This is a top five for me. We start with the absurdity of Kramer's movie theatre and the crazy guy that went out with Elaine. He has been institutionalized and is out now. Kramer is protective of him, finishing his sentences and sticking up for him. The guy is into selling gum, forcing it on people who have no interest. The best part is George and the woman who thinks he is crazy. Every time she observes him, he is doing something that makes him look like a nut. What is great are his explanations which become so convoluted he digs deeper and deeper holes. The writing here is beyond belief. Jerry ends up wearing those huge glasses which makes him vulnerable to things he can't see.
12 Reviews
Brilliant
mackjay230 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
"The Gum" is inspired because it's the kind of material that would be hard to pull off with lesser talents than are found in the SEINFELD cast. The business with Jerry and the big glasses is silly, yet it works with Seinfeld's perfect deadpan response to it. While Kramer and the rancid hot dog is a case of an actor really believing the moment. All done to avoid making Lloyd Braun think he's crazy.
Elaine's missing button is a very funny bit, brought to life by the performer's great timing. Possibly best of all is George and his attempt to convince an old friend he's not crazy. This is one of the great SEINFELD episodes in which multiple plot lines are made to intersect, yielding even greater laughs ("Don't you see? He's only wearing them to fool Lloyd Braun!!"), and hilarious visual gags.
Elaine's missing button is a very funny bit, brought to life by the performer's great timing. Possibly best of all is George and his attempt to convince an old friend he's not crazy. This is one of the great SEINFELD episodes in which multiple plot lines are made to intersect, yielding even greater laughs ("Don't you see? He's only wearing them to fool Lloyd Braun!!"), and hilarious visual gags.
This episode is such a masterpiece !
nicofreezer21 July 2022
Everything is linked ! In this episode, every little detail is important to the story, it is a perfection in written, brilliant ! Brilliant brilliant !
Kramer so funny and kind in his behaviour to the crazy guy, Jerry and elaine have strong storyline and my god George Costanza as always is the funnier guy, with an incredibly funny story, the final scene when he run after the girl is pure gold.
Kramer so funny and kind in his behaviour to the crazy guy, Jerry and elaine have strong storyline and my god George Costanza as always is the funnier guy, with an incredibly funny story, the final scene when he run after the girl is pure gold.
The Gum
engels-0745430 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This episode is one of, if not my favorite. The characters are great, Lloyd Braun is perfect, Jerry is great as always, Kramer, great, George at his best and Elaine is very funny. Their is so much going on and the visuals of the gum chewing, the pipe, and George at the very end is laugh out loud funny. Very clever indeed. Thanks for letting me express my gratitude for the humor this program gives me! I like so many episodes but I looked up the top shows of Seinfeld viewers, rated as the funniest and I saw The Parking Garage was way up there and The Chinese Restaurant also, I have to say I was very surprised because these just didn't do it for me but I see why the show was and is so popular. It appeals to such a diverse number of minds an senses of humor, if you will, that I find fascinating. Very rarely can one program reach such an audience with diverse views and thoughts which I think is the brilliance of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.
A masterpiece
markthespoon29 July 2022
This is by far the best Seinfeld episode of all time.
radmanart2 August 2018
If you don't give this episode a 9 or a 10 than you must either be a Jewish hater or have no sense of humor at all; like Darth Vader. Either way you should be banned from comedy reviews on IMDB, for life.
I have seen all the Seinfeld episodes so many times I practically know them by heart and this episode is by far the greatest of the greats. The timing is impeccable. The way everything happens linked to everything else is pure writing genius. Imagine if Seinfeld was still going? The way Jerry goes along with Kramer no matter how bazaar Kramer's prodding becomes; is comedy gold. Jerry is the ultimate best friend in this one. Elaine appearing to be the opposite of the everyday Elaine; is a grand slam too. Anyone who suspected George of having the problems; he really did not have, would have been convinced he does. How do you come up with these lines, in this episode; unless this was straight up magic. I laughed out loud extremely hard the first couple times I saw this. To this day I can not watched this episode without my eyes opened wide and a grin on my face.
I have seen all the Seinfeld episodes so many times I practically know them by heart and this episode is by far the greatest of the greats. The timing is impeccable. The way everything happens linked to everything else is pure writing genius. Imagine if Seinfeld was still going? The way Jerry goes along with Kramer no matter how bazaar Kramer's prodding becomes; is comedy gold. Jerry is the ultimate best friend in this one. Elaine appearing to be the opposite of the everyday Elaine; is a grand slam too. Anyone who suspected George of having the problems; he really did not have, would have been convinced he does. How do you come up with these lines, in this episode; unless this was straight up magic. I laughed out loud extremely hard the first couple times I saw this. To this day I can not watched this episode without my eyes opened wide and a grin on my face.
