Vol. 3, No. 8 · 25¢ thefestivusproject.com

THE DAILY NOTHING

November 13, 1991 New York Final Edition
S03E08 · Season 3, Episode 8 of 180

The Tape

Elaine records an anonymous sexual message on Jerry's tape recorder as a prank, but the joke backfires when George — who learns the truth first — develops an uncontrollable crush on her. George orders a baldness cure from China by enlisting a delivery boy as interpreter, then agonizes over whether to wear the foul-smelling cream or wash it off for Elaine's benefit. When Elaine confesses before the prank spirals further, all three men end up fighting over the tape.

What's The Deal?

George's JobUnemployed
Kramer's SchemeScheming to reclaim his jacket from his mother's jailed ex-boyfriend Albert
References
CNN

The Full Story

After testing new material in his comedy act, Jerry plays back a tape recording to gauge audience reception. Partway through, he is surprised and titillated by an unidentified woman's voice sexually propositioning into the tape recorder. George and Kramer are likewise aroused. Elaine confides to George that she recorded the mystery voice as a prank, leading Jerry to believe that someone in the audience was lusting after him. George is uncontrollably sexually excited by his secret knowledge of Elaine's lascivious side.

Kramer gets a free camcorder, and indulges in filming everyone. He pretends to interview Elaine as a porn star; playfully improvising, she jokes about her and George as co-stars in a porn film. The tease of actual sex with Elaine haunts George as he drives her home, but he fails to proposition to her.

Seeing a Chinese doctor's claimed baldness cure on CNN, George tries to order the cure by phoning China long-distance. He first fails to account for the time zone difference, then the sellers not speaking English. A Chinese delivery boy arrives and George enlists him as interpreter, successfully buying the cure—a foul-smelling, thick topical cream. George is torn between putting the cream on for his own sake and taking it off for Elaine's, and finally covers it with a cowboy hat.

Kramer schemes to reclaim the jacket he relinquished last episode to his mother's ex-boyfriend, who is now in jail.

Jerry identifies and asks out a woman who sat near the tape recorder, and is confused by her reluctance to be intimate. Elaine confesses before the prank goes too far, but not before George tells all to Jerry out of sexual frustration. Kramer overhears while scrutinizing George's hair growth on video. With not just George but all three men turned on by the revelation, Elaine apprehensively leaves. The men fight over the tape recorder.