The Statue
Encyclopedia
"The Statue" is the sixth episode of the second season
of the NBC
sitcom Seinfeld
, and the show's eleventh episode overall. In the episode, protagonist
Jerry Seinfeld
(Jerry Seinfeld
) inherits some old possessions of his grandfather. One of these is a statue, resembling one that his friend George Costanza
(Jason Alexander
) broke when he was ten years old. When Jerry sees the statue in the house of Ray (Michael D. Conway), the man who cleaned his apartment, he believes Ray stole the statue. Jerry struggles to get back at Ray, as his friend Elaine Benes
(Julia Louis-Dreyfus
) is editing the book of Ray's girlfriend.
The episode was written by Larry Charles
and directed by Tom Cherones
. The character of Jerry's neighbour Cosmo Kramer
(Michael Richards
) developed in this episode, as he goes undercover as a cop to retrieve the statue. Charles was interested in the development of Kramer, as he felt George and Jerry had their counterparts in co-creators Larry David
and Seinfeld. Richards enjoyed how his character acted in the episode and encouraged Charles to continue exploiting the Kramer character. "The Statue" first aired on NBC on April 11, 1991 in the United States and was watched by over 23 million American homes. It gained mixed responses from critics.
Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer discuss the situation and Kramer urges Jerry to do something about it, but Elaine argues that Rava will no longer let her edit her book if Jerry does this. Jerry calls Ray and has lunch with him, while George sits in the next booth and eavesdrops on their conversation. Jerry asks him about the statue, but Ray gets offended and leaves when he hears Jerry's opinion. Elaine and Rava get into an argument about Jerry's accusation, and Elaine is no longer allowed to edit Rava's book. Without notifying anybody, Kramer dresses up in Irving's old clothes and goes to Ray's apartment, pretending to be a cop, and steals back the statue. Kramer returns the statue to a grateful George. But when George holds the statue, Kramer gives him a friendly pat on the back, causing George to drop the statue, which breaks when it hits the floor.
", by Jimmy Webb
; in early drafts of the script, George broke it while singing Eddie Cochran's "There Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues". The episode also contained numerous references to the 1960s television crime drama Dragnet
, this was because Larry Charles
, who wrote the episode, watched a lot of reruns of the show when he was writing for Seinfeld. The cop Kramer pretends to be when he retrieves the statue was inspired by Joe Friday
, the central character of Dragnet. Finland
is also mentioned multiple times, as Rava is from there. At the end of the episode Kramer states "Well, lets put it this way, I didn't take them to The People's Court
", a reference to the judicial television show.
, who directed all of the episodes in Season 2
. "The Statue" was the second episode Charles wrote for the show, though it was the first to be aired. Charles was mostly interested in the development of the Kramer character, as he felt "Jerry and George were so well-defined through Larry [David
] and Jerry, that there was less room for me to, sort of, expand on those personas. But Kramer was very unformed at the beginning of the show and it gave me an area of creativity to, sort of, expand upon. So I spent a lot of time with Kramer because he was a character that I could have an impact on in the future of the show". Richards enjoyed how his character evolved and, after the filming of the episode, went to Seinfeld, Charles and David and said "we should keep going that way." He cites this episode, as well as "The Revenge" (in which Kramer puts concrete in a washing machine), as episodes that really defined the character.
The first read-through
of the episode was held on January 23, 1991, the same night the second season premiered. "The Statue" was filmed in front of a live audience six days later. A few scenes were changed prior to filming; in an early draft of the script Elaine sat next to George eavesdropping on Jerry and Ray's conversation. She would wear a floppy hat to look inconspicuous and would complain about it, stating that she looks like one of the Cowsills, a singing group that was active between the 1960s and 1970s. The same scene initially featured George admitting that he spied on Ray a day earlier, showing Ray pictures of him in a bar. Ray would reply that it was his day off and asks why George is not at work, to which George replies that he should be getting back and leaves. In the original script, Elaine and Rava would argue over who is a better person: Jerry or Ray.
Writer's assistant Karen Wilkie can be seen in the audience during Seinfeld's stand-up comedy act. Nurit Koppel portrayed Rava, at the time she was known for her appearance in the CBS
television movie
Sweet Bird of Youth (1989) as well as a guest appearance on the NBC crime drama Hunter. Jane Leeves
, who would later appear as Marla the Virgin in season four
and season nine
also auditioned for the part, she also went on to star in the popular NBC sitcom Frasier
(1993–2004). In the script, Ray Thomas' description was, "although he carries cleaning equipment, he also carries the air of a pretentious mannerly, affected actor". Various actors auditioned for the part, among which were Hank Azaria
, Michael D. Conway and Tony Shalhoub
, who had also auditioned for the part of Kramer. Conway was eventually cast for the part. Norman Brenner, who worked as Richards' stand-in
on the show for all its nine seasons, appears as an extra
; he appears in the background when Jerry and Ray talk at Monk's Cafe.
on April 11, 1991, "The Statue" gained a Nielsen rating
of 16.1 and an audience share of 26. This means that 16.1% of American households watched the episode, and that 26% of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into it. Nielsen estimated that over 23 million people watched the episode's initial broadcast, making it the tenth most-watched program of the week it was broadcast in.
