For a live-action network sitcom, “Seinfeld” was unusually controversial. The series once killed off George’s fiancée Susan via a wedding-invite fiasco, and often trafficked in racial stereotypes for comedic effect. The latter penchant was continuously explained away by the fact that the series’ four central characters — Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer — were typically the worst people in any given situation. And that’s why so many people love the series: it’s a show about jerks behaving badly or pettily (something we’re all guilty of doing and being on occasion).
Did “Seinfeld” ever go too far? During its initial run in the 1990s, there were complaints but rarely any action to back them up. One exception was “The Puerto Rican Day,” the penultimate episode of the entire series in which the gang gets stuck in Upper East Side traffic during New York City’s annual Puerto Rican Day parade. Their predicament stings all the more because they keep getting stuck behind a purple Volkswagen Golf that won’t allow them to pass on a crowded Fifth Avenue. (This is where Jerry and company are being their usual jerky selves, as switching lanes is futile.) The quartet gradually separates, with Elaine trying to escape the revelry on foot, while the other three venture out to use an apartment bathroom by posing as potential tenants.
If this all sounds pretty de rigueur for a “Seinfeld” episode, it pretty much is until the climax, which sparked actual, feet-on-the-ground protests.
Near the end of “The Puerto Rican Day,” Kramer procures a sparkler and accidentally sets a Puerto Rican flag on fire. He immediately panics and attempts to put the fire out by stomping on the flag. Obviously, this sight enrages the parade attendees, who descend on him. He’s able to escape the angry mob, but upon reaching the apartment where Jerry and George are, they all realize no one is in Jerry’s car — at which point they look out the window and see the mob attacking the automobile.
That time Seinfeld learned not to mess with Puerto Rico
“The Puerto Rican Day” provoked protests from the Puerto Rican community, the timing of which was unfortunate for “Seinfeld” given that the following week’s episode was the hotly anticipated series finale (which also cheesed people off). The situation grew even more fraught when it was revealed that the “Seinfeld” writers had refused to show the episode to the National Puerto Rican Coalition’s then president Manuel Mirabal. Writer Alec Berg further inflamed the matter by saying, “We don’t consult a rabbinical council when we do a show about Jews.”
The protests worked; NBC never aired “The Puerto Rican Day” again, and pulled it from “Seinfeld” syndication package. Was it justified in doing so? I’m not sure, but I do know the Puerto Rican community absolutely had a right to be furious (that and “The Puerto Rican Day” deserves its spot on /Film’s list of the five worst “Seinfeld” episodes). It all comes down to this simple question: would “Seinfeld” have ever been allowed to air an episode where Kramer accidentally burned the American flag and stomped on it? Not a chance. This was a weird kind of punching down humor that couldn’t help but come off as racially insensitive, even if the intent was to make fun of Kramer’s trademark obliviousness.
Given how hard the island nation has had it over the years, getting hammered by hurricanes and denied aid by the Trump administration, comedians would do well to find another target, especially if they suck out loud at stand-up.
