“The Boyfriend” is remembered as one of Seinfeld‘s all-time great episodes, but one of its most famous scenes reportedly almost didn’t make it past Larry David. According to the story now making the rounds, the co-creator wasn’t keen on the episode’s JFK parody because it wasn’t an original idea.
The Magic Loogie
Aired in February 1992 and written by David and Larry Levin, the hour-long episode follows Jerry’s “bromance” with Mets legend Keith Hernandez. Its centerpiece is Jerry’s “magic loogie” theory, a shot-for-shot spoof of the “magic bullet” scene in Oliver Stone’s JFK, released just months earlier. Kramer and Newman claim Hernandez spat on them after a 1987 game, and Jerry argues the spit couldn’t have come from where they say it did.
Where the Idea Came From
The concept wasn’t David’s own. He has credited writer Tom Leopold, a self-described “real assassination buff,” for the idea. Leopold had noticed that Wayne Knight, who plays Newman, appeared in JFK in the very scene being parodied, and pitched having him reenact it. With the gag borrowed from a hit movie rather than drawn from real life, it’s easy to see why David, famous for building episodes out of his own experiences, would have hesitated.
A Fan Favorite Anyway
Whatever doubts there were, the scene became a classic. TV Guide ranked “The Boyfriend” fourth on its 1997 list of the 100 greatest TV episodes, and Jerry Seinfeld has called it his favorite. Speaking at a live Rushmore Podcast taping in May, he described the speech as “one of the biggest thrills of the series,” adding, “It was a long speech, and I knew it would get a lot of laughs if I got it right.”
For more behind-the-scenes Seinfeld stories, read what Wayne Knight said about working with Larry David.