The episode gained mixed reactions from critics. Writing for Entertainment Weekly
, critics Mary Kaye Schilling and Mike Flaherty stated "Even Seinfeld's bit players must have some grounding in reality — you need to love to hate them. Ultimately, there's no redeeming comic payoff to Rava's and Ray's weirdness". Flaherty and Schilling graded
the episode with a C-. Colin Jacobson of the DVD Movie Guide called the episode's storyline "fairly pedestrian", but felt the performances of Conway and Koppel saved the episode.
Seinfeld (season 2)
Season two of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on January 23, 1991, on NBC. Because of the commencement of the first Gulf War, the second season's premiere was postponed one week. The season comprised 12 episodes, and concluded its...
of the NBC
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...
, and the show's eleventh episode overall. In the episode, protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld (character)
Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...
(Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
) inherits some old possessions of his grandfather. One of these is a statue, resembling one that his friend George Costanza
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"...
(Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...
) broke when he was ten years old. When Jerry sees the statue in the house of Ray (Michael D. Conway), the man who cleaned his apartment, he believes Ray stole the statue. Jerry struggles to get back at Ray, as his friend Elaine Benes
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...
(Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine....
) is editing the book of Ray's girlfriend.
The episode was written by Larry Charles
Larry Charles
Larry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...
and directed by Tom Cherones
Tom Cherones
Tom Cherones is an American director and producer of several TV series.-Early life:He grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where his father operated a radio and TV repair shop. His grandfather was a Greek immigrant. From 1961 to 1965, he was a lieutenant in the United States Navy...
. The character of Jerry's neighbour 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...
(Michael Richards
Michael Richards
Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld....
) developed in this episode, as he goes undercover as a cop to retrieve the statue. Charles was interested in the development of Kramer, as he felt George and Jerry had their counterparts in co-creators 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...
and Seinfeld. Richards enjoyed how his character acted in the episode and encouraged Charles to continue exploiting the Kramer character. "The Statue" first aired on NBC on April 11, 1991 in the United States and was watched by over 23 million American homes. It gained mixed responses from critics.
Plot
Jerry inherits some old possessions of his grandfather Irving. Among them is a statue that looks just like one George's family had, until George broke it. Jerry promises that George can have it, but leaves it in his apartment for a few days. Kramer takes a few of Irving's old clothes. Elaine persuades Jerry to have his apartment cleaned by her client Rava's (Nurit Koppel) boyfriend Ray (Michael D. Conway). Jerry is very impressed by the quality of the cleaning; but when he and Elaine visit Rava, Jerry notices a statue with a vivid similarity to the one he inherited, and believes Ray stole it. He calls Kramer to check his apartment, and when he couldn’t find the statue, Jerry’s suspicion is confirmed.Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer discuss the situation and Kramer urges Jerry to do something about it, but Elaine argues that Rava will no longer let her edit her book if Jerry does this. Jerry calls Ray and has lunch with him, while George sits in the next booth and eavesdrops on their conversation. Jerry asks him about the statue, but Ray gets offended and leaves when he hears Jerry's opinion. Elaine and Rava get into an argument about Jerry's accusation, and Elaine is no longer allowed to edit Rava's book. Without notifying anybody, Kramer dresses up in Irving's old clothes and goes to Ray's apartment, pretending to be a cop, and steals back the statue. Kramer returns the statue to a grateful George. But when George holds the statue, Kramer gives him a friendly pat on the back, causing George to drop the statue, which breaks when it hits the floor.
Cultural references
The episode contained a number of references to pop culture. George explains that he broke the original statue when he was using it as a microphone, singing the song "MacArthur ParkMacArthur Park (song)
"MacArthur Park" is a song by Jimmy Webb, originally composed as part of an intended cantata. The song was initially rejected by The Association. Richard Harris was the first to record it, in 1968; the song was subsequently covered by numerous artists. Among the best-known covers are Donna Summer's...
", by Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb
Jimmy Webb is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He wrote numerous platinum selling classics, including "Up, Up and Away", "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "Galveston", "The Worst That Could Happen", "All I Know", and "MacArthur Park"...
; in early drafts of the script, George broke it while singing Eddie Cochran's "There Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues". The episode also contained numerous references to the 1960s television crime drama Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
, this was because Larry Charles
Larry Charles
Larry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...
