Vol. 8, No. 4 · 25¢ thefestivusproject.com

THE DAILY NOTHING

October 10, 1996 New York Final Edition
S08E04 · Season 8, Episode 4 of 180

The Little Kicks

Elaine dances at her own company party and her staff is so horrified that she loses all authority — Jerry confirms she "stinks" and Kramer is characteristically blunt, but the real damage is that her attempt to warn employee Anna away from George makes him seem dangerous and desirable. Jerry gets roped into bootlegging a movie called Death Blow after Kramer's friend Brody gets sick and leaves Jerry holding the camera at gunpoint, and when the bootleg becomes legendary, Jerry's ego won't let Kramer's shoddy camerawork go out under his name. George takes up bootlegging to maintain his bad-boy image but gets arrested and cries when the cop yells at him, while Frank Costanza shows up to bail him out and gets into a physical fight with Elaine in the police station.

What's The Deal?

George's GirlfriendAnna
George's JobAssistant to the traveling secretary, Yankees
George's LiePretends to be a bad boy bootlegger
Elaine's JobJ. Peterman Catalog
Elaine's ThingDances at company party, loses all employee respect
Kramer's SchemeBrings Jerry and friend Brody to a sneak preview; Brody bootlegs the film and forces Jerry at gunpoint to finish when Brody gets sick
References
Death BlowCry, Cry AgainJack RubyFiberCon1968 Pontiac GTO
Dark Turn
Frank Costanza gets in physical fight with Elaine at police station

The Full Story

George tags along to a company party held by Elaine. He attempts to flirt with Anna, one of Elaine's employees, but she isn't interested. The guests are horrified when they see Elaine dance, losing respect for her. Elaine attributes this loss of respect to George's presence at the party. She advises Anna to keep away from George, which causes Anna to think of George as a "bad boy", making him desirable to her.

Jerry gets tickets to a sneak preview of Death Blow for himself, Kramer, and Kramer's friend, Brody. In the theater, Brody starts videotaping the movie to make a bootleg. Brody later becomes sick from eating too much candy and has Kramer take him home, directing Jerry at gunpoint to finish making the tape. Jerry reluctantly bootlegs the movie and worries about breaking the law. However, when he sees the finished product, Brody says it's beautiful and Jerry is "a genius". He assigns Jerry an "arty film" called Cry, Cry Again. Opposed to bootlegging but afraid of turning Brody down, Jerry has Kramer ghost-film it for him. However, when Jerry learns Death Blow has become a bootleg legend, he becomes unwilling to let Kramer's shoddy work go out under his name. He demands they reshoot Cry, Cry Again using three cameramen with headsets. When Brody won't agree to Jerry's outlandish demands, Jerry quits the project.

Kramer, seeing Elaine dancing, informs her that she stinks. Jerry reluctantly confirms this, and suggests she watch herself for proof. She videotapes herself over the ending of the bootleg copy of Cry, Cry Again. When Brody comes to pick up the tape, Jerry and Kramer resort to giving him the copy Kramer recorded, which Elaine has recorded her dancing over.

Elaine, realizing that her dancing was the cause of her staff's disrespect, apologizes to George and tells Anna he is a good person, which makes him undesirable to Anna. George takes up bootlegging in an effort to restore his "bad boy" image, but gets arrested and cries when a policeman yells at him, permanently shaming himself in Anna's eyes. Frank comes to bail him out but instead gets into a physical confrontation with Elaine after she insults George.

Elaine says the bad air at the office has mostly cleared up. Everyone on the sidewalk dances behind her back, mocking her dance that they saw at the end of the Cry, Cry Again bootleg.