Everyone I talk to seems to think George is an only child. Yet I can clearly remember him in two episodes (I can think of) of him saying he had a brother. He claims no one in his family will pay for parking not his mother, father, brother. Also he claims his brother impregnated someone.
Are there references in Seinfeld to indicate he was an only child too?
Current theories indicate that George does have a brother.
OK, not much of a cite, but here you go: http://www.nitpickers.com/tv/comments/25.html
Seinfeld also mentions he had a sister. I thought Costanza did as well. I like this topic because unseen Sitcom siblings is a sick fascination of mine. I wanna see Rachel’s third sister on Friends. She has been mentioned several times. She owns the ski cabin that the gang went to when their car broke down. I think she is the oldest.
And let’s not forget Chuck from Happy Days. He appeared and was never seen again!
I noticed the reference to “The brother” as well. They seem to have made other changes as well. Although, as the nitpick website stated, they never confirm he was an only child we just never hear about them any more.
Sorry if this is a hijack but…
Did ever notice:
That Jerry’s original apartment # was not 5E. I couldn’t make out the apartment # (Not on door but on the wall next to door) but I am 99% sure it was not 5E. This is only for the first few episodes.
Kramer was named “Kessler” in the first episode. Jerry was unsure if a woman he met and was going to pick up at the airport was intersted in him or not. She wound up staying over Jerry’s but she was engaged to be married. I know they cover this in the “Backwards” episode (when they go to India). They claim that Kramer never changed the mailbox to his name. But then they screw it up by claiming Paul Buckman (from Mad About You) subleased the apartment to him. Although, this was in a Mad About You episode not on Seinfeld.
Jerry’s aparment was origianlly a studio apartment not a 1 Bedroom. In another early episode Jerry’s parents come from Florida for a wedding and sleep on his sofa bed while Jerry sleeps at Kramers. You may also have noticed that he had a different actor playing his father as well.
I am sure there are others as well. That’s why I like watching the older episodes. You get to catch the all the changes they made.
Again sorry for the hijack but I thought it was a good place for some other Seinfeld observations.
NYR, you seem to be implying that Jerry’s apartment number in later episodes was 5e. It’s 5a. In some early episodes it was 3a, I think.
George’s brother was played by the same actor who played Lars on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also looked a lot like the guy who played the doorman on Rhoda, except he was a little taller and his hair was darker. I think he also starred as Godot on Broadway.
Ring any bells?
It’s the same actor who played the son in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?”.
In which episode did we see George’s brother? You’re not confusing him with Lloyd Braun (Frank Costanza selling computers episode) are you?
Something interesting I saw on IMDb: Whenever someone buzzes Jerry’s apartment, he lets them in the building, then unlocks the door and usually opens it. However, Kramer always bursts in. He’s not unlocking the door, because apparently in one episode he crashes into Jerry’s locked door.
I don’t have any exact cites, but I think in the early episodes it’s implied that Jerry and George met in college, but later it’s clear that they grew up together in Queens. Also, in early episodes Jerry refers to Kramer as his next-door neighbor, rather than the guy across the hall. In the pilot there is a picture where Kramers door should be.
Did you ever notice at the end of the Soup Nazi episode that Jerry and Newman run in opposite directions to go get pots for the soup? Don’t they live in the same building?
Newman doesn’t live in the same building, IIRC. He’s just “from around”.
Newman lives in the same building.
On the same floor even. Remember the episode with the Reverse Peepholes? Newman gets nearly evicted and Kramer gets to stay because the super likes Jerry. One of the funniest Kramer lines is in that episode. The super asks why they are meeting in Jerry’s apt. Kramer replies, “I like to think of this as my conference room.”
Oh. Well maybe he knew a shortcut. He’s a mailman, after all. 
Thanks for the correction Janita. I think Newman’s apartment is 5E.
Harvey, in the Soup Nazi episode I always thought Jerry was running to get soup before the Nazi ran out. Newman was taking the risk that there would still be some left after he got his pot.
I know that they met no later than High School. A few shows reference the high school days (can’t remember any earlier references) and IIRC they then both went to Queens College together. In the Marine Biologist episode wasn’t George dating the “It girl” from college. Which bring me to one of the funniest lines George ever had.
“The sea was angry that day my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup at the deli”.
The whole scene of him describing how he save the whale is classic but those two lines stand out in my eyes.
Scott, we never see George’s brother. He is only brought up in coversation (twice). As mentioned, once when he discusses that his family dosen’t pay for parking and again when he sees a psychic about a trip he is going to take.
Good pick up on the locking/unlocking. I never thought of that. I’ll have to watch to see if there is a time when Kramer busts into the apartment followed by Jerry unlocking the door after he buzzes someone in. The “Bizzaro Jerry” (Kevin?)kept his door locked so it would follow that Jerry kept his door unlocked. Therefore no need to unlock.
Yep, NYR. The bizarro Jerry was Kevin. Gene for George, Feldman for Kramer and Fargis for Newman.
George and Jerry did know each other in high school, as was shown in the episode where Jerry gets in trouble for an overdue book, “The Tropic of Cancer”. George and Jerry see their old gym teacher as a homeless guy. “Can’t-stands-ya!”
Also, I think Elaine has a sister.
How come people assume George is an only child?
Didn’t Elaine have a sister?
People assume that he’s an only child because after the two early references of his brother, nothing else is mentioned.
In all those later episodes when George is living with or visiting his parents, not once is a brother (or sister, for that matter) mentioned. Given that fact, if people missed the early brother references, it would be perfectly reasonable to think that George was an only child.
Why is it that when George is in the hospital in an early episode, he says how much he loves his Blackhawks jacket, but never actually wears it in any episode?
5a? Wait a minute. In various episodes where he leans out his window and talks to people on the street, no way is he 5 flights up.
(ok, I know at least one place in New York that counts the basement as the first floor, but no way is he 4 flights up.)
That’s because it’s Hollywood’s version of 5 floors I guess. His apartment building must also have the worlds fastest elevator because it only takes people about 15 seconds to get to his apartment after Jerry buzzes them in.
It is also on an extrememly narrow block for NYC. Both Jerry (North view)and Kramer (South View) have windows in their apartments directly above sidewalks. Apartments that close together would need to be about a combined 200 feet in width (if not more). Although we only see bits and pieces of Kramers apt it is highly unlikely that it is that big. Jerry’s seems to be only about 50 ft wide.
Which leads to another nit pick. How come the wall outside Jerry’s apt is flush with the door but when you walk in the kitchen is behind the door to the left?