It’s impossible to say something about Seinfeld that hasn’t been said dozens of times before—the stories from the making of this now thirty-year-old series have been told time and again. But that’s all part of the fun.
The show is a tour-de-force; one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time, a microcosm of the 1990s, and the source of so many one-liners and memorable characters that even if you didn’t watch the show when it was on the air, you’ve definitely encountered a situation that stems directly from its influence.
The fandom around Seinfeld is so intense that it has elicited backlash from those who think the show has become overrated. Yes, many of the quirks of Seinfeld are a product of its time—there are plenty of storylines that a cell phone or the internet could have quickly solved. But the combination of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld made the show’s increasingly ridiculous situations feel relatable. We all know a George, Elaine, and Kramer in our own lives.
It’s a show about nothing and simultaneously about everything.
Seinfeld has left no stone unturned either, basing episodes on taboo subjects like who can go the longest as “master of their domain” to mundane tasks like bringing a dish to share at a friend’s dinner party. Each episode, however, comes fully stocked with its own hijinks and undercover references—like Jerry’s sneakers—where a single word could send die-hards down a rabbit hole of quotes.
Narrowing more than 150 episodes down to the 10 best is a tall task that even the most devoted fans would have a hard time pulling off. While every episode of Seinfeld is worth watching, some of its most recognizable episodes aren’t actually the best. To figure out the upper echelon, we’ve considered every factor from cultural significance and storylines to outright comedy. Here are the 10 best episodes of Seinfeld, ranked.