That's a lot of Gum!
lbowdls5 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
And for that line alone, one of the funniest lines ever uttered by Jerry in the whole if the series, is why as mentioned by other reviewers you have to give this ep at least a 9. Return of Lloyd Braum is weird but works well to meld this entertaining episode together!
Gum
bevo-1367823 June 2020
Guest starring Matt McCoy and Ruthie Cohen
safenoe19 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Matt McCoy appears as Lloyd Braun, who was first played by Canadian actor Peter Keleghan, in the famous episode about the NYC mayoral election. Anyway, Lloyd is still recovering from that fiasco and he's under the wing of Kramer, and really what can go wrong. The switch in actors is like the famous Darren switch in Bewitched. Anyway, Ruthie Cohen, the cashier at the famous diner gives her first line of dialogue. Ruthie Cohen is played by Ruth Cohen, and she appeared in I think over 100 episodes of Seinfeld, so that's quite an achievement.
I'm enjoying re-watching some of the Seinfeld episodes.
I'm enjoying re-watching some of the Seinfeld episodes.
Weakest episode so far
chrisarentertainment19 September 2020
"Interesting texture"
juanmaffeo11 August 2016
I guess I am in the minority here but I really didn't enjoyed this episode. I mean, it has its good things but overall it was really boring and unclever. Seinfeld was always a show that shined in making social commentary and having clever dialogue (at least the first seven seasons) but here everything is goofy and uninspired.
First of all, I guess there's nothing I can do because the Kramer character is, with each episode, getting further and further away from the character he was for the first six seasons. Michael Richards is playing him increasingly weirder and the writers are giving him increasingly unrelatable stories and setting him apart from the gang. His story with Lloyd Braun is funny at times but there are moments where nothing happens and even the audience doesn't know where to laugh. Jerry doesn't really have a storyline but his interactions are really funny.
George's story is the best by far. You really buy that someone could take his character as a paranoid freak and Alexander plays perfectly the role of the misunderstood. But I can't go on without mentioning Elaine's role on this episode. This has to be the most disrespectful take on the character up until that point: shamelessly objectifying the character and a clear clue that the writers had no doubt whatsoever of how to incorporate her with the main story. It makes me mad.
Other than that, I may have laughed three or four times in the whole episode and there's no development of the season's arc, so that's always a shame.
First of all, I guess there's nothing I can do because the Kramer character is, with each episode, getting further and further away from the character he was for the first six seasons. Michael Richards is playing him increasingly weirder and the writers are giving him increasingly unrelatable stories and setting him apart from the gang. His story with Lloyd Braun is funny at times but there are moments where nothing happens and even the audience doesn't know where to laugh. Jerry doesn't really have a storyline but his interactions are really funny.
George's story is the best by far. You really buy that someone could take his character as a paranoid freak and Alexander plays perfectly the role of the misunderstood. But I can't go on without mentioning Elaine's role on this episode. This has to be the most disrespectful take on the character up until that point: shamelessly objectifying the character and a clear clue that the writers had no doubt whatsoever of how to incorporate her with the main story. It makes me mad.
Other than that, I may have laughed three or four times in the whole episode and there's no development of the season's arc, so that's always a shame.
King George the Third
Samuel-Shovel16 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In "The Gum", Kramer helps renovate an old movie theater with the help of a friend recently released from a psychiatric hospital. The friend, Lloyd Braun, used to date Elaine and she does her best to avoid him and not send him mixed signals; this goes off the rails when she losses a button on her blouse. Lloyd gives Jerry some Chinese gum and insists on getting him more. George tries to convince an old friend that he isn't crazy while also trying to get $20 back from a waitress at the diner.
This is probably one of the weaker episodes of the season. There's nothing here that's really all that memorable. Even Kramer's subplot (which is usually dynamite) is fairly forgettable. I did find the "King George the III" and his madness (now generally accepted by scholars) as humorous with George wearing his costume. But this was more of a slight grin funny than the laugh out loud kind.
After a string of solid episodes, a dud is bound to happen every once in a while.
This is probably one of the weaker episodes of the season. There's nothing here that's really all that memorable. Even Kramer's subplot (which is usually dynamite) is fairly forgettable. I did find the "King George the III" and his madness (now generally accepted by scholars) as humorous with George wearing his costume. But this was more of a slight grin funny than the laugh out loud kind.
After a string of solid episodes, a dud is bound to happen every once in a while.
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