Seinfeld (Series, The) (DVD)

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So Season 8 of "Seinfeld" earned nine Emmy nominations (including a win for Michael Richards), a Golden Globe nomination for Best TV Series, three Writers Guild of America nominations (with a win for "The Fatigues"), four Screen Actors Guild nominations (incluing a win for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Best Ensemble), a People's Choice Award for Favorite Television Comedy Series, yada yada yada . . . .

As a matter of fact, "The Yada Yada" episode that put the term into our popular lexicon is here. So is "The Nap," which finds George Costanza (Jason Alexander) hiring a carpenter to fix the space under his desk so he can hide from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and nap the day away. "The English Patient" episode is here, which finds Elaine (Louis-Dreyfus) becoming a pariah of sorts because she can't stand that movie (Elaine, I feel your pain). So are "The Muffin Tops," with Elaine's bright idea getting stolen and George getting traded to a chicken franchise. This is the season where Kramer (Richards) boycotts Kenny Rogers Roasters because the neon sign keeps him from sleeping, and it's the season where Elaine uses her new power at the Peterman catalog by introducing the Urban Sombrero. And this is the season that saw "Seinfeld" settle in behind "ER" again as the number two most-watched show in America. Not a bad year, for a season that everyone thought would be the show's last, since co-creator Larry David departed.

The show would go on for one more year, and finish tops again in the Nielsen's. Though a number of sitcoms have been as popular and beloved, it's hard to name one that has given us as many phrases and attitudes as this alleged show about nothing. So many people were talking about the episodes at their workplace water coolers that we even began to think of this as the first water cooler show. It was an intimate, clever, postmodernist kind of show that self-consciously gave us a glimpse into the business of comedy. As Jerry Seinfeld did his stand-up routine at the end of each episode, it not only put a period to the episode. It made you realize that we've been privileged to see the raw materials upon which those monologues are based. Raw created materials, that is. It's part of the genius of "Seinfeld."

All 22 episodes are included on four single-sided discs and housed in four slim clear keep-cases and a double cardboard slipcase.

1) "The Foundation"-George's almost-in-laws start a foundation in Susan's name and ask George to sit on the board; Peterman has a breakdown and Elaine takes over, introducing the Urban Sombrero to the catalog; and Jerry gets together again with that woman whose name he couldn't remember . . . the one that rhymed with a female body part.

2) "The Soul Mate"-Kramer gets the hots for Jerry's latest girlfriend; George becomes paranoid that the board may think he killed his late fiancé; and everyone gets a vasectomy.

3) "The Bizarro Jerry"-Elaine concludes that her boyfriend and his circle of friends are the exact opposite of them; George uses Jerry's girlfriend to crash a model bonanza; and Jerry dates a woman with "man hands."

4) "The Little Kicks"-Elaine gets her kicks at an office party; George tries to impress Elaine's secretary by acting "bad"; Kramer's friend hands jerry the camera during the making of a film and a "filmmaker" is born.

5) "The Package"-Only George would think to have Kramer take seductive photos of him to impress a woman he likes at the photo store; Jerry won't accept a suspicious package; and Elaine finds out that every doctor thinks she's a difficult patient.

6) "The Fatigues"-Jerry dates someone whose mentor is dating a comedian he can't stand, Kenny Bania; George tries to avoid reading a risk management book; and Elaine gets intimidated by a war vet in fatigues and promotes him.

7) "The Checks"-Jerry cramps up after signing hundred of royalty checks; Kramer tries to help Japanese tourists; George tries to sell a "Jerry" pilot to Japanese TV; and Elaine's boyfriend is obsessed with the song "Desperado."

8) "The Chicken Roaster"-Kramer goes ballistic over Kenny Rogers Roasters; Jerry switches apartments and finds himself becoming just like Kramer; Elaine gets busted for abusing the Peterman expense account.

9) "The Abstinence"-When George's girlfriend gets mono and can't have sex, George actually finds himself getting smarter; Elaine stops having sex, but finds the opposite to be true; Kramer turns his apartment into a smoking lounge and hires Jackie Chiles to represent him in a lawsuit against big tobacco.

10) "The Andrea Doria"-George competes with a shipwreck survivor for an apartment; Elaine dates a "bad breaker-upper"; Kramer gets a cough that makes him sound like a dog (so he sees a vet); and Jerry helps Newman deliver mail so he can win a transfer to Hawaii.

11) "The Little Jerry"-When Jerry bounces a check, the bodega owner posts it for all to see; Kramer gets a chicken that turns out to be a rooster, so he trains it to fight; George dates a prisoner; and Elaine's boyfriend shaves his head.