards, and Seinfeld handling the commentary on "The Contest." Deleted scenes are included for "The Bubble Boy," "The Cheever Letters," "The Opera," and "The Contest." There's also new stand-up material from Seinfeld titled "Master of His Domain," and inside-look introductions to "The Bubble Boy," "The Cheever Letters," "The Opera," and "The Contest."

Disc 3 features episodes 12-17, along with NBC promo spots (including ones the cast made to promote the 1992 Olympics). Commentaries on "The Airport" (Larry Charles) and "The Outing" (Alexander, Louise-Dreyfus, and Richards) are included, along with deleted scenes from "The Airport," "The Pick," "The Movie," and "The Outing," and inside-looks at "The Airport," "The Pick," "The Visa," and "The Outing."

Disc 4 has episodes 18-24, with writer Peter Mehlman offering a commentary on one of his three favorite episodes, "The Implant," and Seinfeld doing the commentary track on the infamous "Junior Mint" episode, while supervising editor Tom Cherones and his production designer handle the commentary chores for "The Pilot." There are "inside looks" for "The Old Man," The Handicap Spot," "The Junior Mint," and "The Smelly Car," and deleted scenes from "The Old Man" and "The Junior Mint."

Though the commentaries have lots of dead air, they're still entertaining for those surprise insights that pop-up like trivia questions. Seinfeld does a better job on the commentaries than his co-stars, but then again he doesn't have to share the microphone. What's surpising, though, is how little some of the cast remembers about the episodes.

Bottom Line: If "Seinfeld" is the number one situation comedy of all time, then this season is arguably the best sitcom season. There are a bunch of classic episodes, and it's the only year that "Seinfeld" won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Which is to say, if you're only going to buy one season of "Seinfeld" for your DVD collection, this would be the one.

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