The Understudy (Seinfeld)

"The Understudy"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 24
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Marjorie Gross & Carol Leifer
Production code	621
Original air date	May 18, 1995
Guest appearance(s)
Bette Midler as herself Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza June Kyoto Lu as Ruby John O'Hurley as Peterman Amy Hill as Kim Adelaide Miller as Gennice Alexandra Bokyun Chun as Lotus Vonnie C. Rhee as Sunny Craig Thomas as Player #1 Michael McDonald as Player #2 Lou DiMaggio as Stagehand Jason Beck as Umpire Bob Shaw as Cabbie Johnny Silver as Vendor #1 Billy Bastian as Vendor #2
Season 6 episodes
September 1994 – May 1995 "The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100 (Part 1)" "The Highlights of 100 (Part 2)" "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
List of Seinfeld episodes

"The Understudy" is the 110th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 24th and final episode for the sixth season. It aired on May 18, 1995. This is the first episode in the series not to open with a stand-up routine.

Jerry is dating Gennice, the understudy of stage performer Bette Midler, who bursts into tears for foolish (for instance, when she drops her hot dog at the park) but not expected reasons (like when her grandmother dies). In the opening moments of the episode, Jerry and Gennice are in his apartment watching the film Beaches (starring Midler), and she's sobbing. He can't decide whether to move from his chair to the couch to console her, but isn't inclined to.

During a softball game held in Central Park, in a parody of the 1994 Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan scandal,George injures Midler, who's playing catcher, while he charges for home plate. While Midler goes to hospital, the understudy takes Midler's part in the musical Rochelle Rochelle. Gennice believes George did it all for her, but Kramer (a fan of Midler) is outraged at George, Gennice and Jerry:

"So, my dear, you think you can get to Broadway. Well, let me tell you something. Broadway has no room for people like you. Not the Broadway I know. My Broadway takes people like you and eats them up and spits them out. My Broadway is the Broadway of Merman, and Martin, and Fontaine, and if you think you can build yourself up by knocking other people down... GOOD LUCK!"

Enraged New Yorkers turn against George, Jerry and Gennice, while Kramer nurses Midler back to health, fetching every food and drink she desires.

Meanwhile, Elaine brings Frank Costanza to her favorite beauty shop to translate the jokes being made at her expense by her Korean manicurists. Within moments, Frank realizes they're insulting him in Korean, and angrily confronts them. It happens that an old flame, Kim, is also working there, but Elaine is kicked out of the shop and banned for "spying." Despondent, she wanders the streets of New York on a rainy night, where she meets J. Peterman, and when they find themselves compatible in discussing clothing, she wins a new job.

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Wikipedia