, who wrote the episode, watched a lot of reruns of the show when he was writing for Seinfeld. The cop Kramer pretends to be when he retrieves the statue was inspired by Joe Friday
Joe Friday
Detective Sergeant Joe Friday is a fictional detective of the LAPD.-Original Series:The Joe Friday character was created and played by American actor, television producer, and writer Jack Webb on Dragnet...
, the central character of Dragnet. Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
is also mentioned multiple times, as Rava is from there. At the end of the episode Kramer states "Well, lets put it this way, I didn't take them to The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
", a reference to the judicial television show.
Production
The episode was written by Larry Charles and directed by Tom CheronesTom Cherones
Tom Cherones is an American director and producer of several TV series.-Early life:He grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where his father operated a radio and TV repair shop. His grandfather was a Greek immigrant. From 1961 to 1965, he was a lieutenant in the United States Navy...
, who directed all of the episodes in Season 2
Seinfeld (season 2)
Season two of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on January 23, 1991, on NBC. Because of the commencement of the first Gulf War, the second season's premiere was postponed one week. The season comprised 12 episodes, and concluded its...
. "The Statue" was the second episode Charles wrote for the show, though it was the first to be aired. Charles was mostly interested in the development of the Kramer character, as he felt "Jerry and George were so well-defined through 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...
] and Jerry, that there was less room for me to, sort of, expand on those personas. But Kramer was very unformed at the beginning of the show and it gave me an area of creativity to, sort of, expand upon. So I spent a lot of time with Kramer because he was a character that I could have an impact on in the future of the show". Richards enjoyed how his character evolved and, after the filming of the episode, went to Seinfeld, Charles and David and said "we should keep going that way." He cites this episode, as well as "The Revenge" (in which Kramer puts concrete in a washing machine), as episodes that really defined the character.
The first read-through
Read-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
of the episode was held on January 23, 1991, the same night the second season premiered. "The Statue" was filmed in front of a live audience six days later. A few scenes were changed prior to filming; in an early draft of the script Elaine sat next to George eavesdropping on Jerry and Ray's conversation. She would wear a floppy hat to look inconspicuous and would complain about it, stating that she looks like one of the Cowsills, a singing group that was active between the 1960s and 1970s. The same scene initially featured George admitting that he spied on Ray a day earlier, showing Ray pictures of him in a bar. Ray would reply that it was his day off and asks why George is not at work, to which George replies that he should be getting back and leaves. In the original script, Elaine and Rava would argue over who is a better person: Jerry or Ray.
Writer's assistant Karen Wilkie can be seen in the audience during Seinfeld's stand-up comedy act. Nurit Koppel portrayed Rava, at the time she was known for her appearance in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
Sweet Bird of Youth (1989) as well as a guest appearance on the NBC crime drama Hunter. Jane Leeves
Jane Leeves
Jane Leeves is an English film, stage, and television actress, comedienne and dancer.Leeves made her screen debut with a small role in the 1983 popular British comedy television show The Benny Hill Show. Leeves moved to the United States, where she performed in small roles until she secured a...
, who would later appear as Marla the Virgin in season four
Seinfeld (season 4)
Season four of Seinfeld, an American comedy television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on August 12, 1992, and concluded on May 20, 1993, on NBC.-Production:...
and season nine
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:...
also auditioned for the part, she also went on to star in the popular NBC sitcom Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
(1993–2004). In the script, Ray Thomas' description was, "although he carries cleaning equipment, he also carries the air of a pretentious mannerly, affected actor". Various actors auditioned for the part, among which were Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
, Michael D. Conway and Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
, who had also auditioned for the part of Kramer. Conway was eventually cast for the part. Norman Brenner, who worked as Richards' stand-in
Stand-in
A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting.Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of production. Lighting setup can be a slow and tedious process; during this time the actor will often be somewhere else...
on the show for all its nine seasons, appears as an extra
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
; he appears in the background when Jerry and Ray talk at Monk's Cafe.
Reception
First broadcast in the United States on NBCNBC
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...
on April 11, 1991, "The Statue" gained a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 16.1 and an audience share of 26. This means that 16.1% of American households watched the episode, and that 26% of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into it. Nielsen estimated that over 23 million people watched the episode's initial broadcast, making it the tenth most-watched program of the week it was broadcast in.
The episode gained mixed reactions from critics. Writing for Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, critics Mary Kaye Schilling and Mike Flaherty stated "Even Seinfeld's bit players must have some grounding in reality — you need to love to hate them. Ultimately, there's no redeeming comic payoff to Rava's and Ray's weirdness". Flaherty and Schilling graded
Academic grading in the United States
Academic grading in the United States most commonly takes on the form of five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest —began...
the episode with a C-. Colin Jacobson of the DVD Movie Guide called the episode's storyline "fairly pedestrian", but felt the performances of Conway and Koppel saved the episode.