August 14, 2007
The Seinfeld Encyclopedia Posted by Alexander Burns at 03:05 PM EST Fred Allen mentions that he is a Yankees fan. I can’t say I share that particular preference, but there are specific Yankees I’ve liked. One of them was Phil Rizzuto, although I only knew him as an announcer. Rizzuto died today at the age of 89. The New York Times has a good obituary here. An odd coincidence about Rizzuto’s death is that it makes him the second popular culture figure featured on Seinfeld to die this week. In a popular episode in the show’s eighth season, Jason Alexander’s character, George Costanza, is given a keychain replica of Phil Rizzuto’s head. When he squeezes it, it says, “Holy cow!” When the keychain accidentally gets buried in a paved-over pothole, George is distraught. And every time someone drives over that patch of asphalt, the keychain blurts out its recorded message. Sadly, I haven’t been able to find a YouTube video of this episode, but the script is available online. Earlier this week, Merv Griffin, the successful game show and talk show host, died at 82. I was too young to watch any of his shows when he was hosting them, but I learned a thing or two about him by watching NBC’s greatest sitcom. During that show’s ninth season, the character Cosmo Kramer finds the old set of The Merv Griffin Show thrown out on the street. He takes it back to his apartment, puts it back together, and hosts his own version of the show. His friends are less than totally thrilled about this, and the project doesn’t last long. Some clips from the episode are, much to my amusement, posted on YouTube. All this has made me realize just how effectively Seinfeld took in the popular culture of its day. Phil Rizzuto and Merv Griffin are some of the first Seinfeld-noted figures to pass away, at least that I’ve been aware of. But in the future, Seinfeld’s cultural encyclopedia will help shape the memories of other celebrities—George Steinbrenner, Rudy Giuliani, Raquel Welch, Keith Hernandez, Marisa Tomei, and many more. At least, as long as the show still has fans.
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