'Seinfeld's Best Christmas Episode Is Based on a Wild True Story

5 days ago 3

If you're a Seinfeld fan, you can take your pick on what your favorite episode is. There's only 180 to choose from. For me, it's "The Marine Biologist" thanks to George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) hilarious last scene monologue. The series' most famous episode, however, is probably "The Strike", because this was the birth of Festivus, a holiday created by Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) that is now celebrated in real life today. That would also make it the most well known of Seinfeld's Christmas episodes, but as great as it is, it's not the best. That distinction goes to Season 4's "The Pick," in which Elaine's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) Christmas card goes all wrong when she unknowingly shows her nipple in the photo for everyone to see. This leads to hilarious chaos which gets every major cast member involved – but sadly for one poor soul, this episode is actually based on a true story.

Elaine Lets Kramer Take Her Picture for a Christmas Card Photo in "The Pick"

"The Pick" is in reference to Jerry's (Jerry Seinfeld) latest girlfriend-of-the-week potentially catching her new boyfriend picking his nose ("It was a scratch!"). Not only does Jerry have to contend with this, but her new perfume smells like the beach, an idea which Kramer (Michael Richards) previously tried and failed to sell to Calvin Klein. On top of that, even though George just broke up with Susan (Heidi Swedberg), he's now whining constantly about how much he misses her and wants her back. It gets so bad that Jerry gets him to go see a therapist.

However, the episode's best and most memorable storyline goes to Elaine. She wants to put her picture on a Christmas card and Kramer is more than happy to help. Jerry backs his friend up, saying that he has good equipment and takes decent pictures. Kramer takes Elaine back to his place for a photo shoot, but he tells her she needs to change outfits. All goes exceptionally well and Elaine is impressed with how great the photo turns out. She has sent Christmas cards to everyone she knows, but then Jerry notices something shocking about the photo: Elaine's nipple is showing.

Everyone's Response to Elaine's Photo Is What Makes "The Pick" So Memorable

Understandably, Elaine is mortified and freaks out that all of her family and friends now have a card with a picture of her exposed nipple on it. "I sent this card to hundreds of people!" she screams. When Kramer walks in, Elaine shows him the card. At seeing the nipple, he jumps back in shock; he didn't notice it was showing during the photo shoot. Wanting Elaine to feel better, Jerry tells her it's not that noticeable. To prove it, he goes and gets his archnemesis, Newman (Wayne Knight), to see if he can spot it. In one of the best scenes from "The Pick," a bored Newman looks at the card and matter-of-factly says, "Yeah, your nipple is showing." He couldn't care less. Elaine is extremely upset, so Jerry and Kramer lift their shirts up to show her their nipples, because it's no big deal, everyone's got them.

It's not just the plot of "The Pick" that works so well, but how everyone reacts to it. It's funny enough that Elaine sent out a Christmas card with her nipple accidentally exposed, but better yet is how the story includes the rest of the cast. "The Pick" is a Season 4 episode, which is important, because this is where Seinfeld really began to click; everyone was given their own story, with them all coming together for something chaotic in the end. "The Pick" might have been a more subdued episode in a previous season, with only Elaine's reaction shown, but in the fourth, Seinfeld really goes for it.

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This is backed up by the episode's funniest scene. As usual, George isn't in a good mood – not only does he have to see a therapist, but the zipper on his coat gets stuck. He's not doing so well by the time he gets back to Jerry's. When Elaine walks in, George lays into her, upset that his friend didn't give him a Christmas card when everyone else got one. Also upset now that everyone at work is calling her Nip, Elaine wants no part of George's bad attitude. "You want a Christmas card?" she asks. She then grabs George's head and shoves it into her chest. "Here's your Christmas card!" The studio audience roars not only at the audacity of it but at George's reaction, his hair now a mess as he stares straight ahead, as if he's gone into shock over what just happened. Like the best Seinfeld episodes, "The Pick" is an ensemble piece where every character makes those around them better.

This 'Seinfeld' Episode Was Based on a Real Event That Happened to a Writer's Brother

Elaine talks to Kramer and Jerry in the 'Seinfeld' episode "The Pick"

"The Pick" is based on a real-life incident. Reality is the formation for many Seinfeld episodes, and the world around it. For example, Larry David lived next door to an eccentric man named Kenny Kramer, and the writer of the Festivus episode, Dan O'Keefe, had a father who created the holiday and celebrated it. So it should really come as no surprise that what happened to Elaine also happened to a Seinfeld writer. Marc Jaffe, who began working on Seinfeld in the very first season, told the story in 2021 on Seinfeld - This Podcast Is Making Me Thirty, about what happened to cause him to pitch the idea for "The Pick." Jaffe's brother-in-law was taking pictures on Christmas morning with his one-year-old daughter in front of the fireplace. It resulted in a nice looking photo except for one flaw. The guy's robe wasn't tied correctly, which led to him accidentally exposing himself in the photo. "The stocking was hung," as Jaffe put it. He sent it out to his entire family, but it was Jaffe's wife who finally noticed the wardrobe malfunction.

Jaffe then pitched what had happened to Larry David, but that created an obstacle. Jaffe told the podcast, "It was gonna be too much if it was Jerry in that kind of situation for network television," so they gave the idea to Elaine's character instead and made it her nipple. There were some weird '90s network TV rules, with it not being okay to have a man accidentally expose his member, but it was acceptable for a woman to unknowingly expose her nipple. "The Pick" ends with the gang at the diner and Kramer showing everyone some modeling shots he had taken of himself. Everyone's in awe of how they turned out, but then Elaine freezes as she stares at one photo. "I'm not sure," she says, "but I think I see your..."

Still, gender politics aside, "The Pick" does work better by giving the moment to Elaine instead of one of the men. Kramer would have played into it with his usual physical hijinks, George would have had a complete self-hating meltdown, and Jerry, well, his character was best at responding to others' misfortunes rather than being given his own. By having the incident happen to Elaine, she gets to have the big story and the laughs that, until then, were usually reserved for the men. There's a reason why Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for so many Emmys during her Seinfeld run. "The Pick" shows us why, and not by accident either.

Every season of Seinfeld is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.