Larry David’s Favorite Seinfeld Episode Explained

Showrunner Larry David’s favorite Seinfeld episode also ranks highly on the list of many fans and critics, but the comedian has a personal connection to its story. While today he’s better known for starring as a semi-fictionalized version of himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David rose to substantial fame in the 1990s as the co-creator of Seinfeld. Alongside cameoing on numerous Seinfeld episodes, David was the primary inspiration for George Costanza’s character and even based many Seinfeld episodes on his real-life experiences–including the showrunner’s personal favorite episode.

After helming Seinfeld for seven seasons, Larry David left the series ahead of season 8 once he feared he couldn’t maintain the same high-quality writing for episodes any longer. While the loss of Larry David’s touch on Seinfeld was surely felt in his absence, the showrunner would finally return to lead the show’s controversial series finale in season 9. Seinfeld’s season 9 finale would also bring back storylines from and references from the series’ greatest episodes, which unsurprisingly included David’s favorite installment.

Out of the seven seasons that he served as head writer, frequent cameo star Larry David’s favorite Seinfeld episode was season 4, episode 10, “The Contest” (via THR). This installment invariably finds itself on lists of Seinfeld’s top-ranked episodes, and, as the master of its domain, even holds the title as the top-rated episode of Seinfeld on IMDb. Even for Seinfeld, “The Contest” was a risky premise on behalf of Larry David, as it was one that he feared wouldn’t be given the green light by NBC. While Seinfeld was able to get away with many risqué storylines by this time, “The Contest”’s premise of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer seeing who could go the longest without masturbating was the biggest test for censorship yet.

Based on a real experience David had about a contest to abstain from masturbation, the Seinfeld showrunner was ready to go to bat against NBC to ensure “The Contest” made it to air. Larry David, who also provided the original voice of Newman, worried that “The Contest” would get Seinfeld shut down by the network, feeling that they would reject it because of the plot. David claimed that if NBC rejected “The Contest,” he was prepared to threaten to quit Seinfeld right then and there, but, miraculously, NBC didn’t object and let the episode move forward. The only stipulation for “The Contest” that NBC required for a green light was that the episode could not actually say the word “masturbation,” which would make it less controversial. Thankfully for both Seinfeld and NBC, Larry David’s favorite episode became notable as one of the best installments in the entire series.

After debuting in 1992, the outrageous masturbation premise of “The Contest” made Seinfeld the ultimate watercooler show. Part of what allowed the episode to move forward and become so notable was that not only were the three men involved, but also Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Elaine, which was a fairly progressive statement for early-’90s sitcom television about women embracing their sexuality. Not only that but Seinfeld arranged it so Elaine was the second person to lose the contest after Kramer. While Larry David allegedly won the real-life “contest,” it wasn’t revealed until Seinfeld’s finale episode that Jerry was the true winner after George finally came clean that he cheated, thus making Jerry “the master of his domain.”

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Jordan Williams
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Jordan Williams is a Movie/TV Feature Senior Staff Writer for Screen Rant. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies.

Jordan is based in Seattle, Washington and enjoys exploring the natural beauty the PNW has to offer. She runs on coffee and classic movies, taking pride in having watched every film on AFI’s 100 Greatest Films list and every Best Picture Oscar winner.

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