Smoking Fine Cigars and Seinfeld
When it comes to television shows, there are few that reach iconic status, like Seinfeld. From 1989 to 1998, Seinfeld captivated audiences as a “show about nothing”. Yet, it somehow managed to touch everyday existence. One of the common threads that wove through many episodes was the cast’s relationship with cigars. Whole episodes centered around the theme of cigars. For many of these celebrities, the love of smoking fine cigars was more than a matter of art imitating life.
Art Imitates Life
It’s easy to see why so many episodes of the beloved sitcom featured cigars. Co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld are both avid cigar aficionados. Julia Louis Dreyfus and her acting husband Brad Hall bragged about having a humidor at home, long before it became cool to smoke.
During the taping of the show, cigars were often enjoyed offset, especially when the episode featured them in the plot line. In post-Seinfeld projects, Larry David is often seen smoking cigars in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Meanwhile, in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld did an episode with notorious cigar fan Steve Harvey. The plot included them enjoying cigars at a cigar lounge in Chicago.
Seinfeld Episodes and Cigars
In Seinfeld, sometimes cigars were simple comedic props. For example, an episode when Elaine can’t stay away from her former boyfriend. She loses a bet to Jerry and returns to the apartment repeatedly to pay him for the lost bet, while cackling and puffing on a cigar. Elaine was also featured smoking fine cigars in several episodes. In one episode, she takes over the Peterman Catalogue Company. She does her best J. Jonah Jameson impersonation (for you Spiderman fans). She sits at her desk, feet up, and chomps away while berating Jerry over the phone.
In another episode, Jerry buys a counterfeit box of Cubans for George’s upcoming wedding. He and Elaine sit on a couch complaining as they smoke them. Elaine can’t understand why the Peruvian cigars are so awful. Jerry compares it to “trying to smoke a chicken bone.”
Kramer and Cuban Cigars.
In the end, Kramer was the key to whole episodes about cigars. He wanted to create a proper smoking lounge in his apartment for everyone not allowed to smoke in public restaurants. The consequences of his decision were legendary. He ends up smoking so much, that his face became the consistency of “an old baseball mitt”. He eventually sues “big tobacco” for losing his “twinkle”.
In another episode, he tries to pass off three Dominican gentlemen as genuine Cuban cigar rollers to become a domestic cigar magnate. Instead, they end up getting jobs rolling crepes at a diner. One of the most memorable episodes is when George’s future father-in-law’s cabin burns down because of the Cuban cigars Kramer smokes.
