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The Checks

The Checks were a New Zealand rock band formed in January 2003 in Devonport, , by five teenagers, consisting of Edward Knowles on guitar and vocals, Karel Chabera on bass, Jacob Moore on drums, Sven Pettersen on guitar, and Callum Martin on guitar. Known for their blues-driven, high-energy rock infused with soulful and genre-bending grooves, the band quickly gained attention through energetic live performances and student radio play following their debut at a local birthday party. The Checks released three studio albums during their career: Hunting Whales in 2007 on , Alice by the Moon in 2009, and Deadly Summer Sway in 2011 on Full Time Hobby. Their music earned critical acclaim, including the bNet Music Awards for Most Promising New Act in 2004 and Best in 2010 for Alice by the Moon. The band toured extensively, supporting international acts such as , R.E.M., , , and , and notably opened for at in in February 2010. They also participated in the New Music Tour and performed at events like the Marlborough Wine Festival in 2011. After a decade of activity, The Checks disbanded in August 2012, with members pursuing solo projects and new bands, including by Knowles and Pettersen, and Splashh by . Their raw, dance-inducing sound and rapid rise from local school gigs to global stages cemented their legacy in the New Zealand indie rock scene.

Episode background

Development and writing

"The Checks" was written by Steve O'Donnell alongside the longtime Seinfeld writing duo . This episode, bearing production code 807, marked the final script contributed by Gammill and Pross to the series, following their departure from the writing staff after the eighth season. The script's development centered on constructing a multi-threaded typical of 's ensemble format, where independent storylines—such as Jerry's dealings with royalty checks, George's interactions with Japanese visitors, Elaine's encounter with a "Desperado"-obsessed boyfriend, and Kramer's involvement with a cult of carpet cleaners—were carefully interwoven to build toward humorous intersections and resolutions. This approach allowed the writers to layer escalating absurdities across the characters' arcs, enhancing the episode's comedic rhythm through parallel progression and eventual convergence. The finalization of occurred in the lead-up to production for season eight, aligning with the episode's broadcast on November 7, 1996.

Inspirations

Jerry Seinfeld's subplot involving the umbrella twirl stemmed from his own early career as an umbrella salesman in during the 1980s, where he developed the technique to make the products more eye-catching to potential buyers on the street. This personal anecdote directly informed the scene where Jerry confronts former colleagues for appropriating his invention. Kramer's to house tourists in furniture drawers drew from pop culture depictions of Japan's capsule hotels, where businessmen use compact sleeping pods for efficiency during long work hours.

Production and crew

Filming

Filming for "The Checks" took place on September 29, October 7, and October 8, 1996, under the direction of . The production primarily utilized soundstages at Studio Center in , for the interior scenes depicting Jerry's apartment, Elaine's office, and other key sets. Exterior shots, particularly those involving the carpet cleaning service interactions, were captured on location around to simulate streets. One notable production challenge was coordinating the chaotic business meeting sequence, where Jerry pitches his pilot to a television executive amid rapid-fire and cultural misunderstandings, necessitating multiple takes to synchronize the actors' timing and on-screen . Similarly, the axe scene—featuring Jerry freeing the visitors trapped in a warped chest of drawers, accidentally hitting Brett—required meticulous safety protocols and stunt coordination to balance with set integrity. The episode's table read occurred early in the schedule, followed by intensive rehearsals focused on the ensemble dynamics in scenes like the Japanese tourists' city tour and the group furniture destruction, allowing the to refine the escalating comedic chaos before the live audience taping.

Cast

The principal of "The Checks," the seventh episode of Seinfeld's eighth season, consists of the series' core ensemble: as the comedian Jerry Seinfeld, as his ex-girlfriend , as the eccentric neighbor , and as the neurotic friend . These performers, central to the show's dynamic since its inception, reprise their roles to navigate the episode's intersecting storylines involving small annoyances and escalating absurdities. Among the guest stars, plays , Elaine's short-lived boyfriend whose incessant humming and singing of the Eagles' "Desperado" becomes a source of irritation, marking a standout comedic turn in his early television career before his long-term role on . appears as Mr. Wilhelm, George's exasperated boss at the Yankees, a whose interactions with Costanza highlight the episode's workplace tension; Herd, a veteran of roles in series like and , brings understated authority to the part. Gedde Watanabe portrays Mr. Oh, a Japanese television executive who, along with colleagues, engages Kramer in business dealings that play into Seinfeld's frequent tropes of cross-cultural misunderstandings and futile negotiations. Watanabe, recognized for his breakout role as the exchange student Long Duk Dong in the 1984 film Sixteen Candles, infuses the character with a mix of politeness and bemusement typical of the show's satirical take on international encounters. Jack Plotnick is cast as the Crew Leader of the Sunshine Carpet Cleaners, a cult-like figure who hypnotizes clients during cleaning sessions, central to the episode's hypnosis-themed humor. Plotnick, who began his on-screen career with guest appearances on sitcoms like and in the mid-1990s, delivers the role's manipulative charm with precise timing. George Wallace rounds out key supporting roles as the Doctor treating Jerry's minor ailment, a brief but pivotal appearance; the comedian and longtime friend of brings a delivery informed by his stand-up background.

