A Proper Ranking of All 169 Episodes of Seinfeld

Want to know how to totally undercut any chance of being productive on this Friday? Well here you go, a comprehensive ranking of every Seinfeld episode ever. While I personally feel The Merv Griffin Show and The Pool Guy are hard done by here, it's still tough to argue with the breakdown provided incredulously by Vulture. Enjoy...

At long last, you can clear all those syndicated Seinfeld episodes off your DVR. Following years of speculation about when and where the historic sitcom would arrive online, today it finally became available to stream on Hulu. But with 169* episodes in the Seinfeld archive, it's understandable if you're intimidated by the the idea of entering the vault without a guide.

 In the interest of both helping novices prioritize and reminding veterans about forgotten jewels, we've ranked every episode in the series from worst to best. The ratings are based less on cultural significance — you'll find many recognizable episodes fairly low on the list — and more on the density and quality of jokes, the inclusion of multiple strong narrative arcs, and, to a lesser extent, how well the comedy and stories have aged.

 That said, even the worst (well, maybe the fourth-worst) episode of Seinfeld is better than most of what you'll currently find on network TV — and now it's just a Hulu account away. The bingeing is going to be real, and it's going to be spectacular.

 *We arrived at a count of 169** by considering all two-part and hour-long episodes as single entries. We also omitted the retrospective. With every episode now available on-demand, why waste time watching highlights?

 ** Correction: This ranking initially included only 168 episodes. The 169th (No. 58) has since been added and the ranking adjusted.

 169. "The Puerto Rican Day Parade" (Season 9). An episode so racially offensive that NBC had to apologize upon its airing, the second-greatest crime that "The Puerto Rican Day Parade" commits is simply not being funny enough. It's the loosest version of a bottle episode to come out of the writers' room — and of all the bottle episodes in Seinfeld's run, it's the dullest, full stop.

 168. "The Outing" (Season 4). After four seasons spent using George's homophobia as a character flaw, the show wholeheartedly embraces gay panic as a plot device to a nonsensical, largely unfunny degree. The phrase "Not that there's anything wrong with that" ascends to pop-culture permanency after a practical joke played by Elaine causes a college newspaper reporter to mistake George and Jerry as lovers.

 167. "The Finale" (Season 9). Is the final episode of Seinfeld really that bad? They get what they deserve! It's a long time coming! Symbolically, it's perfect! But upon rewatching, you realize that, yeah, it is that bad. Not even the minor revelation that George cheated during "The Contest" can save what is an uninspired parade of guest stars and forgotten characters. The final scene's callback to Seinfeld's first episode is a cute touch, but it's not enough to save "The Finale"'s reputation as one of Seinfeld's lowest points.

 Enjoy the rest of the list HERE.

Ben Silverman Launches Branded Entertainment Studio

Just another major Hollywood exec jumping on the bandwagon of aligning A-list talent like Jason Bateman and Web distribution to his arsenal. Yahoo powering the move is no surprise, they haven't had any real stake in the content game and this is a big opp for them to leverage their scale. Great move by Silverman, as it is for anyone else making the same transition.....

