When the last episode of “Seinfeld” aired during my senior year of high school, an era of refreshing laughter with New Yorkers Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer on Thursday nights ended. This “show about nothing” means far from nothing to me — watching “Seinfeld” always meant stress relief, joy and fun. Since 1998, “Seinfeld” fans have had to rely on reruns, but now we can enjoy the show any time, thanks to Sony Pictures’ DVD release of “Seinfeld,” a collection of the successful comedy’s first three seasons.
For $49.95, you can get either the 18-episode DVD of the first two seasons, or the 22-episode collection of the third season. The $119.95 Limited Edition Gift Set includes both DVDs and a set of salt and pepper shakers and playing cards featuring Monk’s Diner, the “Seinfeld” characters’ watering hole.
The release contains some of my favorite Seinfeld moments such as “The Deal,” when Jerry and Elaine discover that things get a little weird when they try to sleep together as friends. When Elaine’s birthday rolls around, a confused Jerry presents her with cash and a card reading, “To a great friend…and more.” In “The Dog,” Jerry is stuck with a dog when an annoying airline passenger has a heart attack and asks Jerry, who is sitting next to him, to look after “Farfel” during his hospital stay. Since Jerry is forced to stay home with the dog, Elaine and George, who are used to hanging out when Jerry is around, realize they have nothing to say to each other as “friends-in-law.” An overdue library book from 1971, a lost car in a parking garage and a long wait at a Chinese restaurant are among other topics in these classic episodes.
Extras are a special treat on the collection. Both DVDs feature audio commentaries on the episode and “Notes About Nothing” lists facts and tidbits on the screen about each episode. The first volume includes the original and revised versions of the pilot episode, a 60-minute “How It All Began” documentary and “The Tonight Show” appearances with Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards (Kramer). Volume 2 includes “Kramer vs. Kramer: Kenny to Cosmo,” which tells the story of the real-life inspiration for Kramer.
What always made me smile about “Seinfeld” were the ridiculous and embarrassing situations the characters got themselves into. When I was having a bad day, seeing the characters’ hopeless problems involving mundane things made me feel a whole lot better. It was also so clever, the way all the sub-plots tied into each other by the end of each episode, and how each story line accumulated into the worst possible situation, just like “I Love Lucy.” The show’s last few seasons went a little downhill, so this collection guarantees the best of the best. Get “Seinfeld” on DVD so that the next time you’re doing nothing, you can watch “the show about nothing” and feel 100 times happier.

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