Narrative

Plot summary

In the episode, Jerry Seinfeld receives a flood of tiny royalty checks worth 12 cents each for a brief appearance he made years earlier on the Japanese television program Super Terrific Happy Hour. The volume of checks causes severe cramps in his hand from constant endorsing. Meanwhile, Elaine Benes begins dating a man named Brett, who becomes entranced and begins twirling an imaginary umbrella whenever the Eagles' song "Desperado" plays, much to her frustration during their outings. Brett also fixates on high-end Karl Farbman furniture, gifting Elaine a chest of drawers from the line and insisting on discussing it obsessively. Kramer befriends three Japanese tourists in , whom he entertains extravagantly but overspends on due to a misunderstanding of the yen-to-dollar , leaving them penniless and unable to return home. With nowhere else to go, Kramer invites them to stay at his apartment and later hides them inside the Farbman —borrowed from —to keep them out of sight during an important meeting. , seeking purpose, hires a service for his apartment and discovers the workers belong to the Sanalite , a group; eager to join, he attends their meeting but is rejected for being too pessimistic. Undeterred, George arranges for the Sanalites to clean the carpets at , where his boss, Mr. Wilhelm, unexpectedly becomes enthralled and joins the , adopting the name "Tania." Inspired by Jerry's residual fame in , George convinces him to revive and pitch his old sitcom pilot to Japanese television executives. During the chaotic pitch meeting at , interrupts to retrieve the hidden Japanese tourists, whose wooden hiding chest has swollen shut from exposure to steam in Kramer's . Jerry, suffering from hand cramps, uses an axe to hack open the chest to free them, but accidentally injures , who had arrived seeking . The outburst alarms the executives, derailing the pilot deal entirely. Later, visits in the hospital, where he mistakes a nurse for her and serenades her with "Desperado," prompting to break up with him on the spot.

Character developments

In "The Checks," Jerry's characteristic pettiness is prominently amplified through his escalating frustration with receiving minuscule s—often amounting to mere cents—from a long-forgotten appearance on a Japanese television program. This trivial annoyance consumes him, leading to absurd efforts like individually cashing each and even destroying furniture in irritation, which reinforces his longstanding with everyday inconveniences and his tendency to fixate on the mundane to the point of . Elaine's impatience with eccentric romantic partners reaches a boiling point in her brief relationship with Brett, a furniture designer whose obsessive humming of the Eagles' "Desperado" drives her to exasperation. This storyline builds directly on her pattern of mishaps with quirky suitors seen in prior episodes, such as her dealings with overly sensitive or peculiar boyfriends, highlighting her quick-witted but short-fused approach to love and her desire for normalcy amid constant absurdity. Kramer's entrepreneurial naivety and extremes of are on full display as he befriends a group of tourists, inviting them to crash at his apartment and impulsively purchasing them cowboy hats to "Americanize" their visit. These actions extend his recurring pattern of well-intentioned but culturally tone-deaf schemes, often rooted in a misguided sense of that spirals into without regard for practical boundaries. George's compulsive scheming backfires spectacularly when his attempt to join a carpet-cleaning operation revealed as a religious cult not only fails but results in his boss, Mr. Wilhelm, being recruited instead, prompting Wilhelm's sudden retirement and leaving George to cover for him at work. This outcome ties into George's deep-seated workplace insecurities and his history of self-sabotaging plots, where his opportunistic maneuvers—motivated by a mix of envy and ambition—invariably lead to professional fallout and heightened anxiety. The episode's subplots interconnect during a chaotic pitch meeting with a Japanese television executive, where Jerry's check-induced fame prompts George and Kramer to revive his old sitcom pilot, only for the group's collective dysfunction—Jerry's reluctance, Elaine's indirect involvement through Brett's interruptions, and the tourists' presence—to derail the opportunity and underscore their codependent, comedic ineptitude as friends.

Reception

Viewership

"The Checks" originally aired on on November 7, 1996. The episode achieved a Nielsen household rating of 20.5 and ranked second for the week of November 4–10. It drew 32.01 million total U.S. viewers, helping propel Season 8 to an average of 32.3 million viewers per episode. This strong showing reflected Seinfeld's peak popularity during its eighth season, building on the robust audiences of preceding episodes like "." The season itself finished second in the overall Nielsen rankings, behind only .

Critical reviews

"The Checks" received an IMDb user rating of 8.0 out of 10, based on 3,625 votes as of late 2025. Users frequently praised the episode's humor in specific gags, such as Jerry's frustration with signing numerous small royalty checks from his TV appearance and the recurring "Desperado" scene where Elaine's boyfriend halts abruptly upon hearing the Eagles . However, some reviewers criticized it as "very messy" with uneven pacing and little resolution among its multiple subplots. In a retrospective ranking of all episodes by ScreenCrush, "The Checks" placed low due to its perceived lack of cohesion, though the site acknowledged laughs in isolated moments like the axe-wielding Japanese tourist interaction with . Similarly, Vanity Fair's 2015 episode ranking positioned it near the bottom (134th out of 180), noting the "Desperado" gag as a highlight amid otherwise scattered . Fan discussions, as reflected in aggregated user feedback on platforms like IMDb, often describe the episode as mid-tier within season 8, with divisive opinions: some label it a least favorite for "pushed comedy" that feels forced, while others appreciate the chaotic multi-plot structure as emblematic of the show's later absurdity. Contemporary reviews from the mid-1990s were generally positive, highlighting Seinfeld's signature take on everyday absurdities, though the episode garnered no major awards or nominations. Common praises centered on clever cultural clashes, such as the misunderstandings between Kramer's visitors and the New York setting, which underscored the series' observational wit.

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