This episode was on last night, I thought it had been banned?

It was on in Chicago last night as well. I've seen it a few times in syndication. Funny stuff.

NBC never repeated it. Just like NBC never repeated the ripped-from-the-headline Law & Order Puerto Rican parade episode.

I guess the decision to air is up to the syndicator now.

The ban on this episode was lifted in 2002. I remember reading an article about it.

damn i missed it

You didn't miss much. I thought that it was one of the worst of the latter day Seinfeld episodes. Regardless, I don't think that it should have been banned. I read an article detailing its reinstatement as well.

so does anyone have a synposis of the episode

The was the last "regular episode" afterwards was a clip show and the series finale

176. The Puerto Rican Day

The gang tries to get back into town after leaving the Mets game early in the 8th inning, the Mets are down 8 - 0. On the highway they run into trouble with a maroon Volkswagen Golf. George comments on a new movie he saw about the Hindenburg disaster and the clever comment he made during a quiet moment after the explosion. As they approach 5th Avenue traffic slows down and music can be heard, they realize they have forgotten about the Puerto Rican day parade. Elaine worries about getting home and seeing 60 Minutes as part of her weekend wind down. Kramer spots a way out if Jerry can worm his way over to the right. They almost make it over until they reencounter the maroon Golf. Elaine bails out of the car to find alternate transportation. George bails out of the car when he spots a theater screening the Hindenburg movie; he decides he wants to repeat his glory. Elaine decides the cab she hired isn't working, so she bails out of the cab, only to have it start moving again and again. George's attempt to be funny at the movie is undermined by a guy with one of those funny laser pointers. Kramer suggests that he and Jerry abandon his car. The laser pointer guy (a lousy prop comic) gets all the laughs as George's line bombs and he is humiliated. Kramer cuts a deal with the maroon Golf they are go to get access to the short cut when Jerry makes an apology wave. George returns to the car with the red dot of a laser pointer appearing all over parts of his body. Jerry rescinds his apology wave just as he is about to pull in the alley; Elaine arrives back at the same spot in her cab.

Jerry's apartment is seen, but no one is home. Elaine seeks an alternate way home. Kramer seeks a bathroom. Elaine works her way over to the parade route and looks for a way across. She leads a group of people on an escape route underneath a reviewing stand ala The Poseidon Adventure. Kramer spots an apartment for sale and poses as H.E Pennypacker, a wealthy industrialist, to get access to a bathroom. When he gets back he tells Jerry about the Mets game. Soon after, Kal Varnsen (Jerry's alias), is looking at the television in the apartment. George spots the laser guy and plans a sneak attack. Elaine's route leads to a dead end. George grabs what he thinks is the laser pointer and gets ink all over his hands. Kramer accidentally sets the Puerto Rican flag on fire and a mob of people, led by the armoire stealing tough guys. Art Vandelay seeks the use of a bathroom to clean the ink off his hands and runs into Varnsen. Pennypacker joins them on the run from the mob. Varnsen wants know who's watching the Saab factory. The mob is watching it; however, they leave it in a precarious position.


b: 07-May-1998 pc: 920 w: Alec Berg and Jennifer Crittenden and Spike Feresten and Bruce Eric Kaplan and Gregg Kavet and Steve Koren and David Mandel and Daniel O'Keefe and Andy Robin and Jeff Schaffer d: Andy Ackerman

NOTE: The episode caused a bit of stir in the Puerto Rican community, causing NBC to issue an apology and never showing the episode on the network again. The controversy involved Kramer and the flag-burning sequence. This episode is the only episode that was not initially included in the syndication package. In the summer of 2002 the episode has started appearing, with the flag-burning sequence intact. So if you missed it when it aired the first time, you will now have a chance to see it again.
And now Jerry Balsam tells me that laser pointers have come under attack with legislation in NYC to make it misdemeanor to improperly use one. This is probably a good idea, since laser light can cause harm if pointed into the eyes.
Here Jerry uses his alias, Kal Varnsen, again, he used is previously in "The Boyfriend (1)". The name Kal is the first name of Jerry's real life father and is also part of Superman's real Kryptonian name "Kal-El", another Superman reference for the series.
One of the characters is named Christine Nyhart, presumably after Seinfeld's script supervisor.
We learn that Elaine went to Tufts University (the archetypal safety school).
In this episode Kramer uses the name H. E. Pennypacker which he also used in "The Millennium".

great episode.

"Man...that had to hurt!"

There are PLENTY of tv shows that I find 'offensive' but I've never been able to shove a rod that far up my a** to complain about it.

Mario Joyner is fabulous as the cabbie. "Get me a Dr. Pepper, there...dumbass."

Do you know any other Superman reference throughout the whole Seinfeld sitcom?

They abound... both directly and covertly.

A small Superman model was always somewhere in Jerry's apartment (I believe it was somewhere in every episode).

When Elaine plans to draw a comic for the New Yorker ("The Cartoon"), Jerry makes fun of her drawing abilities and she comes back with "It's better than your drawings of naked Lois Lane!"

A more extensive list can be found here.

I'm sure if they burned an American flag, there would have been no problems ....

The most obvious one was the one where Jerry was dating that woman named "Lois"...the one where he had the race "I Choose Not To Run!" Plus the fact that they played the Superman theme during the race.

Not really a Seinfeld moment, but remember the Jerry Seinfeld Am-Ex commercials with the cartoon Superman? The guy who played David Putty (from the Seinfeld show) did the voice of Superman

Halirious, simply halirious...... Once again, it proves Seinfeld is the one of the all time best.

so that is the big deal the flag was set on fire, but they have that stupid dog for taco bell all the time.

Yeah oh well.

Um the dog ad is way past dead. And for your information a organization sued Taco Bell for the offensive commercial.