The Frogger

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Frogger
Series = Seinfeld


Caption = George and Jerry watching a youth (Drake Bell) play the Frogger machine.
Season = 9
Episode = 174
Airdate = April 23, 1998
Production =
Writer = Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin, Steve Koren, Dan O'Keefe
Director = Andy Ackerman
Guests = Peter Stormare & Drake Bell
Episode list = List of "Seinfeld" episodes
Season list = Infobox Seinfeld season 9 episode list
Prev =
Next =

"The Frogger" is the 174th episode of the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld". This was the 18th episode for the 9th and final season. It aired on April 23, 1998.

Plot

Elaine is confronted with cake from two separate celebrations at her workplace. She is tired of the forced socializing, so she calls in sick the following day. Jerry and George go to their old high school hangout, Mario's Pizza Parlor, which will soon be closing down, for one last slice of pie. Kramer was at the police station where he obtained some caution tape used for crime scenes and also hears about a serial killer that is on the loose in the Riverside Park area.

At the pizza parlor, George discovers he still has the high score on the old "Frogger" video game, with a score of 860,630 points. Elaine's co-workers give her a cake to celebrate her return to work from being sick, and she refuses to take part in any future celebrations. Jerry goes out on a date with Elaine's friend Lisi, but he says she is a "sentence finisher, it's like dating Mad Libs." After lamenting that his shrine will be gone, George decides to buy the "Frogger" machine to preserve his fame, but Jerry asks him how he is going to move it and keep it plugged in to preserve the high score. Kramer discovers the last victim of the serial killer looked a lot like Jerry.

George works to find a solution to his "Frogger" problem, and Kramer volunteers the help of a man he knows named "Slippery Pete" (played by Peter Stormare). Elaine misses the 4 o'clock sugar rush that she had gotten used to from all the celebrations, so she decides to raid her boss Peterman's refrigerator, where she finds a piece of cake. She finds out from Peterman that the piece of cake he has in his refrigerator is worth $29,000 because of its historical significance. The cake comes from the 1937 wedding of King Edward VIII.

Jerry is looking to breakup with Lisi (Julia Campbell), but discovers that she lives in the Riverside Park area. To avoid the serial killer, he takes Lisi back to his place, where she finishes one of his thoughts that takes their relationship to the next level. Elaine tells Jerry and George about the cake and she also tells Jerry that Lisi is planning a weekend trip for them to Pennsylvania Dutch country. Jerry fears that Lisi received the wrong message as that kind of a trip is for a serious relationship. Elaine tries to even out Peterman's slice of cake, but gets swept up in the moment and finishes it off. George tries to coordinate the movement of the "Frogger" machine. Elaine looks for a replacement for Peterman's cake, and Kramer suggests an Entenmann's cake. Jerry goes to Lisi's apartment, where he tries to break up with her. It goes on for ten hours, when he is ready to leave he discovers it is dark.

After exiting her apartment, Jerry sees a man whom he fears is the serial killer and pleads to be let back in to Lisi's apartment (it's actually just "Slippery Pete"). Peterman has his piece of cake appraised at $2.19. George finds "Slippery Pete" playing his "Frogger" game on battery power, so there is only about three minutes of power remaining. The only available power source is across the busy street, and Kramer has run out of caution tape. George, convinced he does not need any help, begins moving the machine across the busy street, moving through traffic like the frog from the video game. However, as George reaches the opposite sidewalk, an oncoming freightliner smashes the game cabinet, causing Jerry to quip, "Game over".

Later, Peterman shows Elaine surveillance videotape of her eating and "dancing" with the slice of cake; he is convinced that the age of the cake and its effect on her digestive system are all the punishment she needs. This episode was originally going to be titled "The Cake Parties."

Trivia

* There are several continuity goofs regarding Frogger: George's high score is not present when the "Frogger" game's screen is first shown. At that time, the high score is 7200, merely the score of the boy who just finished playing it. Also, "Frogger" arcade games only record high scores and not initials.
* On September 24, 2005, The Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard issued a colorful poster that offered a $1,000 cash prize to the first video game player who could break George Costanza's fictional "Frogger" high score of 860,630 points as portrayed in "The Frogger". Though no player could break this mark before the December 31, 2005 deadline, Donald Hayes of Salem, New Hampshire came the closest, having reached 589,350 points on March 25, 2006. According to the Twin Galaxies website the world record score for "Frogger" is currently 599,110.
* While the crew was filming the famous overhead shot of George moving the Frogger game across the street, Jerry Seinfeld noticed that the street was painted with white lines, which is inconsistent with the yellow lines in the actual Frogger layout. The crew quickly fixed this inaccuracy by covering the white lines with yellow tape.
* The sound effects during George's moving of the machine are actual sounds from Frogger, accurately played in time with his movements. The sound that plays shortly after the machine is smashed by a truck is the "squash" sound when Frogger is hit by a vehicle during the game.
* Jason Alexander performed his own stunt in this episode, actually diving out of the path of an oncoming truck and being showered with the shrapnel of the crushed Frogger machine as the truck ran it over. He later recounted that two large and heavy pieces of paneling from the side of the game landed uncomfortably close to his head during the shooting of this scene.
* The actor [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0052753/ Reuven Bar-Yotam] , who plays Shlomo, had a cameo appearance as a bus passenger in the previous season's "The Muffin Tops".
* The 1998 Super Nintendo version of Frogger features the name "George" as the default highest score on the high score list.
* The greatest amount of deleted scenes involving Kramer attracting a new "long distance" girlfriend which leads to the next episode "The Maid".
* The "get well, get well soon" song has the same tune as Corkey Buchek's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSWC5cic9jo Bing-Bang song] , interpreted by Borat in his film Borat.

Quotes

* Slippery Pete: Think you can handle that, numbnuts?

* Slippery Pete: Oh, you mean the holes.

* Mario: Where you been? We're tanking here.

* Mario: Here's your pizza peabrains.

* George: GLC must live on!

* Jerry: ...Game Over.

External links

* [http://www.twingalaxies.com/images/generalinfo/poster_frogger_reward_600.jpgTwin Galaxies' Poster for "Frogger" High Score]