The surreal nature of The Merv Griffin Show and The Serenity Now
Two gloriously deranged episodes from season nine take us further into the unique reality that only Kramer occupies
Seasons eight and nine of Seinfeld take a turn into a distinct episodic realm, like an episode of Looney Tunes. The plots evolve to more outlandish levels, the characters somehow skewer themselves, a sense of existential exhaustion sets in that nevertheless rings true, and a webbing of heavy metatextualistion is cast over the show. Despite all this, the stories still felt like they existed in some kind of realm of possibility, the signal only amplified as it’s beamed out. Episodes like ‘The Frogger’, ‘The Bizarro Jerry’ and ‘The Chicken Roaster’.
That reality stretching reaches a breaking point in two of season nine’s oddest and most surreal offerings: ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ and ‘The Serenity Now’. Their oddities of course revolve around Kramer. His whole life seems just a little…adjacent from the rest of the world of the show, which it successfully mined for so much comedic genius whenever those two planes overlapped (which was often).
It gets weird, dream-like, askew. But it still feels….grounded. Like kids playing make believe. Despite the strangeness there’s still an overriding sense of realness to it that can’t be shaken off. As if we could see ourselves coming across a situation like that. It shuffles between reality and fantasy that we nevertheless go along with.
‘The Serenity Now’ has Kramer’s plot thread develop rapidly in the fringes of reality before fully embedding itself in the other main plots. Fully immersed in the fantasy play of any town USA. The Costanza plot echoes it, with Lloyd Braun's non existent sales (his phone wasn’t even hooked up, he just liked ringing the bell), George using lies and aliases to show up Braun — his insecurities once more dooming him. Even Jerry’s brief foray into emotion drifts into the surreal realm, so rare for the show to display it (albeit in a biting satirical way).
When Kramer gets attacked one too many times, it breaks him. Muttering serenity now over and over again, leading to an inevitable explosion, as if this was too far even for Kramer.
‘The Merv Griffin Show’ is like an inverse of Kramer’s perspective, we are seeing it in the light. You could go even further and suggest that the set itself becomes a manifestation or representation of Kramer’s subconscious. Exhibiting a force that envelopes the rest of the group. Further aided by the notion that we never see Kramer’s apartment in full. It’s all fragmentary. A world that doesn’t bend to our common laws of nature, one that if you enter it, you must be willing to accept it’s own set of rules.
This gem of a scene gives us everything. The complaints, Jerry’s one liners, Kramer going full talk show host mode. The capper being George’s entrance — his baffled expression, the music, Kramer’s way too enthusiastic laughing and clapping.
As the episode unfolds everyone is drawn further into what amounts as Kramer’s consciousness. He’s in full control here, able to indulge his fantasies — even though he never considers them fantasies. You could even say that what we see of Kramer’s apartment is what he sees all the time. Only now have we got a peek into how his mind works without any buffer. And yet what makes the use of this leap into the fantasy realm is that as it smashes against the plots of the other characters it amplifies and complements them.
His Anytown USA of Serenity Now turns into a ticking time bomb the moment a baseball hits Kramer — exploding when Kramer loses it and destroys all of the computers George bought just to scam his way to beating Lloyd Braun. While the Merv Griffin set takes on multiple incarnations that ends up derailing both Jerry’s fun with his girlfriend’s toy collection and George’s hope in getting rid of a squirrel he ran over. In a sense, each one becomes the instigator of consequence. This bolt from a different dimension that exposes the sociopathic and selfish behaviour of the rest of them.
In a way, these episodes show the series actively reaching for storylines that are more consciously constructed than previous seasons. To bring it back around, it comes across as a more traditional sitcom setup, where everyone’s just waiting around to make the punchline — ironic since the plots are so out there. The strain to make it work is clearly shown in these later years. Something the show also made some cracks about. It was never too proud to show off whatever shortcomings it felt it had. But with episodes like ‘The Merv Griffin Show’ and ‘The Serenity Now’, it offered a glimpse into possibilities the show could explore. Divesting of certain shackles and diving head first into that surreal style of comedy. It certainly worked here.