Executive’s New Studio Teams Up With Yahoo
By BRIAN STELTER

The former NBC entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman has lined up his first distributor, Yahoo, for his new studio, which he says will specialize in creating shows in concert with advertisers.
The studio, Electus, is expected to announce the deal on Friday.
Electus was founded last year by Mr. Silverman in partnership with Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp. At the new company, Mr. Silverman is putting into practice what he so often talked about at NBC: exceptionally close connections between content creators and corporate sponsors.
In an interview Thursday, Mr. Silverman was not specific about the types of programs he would create for Yahoo, but said he saw “opportunities for episodic storytelling” that included “more direct relationships” with advertisers. The move by Electus and Yahoo, which has dabbled in original programming for years with varying degrees of success, is in part a response to advertiser demands for more online video inventory.
“We are always getting requests from advertisers for exclusive opportunities” for integrations into Web programs, said Joanne Bradford, the senior vice president for North America revenue and market development at Yahoo. “We really feel like Ben has proven that he can come up with great content.”
Before coming to NBC in 2007, Mr. Silverman was the founder of Reveille, the producer of programs like “The Biggest Loser” and “The Office.” He left NBC last July and announced the deal with Mr. Diller the same day.
Asked whether he thought his brand had been tarnished by his time at NBC, where the network’s ratings slipped during his tenure, Mr. Silverman said, “I quit NBC because they were obviously building themselves to sell.” General Electric is selling a majority stake in NBC Universal to Comcast.
In addition to the Yahoo partnership, Mr. Silverman said that he had also signed a contract with Ryan Seacrest, the TV and radio host and budding entrepreneur, and that Electus was doing “multiple projects” with him.
Mr. Silverman is also working with the actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, America Ferrera and others. “We’re tapping into the A-list storytelling engine,” he said.
Yahoo said that the programs would begin to make their debuts in several months.

Love Watching Conan O'Brien Rip On NBC

"Timeless Wisdom" With Larry David

NBC Ran Hulu Super Bowl Spot For Free

Super Bowl ads cost several million dollars, but Hulu.com received 60 seconds on NBC free by essentially cashing in a voucher, according to a New York Times report.

The online video hub is a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp., with a stake owned by a private-equity firm. The Times said when the site was launched, it received credits to run ads on NBCU and News Corp. properties, but had not cashed any in until Sunday night.
It would appear as if the site, which apparently had not advertised on so-called traditional media before, made the most of the opportunity--with its second-half spot, which starred Alec Baldwin riffing on TV and brain function, getting good reviews.

It's possible Hulu could now hold its powder again and cash in more credits in February 2011, when News Corp.'s Fox has the Big Game. Perhaps that would focus on a Fox star, as Baldwin is a headliner on NBC's "30 Rock."

But while Hulu may have gotten the coveted media time for free Sunday, the production costs for the glitzy spot were certainly significant--and it may be angling to run it again before retiring it.

The Times had previously reported that Hulu was to pay for the ad time, quoting an NBCU executive.

Because I Love Hulu...

They deserve any coverage possible in my mind. Good news bad news, whatever. I haven't slept a wink in the last two months without dozing off to an old Family Guy episode or some hilarious bonus clips from The Office.

Either way, turns out Hulu took a hit in unique viewers in November compared to October according to comScore. If it's any consolation to them, I still think they are fantastic. That should tide them over while they build their traffic back up.

Hulu and YouTube Battling Ad Revenue Projections

Great story from CrunchGear comparing the revenue projections of video giant YouTube and NBC/Fox internet front Hulu.  As a big Hulu fan and someone who has been bashing media buyers for buying ad space on YouTube, this article really made me happy.

Something’s wrong with YouTube, and it looks like Hulu stands to benefit. 

YouTube, as you’re all painfully aware, is primarily comprised of short videos of guys falling off their skateboards (embedded here), dudes playing video game songs on the piano and illegal Seinfeld clips. Those types of videos aren’t attractive to advertisers. That may explain why YouTube, which had 83 million unique hits in September, is only expected to generate $100 million for the year.

Compare that to Hulu, which primarily consists of professionally made NBC and Fox shows and clips—I just wasted quite a few minutes watching a few “popular” Simpsons clips, for example. That all of the content there is nice and legal makes it more appealing to advertisers, which explains why, even though with only 6 million hits in September, Hulu is expected to generate to $70m.

Both sites are expected to generate $180 million next year. Don’t think that’s because, overnight, Hulu increases its viewership 10-fold.

In other words, people (“analysts” and the like) are now wondering how, if ever, will Google will turn YouTube into a monetary success.

Don’t forget that Google paid $1.65 billion for the site two years ago—that’s a lot of skateboarding videos for which to sell ads.