"The Lip Reader" is the 70th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It is the sixth episode of the fifth season, and first aired on October 28, 1993. The episode brought in a 20.4 rating and 31 share. It was written by Carol Leifer and was directed by Tom Cherones.
Plot[]
Jerry and George are at the U.S. Open. George mentions that he invited his girlfriend Gwen to a party. Jerry says this is a bad idea, as he cannot socialize with others when he is with his girlfriend. George buys an ice cream sundae at the match and eats it, getting the chocolate all over his face, which is caught by the cameras and broadcast on television. Jerry becomes smitten with the lineswoman, and when he tries to get her attention it appears as if she is ignoring him. After she turns around she informs Jerry that she is deaf.
Elaine, who is using the company car service to travel, is tired of all the chatty drivers, so to avoid talking to one she pretends to be deaf. However, she unthinkingly reacts to the radio message to the driver to pick up Tom Hanks. To make it up to the driver, who is disgusted with her feigned deafness, she gets him tickets to a rock concert.
Jerry tells Kramer about the deaf lineswoman, Laura (Marlee Matlin). Kramer knows sign language because a deaf cousin lived with him for a year. He gets an idea to become a "ball man" at the tennis center and asks Jerry to find out from Laura how to get the job.
Gwen breaks up with George, saying "it's not you; it's me"; George is offended, as he considers this to be his signature break-up line. Kramer tells George he saw him on TV with the ice cream on his face, which George believes to be the reason for Gwen breaking up with him. Jerry takes George as the third wheel on a date with Laura. George finds out that Laura can lip read. George asks Laura to come to a party to read Gwen's lips to see what she says about the breakup. After the date Jerry asks if he can pick up Laura at six for the party ("How about six?"), which she misinterprets as a request for sex ("How about sex?") and leaves him in a huff.
Kramer goes for the ball boy tryouts and aces it, getting the job. Jerry tells George about the 'six/sex' misunderstanding and that he straightened it out with Laura. Newman enters and asks to 'borrow' Laura to spy on his supervisor. Jerry refuses. In the limo, they find out that the driver has gone slightly deaf from sitting near the speakers at the Metallica concert for which Elaine had given him tickets. When he recognizes Elaine, the driver throws everyone out of his cab.
They arrive late to the party and meet Laura who has a brief and nonsensical sign language conversation with Kramer. When Gwen arrives, Laura watches her conversation with Todd and signs to Kramer who voices it out loud. The conversation is mundane - about peas, pea soup, carrots and carrot soup (an inside joke; "silent" extras often mouth the phrase "peas and carrots" to give the illusion of conversation). However, when Todd asks Gwen if she wants to sweep with him after the party, it is misinterpreted as 'sleep' with him. George runs up to them and rants about the disloyalty. When Gwen corrects him, he shouts at Laura and Kramer. Laura and Kramer start arguing and signing furiously, and she accidentally hits George in the eye. He topples over a table and crashes the party.
The group returns to the US Open to watch Kramer serve as a "ball man". Kramer rushes at the ball and accidentally knocks out Monica Seles, thus ending the great ball man experiment. After the match, Laura gets into the limo with the same chatty driver. When he starts talking to her, she explains to him, "I'm deaf." He turns back with an agitated and dubious expression.
Quotes[]
Jerry: "To me, tennis is basically just ping pong, and the players are standing on the table."
Jerry: "Excuse me. [louder] Excuse me. ...Oh, that's nice. That's right, ignore me. That's real polite. Yeah, nobody's even talking to you. Oh, you big lineswoman. Oh, like that's some kind of a cool job. I know your type, think you're too good for everyone. But you know, it's women like you - [Laura turns around] Oh, well. What are you, deaf?"
Laura: "Bingo."
George: "She must have seen me eating it on TV!"
Jerry: "So she sees you with hot fudge on your face and she ends it? Do you really think she'd be that superficial?"
George: "Why not? I would be."
| Season Five Episodes |
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| The Mango | The Puffy Shirt | The Glasses | The Sniffing Accountant | The Bris | The Lip Reader | The Non-Fat Yogurt | The Barber | The Masseuse | The Cigar Store Indian | The Conversion | The Stall | The Dinner Party | The Marine Biologist | The Pie | The Stand In | The Wife | The Raincoats, Part 1 | The Raincoats, Part 2 | The Fire | The Hamptons | The Opposite |