This was very difficult to do with SO many incredible episodes over it's 9 year run. To even get this down to 15 was nearly impossible but these are my favorite episodes. It just didn't seem fair. Here are my top five favorites followed by the next 10.
What are your favorite episodes?
1. The Burning
George devises a new plan to end every conversation on a "high note" and "leave them wanting more". Kramer and Mickey take jobs acting out diseases for medical students. Elaine discovers that Puddy is religious, and becomes angry when she learns he doesn't care about her soul. Meanwhile, Jerry is intrigued when he learns that his current girlfriend has a secret "tractor story" she hasn't told him.
2. The Junior Mint
Jerry has a date with a woman whose name he has forgotten, but it "rhymes with a female body part." Could it be "Mulva"? Elaine visits an old boyfriend who's in the hospital for an operation; he was once fat, thin she's interested again. Kramer gets an opportunity to witness the operation and he drags Jerry along, while watching they have an accident with a "Junior Mint."
3. The Contest
George's mother is forced to hospital after she throws her back out when she falls down after catching him doing "you know." When George says he'll never do it again, Jerry challenges him to a contest of being "master of your domains", when he accepts, Elaine and Kramer want in on the action, or rather the lack of it.
4. The Non-Fat Yogurt When they begin to gain weight, Jerry and Elaine suspect that Kramer has made a bad investment in a non-fat yogurt shop. Jerry inadvertently uses the "F" word, as a result so does Maryedith's son Matthew, a lot. George meets an old childhood friend whom he is convinced is trying to humiliate him. Elaine begins dating this friend and gives him an idea for his mayoral candidate's campaign. Kramer's date with a lab technician results in strange test results for the future mayor of New York City.
5. The Marine Biologist
Jerry meets an old college classmate who asked about George, whom Jerry says is now a "marine biologist." An infuriated Russian writer tosses an electronic organizer belonging to Elaine out of a limousine that hits a passerby on the head. Kramer struggles with his golf swing and sand. While walking along the beach, George is called on to use his marine biology skills to save a whale.
The Best of the Rest...The Merv Griffin Show
After Kramer finds the set of the old Merv Griffin Show in a dumpster, he begins to treat his entire life like a talk show. Jerry's new girlfriend has a priceless toy collection that she won't let him play with, with leads him to some questionable behavior. George runs over a squirrel with his car, and he's forced to spend time and money on its recovery. Elaine has to find a way to deal with a new co-worker, whose 'sidling' is both annoying and potentially dangerous to her job.
The Puffy Shirt
George thinks he's made it big when, shortly after moving in with his parents, he gets work as a hand model. Elaine arranges for Jerry to appear on The Today Show to promote a charity benefit. However, when out to dinner with Kramer and his new "low talker" girlfriend, a misunderstanding has Jerry agreeing to wear a ridculous, pirate-style puffy shirt on TV.
The Outing
No thanks to Elaine, Jerry must work hard to prove he is straight when a college reporter mistakenly reports that he and George are gay, "not that there is anything wrong with that." Things really get out of hand when the article is picked up by the New York Post. Jerry ends up dating the college reporter to clear his name, but all does not go well.
The Opposite
George comes to the realization that he should try to do the opposite of everything, so he does, his luck changes and everything begins to go his way including getting a girlfriend, a job with the Yankees and moving out of his parents' house. Things begin to be unlucky for Elaine after she buys a box of "Jujyfruits." Kramer appears on Regis & Kathie Lee to promote his coffee table book. Rachel wants to break up with Jerry and he readily agrees, because his luck has been "even Steven." Elaine's eating of "Jujyfruits" causes Pendant Publishing to go under, and later she realizes that she and George have traded places.
The Race
Through his current girlfriend, Lois, Jerry meets an old rival, who suspects that he cheated in a high school race and he wants a rematch with Jerry to prove he was faster. Elaine is put on a "blacklist" for Chinese food delivery and finds out her boyfriend is a Communist. George responds to a personal ad in a Communist newspaper while at work, when Steinbrenner hears about it, he wants to see George in his office. Through his friend Mickey, Kramer becomes a department store Santa, who later spouts out Communist propaganda.
The Heart Attack
George thinks he's had a heart attack. The doctor tells him otherwise, but he might want to get his tonsils and adenoids removed. Elaine is interested in the doctor and he is interested in her tongue. George not wanting to deal with the cost and the procedure decides to take Kramer's advice of going to see a naturalist, which only makes the situation worse.
The Pen
Elaine regrets accompanying Jerry to visit his parents in Florida, and Jerry comes to regret accepting a gift of a pen that write's upside down from one of his father's friends.
The Library
Jerry is investigated by the library for a book he checked out in 1971 and never returned. Elaine fears for her career when her boss hates her recommendations, and Kramer strikes up a relationship with the librarian. Meanwhile, George believes that a homeless man is his old gym teacher, whom he got fired.
The Nose Job
Jerry's brain and penis play chess against one another to decide whether he should keep dating a vacuous model with whom the "sex is great" but not anything else. George is dating a woman with a big nose, Kramer tells her it like it is and she gets a nose job; however, there is a complication. Kramer gets Elaine to help him retrieve the jacket.
The Boyfriend (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." Keith asks Jerry about Elaine's status. Keith makes a date with her and breaks a date with Jerry.
The Parking Space
Kramer tells Jerry about something his friend Mike said about Jerry being "a phony." After borrowing Jerry's car, Elaine comes up with a wild story, because the car is now making a strange clanking noise. George gets into a confrontation with Mike about a parking space in front of Jerry's apartment. Everyone one the street debates about parking etiquette.
The Bubble Boy
Jerry's girlfriend, Naomi has a laugh that sounds like "Elmer Fudd sitting on a juicer," and when she hears George's message to Jerry, she breaks up with him. So instead, Jerry asks Elaine to accompany him on a trip to a cabin in the mountain with George and Susan. Kramer isn't invited. Jerry agrees to a side trip to visit a sick fan, a "Bubble Boy." George gets into a fight with the "Bubble Boy" over the correct answer to a Trivial Pursuit question. Kramer and Naomi also make the trip to the cabin and get the fire started.
The Soup Nazi
The gang all loves the soup from a new, temperamental cook unofficially called the "Soup Nazi". Jerry and his girlfriend are beyond affectionate, and their nickname "Schmoopie" drives George crazy. Elaine buys an antique armoire on the street, but it is stolen while being guarded by Kramer.
The Strike
An increase in the minimum wage is enough to finally meet the demands of the striking employees of H&H Bagels, and as such, Kramer announces that after 12 years, he's going back to work. Jerry meets an attractive woman at a party, but when he later tries to date her, she doesn't look nearly as good. Elaine's use of a fake phone number backfires when she loses a card that will entitle her to a free sandwich. George tries to get away with giving away fake donation cards as Christmas gifts at work, and much to his chagrin, his father decides to revive Festivus, a unique holiday he'd invented years earlier.
The Cheever Letters
Jerry and George begin to work on the pilot for the series they pitched to NBC. Jerry says the wrong thing while "messing" around with one of Elaine's co-workers. George & Susan tell her father about the cabin fire, he becomes distraught and letters saved from the fire soon explain why. Kramer goes to the Cuban Embassy in search of cigars and makes a deal. Seinfeld turns his girlfriend off by talking dirty.