SEINFELD - Season 6, Episode 14 - Highlights of a Hundred

“Highlights of a Hundred”

Aired: February 2, 1995 (1 hour)

Nielsen rating: 22.6

Audience share: 33

Directed: Andy Ackerman and various (clips)

Writer: Peter Mehlman

NBC ordered a clip show to mark the 100th episode of the series. It's one hour long and touches on just about every episode of the series, and most of its memorable scenes thus far. It's framed by Jerry and George's discussion about a show about nothing that they try to pitch to NBC in season four's "The Pitch." There are several clips demonstrating how Seinfeld really is a show about nothing and then the clips are broken into six categories preceded by a title:

• Relationships
• Ambition
• Off the Subject
• Self Images
• Catch Phrases
• Sensitivity

The titles give a sense of not only the content of the show but also the main themes and qualities Seinfeld's creators saw in the show. The primarily thought it was a show about relationships. "Ambition" suggests the characters' struggle to build successful careers and lives. "Off the Subject" reveals the show's quirkiness, particularly in the random topics the characters discussed. The narcissism of the characters is reflected (pun intended!) in the title "Self Images." The creators recognized the quotability of the show for its fans, creating an entire section of "Catch Phrases." And the final section returned to relationships, exploring the lengths the characters went to in an effort to smooth over problems that arose between them and other people.

The last two clips show the car not starting in "The Parking Garage" followed by Elaine, George, and Jerry giving up on waiting for a table moments before the maître d’ called their names in "The Chinese Restaurant." Both are older episodes and the creators of the show may have wanted to end with two "classics." But they are also very pessimistic endings, suggesting that, if the first 100 episodes are any indication, things probably won't end up well for these characters.