This morning Dustin put together a list of the top 20 episodes of Seinfeld as ranked by IMDB user ratings. It was a nice list, for the most part, but it didn’t include “The Library,” so everybody associated with IMDB can go start sucking eggs effective immediately.
If for no other reason, “The Library” — which also includes the atomic wedgie and the gym teacher who pronounces Costanza “Can’t Stand Ya” — should be on every Seinfeld-related list for the short scene where the library cop, Mr. Bookman (played by Philip Baker Hall), grills Jerry about an overdue book. The whole thing is basically perfect, and, for my money, it’s the single best scene in the show’s entire run, thanks mainly to Hall’s tour de force performance. I mean, good Lord, we should consider retroactively awarding that man at least three or four Emmys for his pronunciation of “pee-pees and wee-wees” alone.
It infuriates me that we, as a society, aren’t talking about this scene more. Like, every day.
