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"The Serenity Now" is the 159th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 3rd episode of the 9th and final season. It aired in the U.S. on October 9, 1997.

Plot

Frank is advised to say "serenity now" aloud every time his blood pressure is in danger of going up, but he yells it instead. Jerry's girlfriend gives his Knicks tickets away. She comments that she has never seen him get "real mad." George gets Kramer to help him fix his parents' screen door. They remove the old door and Kramer takes it with him. Frank is selling personal computers; he wants to bring George into his business. Mr. Lippman's son takes advantage of "becoming a man" at his bar mitzvah to tongue-kiss Elaine.

Kramer installs the screen door outside his apartment to give his apartment "the cool evening breezes of Anytown, USA," and turns his hallway into a small town front porch, complete with barbecue grill, lawn chairs, potted plants, and American flag. One of the all-time classic Seinfeld scenes occurs when Kramer sits on his porch with the "fireworks" (a sparkler). His first impulse is to quit but George decides it is finally time to take on his arch-rival, Lloyd Braun, whom Frank has also hired to sell computers. When Jerry learns how to get mad, it releases all his other feelings, including caring and another that results in a proposal.

Kramer fights with the neighborhood kids of "Anytown, USA." George tells Elaine she is attractive to the Lippman men because of her "shiksa appeal." The result gets her two Lippman men who want to renounce Judaism. George hatches a scheme to sell more computers; however, continual use of the phrase "serenity now" has an adverse effect on his sales. The release of emotions from George has an impact on emotional Jerry. Jerry asks Elaine to marry him. George stores computers in Kramer's apartment. Kramer has a nervous breakdown and breaks the computers. Elaine seeks help from the rabbi to see if she can reduce her "shiksa appeal", instead the Rabbi comes onto her. Georges father blames him for nearly bankrupting his company, and it is then revealed the Lloyd Braun was insane, because his phone was never plugged in, and hence he never made any sales.

Cultural References

• This episode's plot was inspired by real-life events in the life of writer Steve Koren. While driving with his arguing parents, Koren was bewildered to hear his father shout "Serenity now!" at the top of his lungs as part of a rage controlling exercise and questioned whether or not the phrase was meant to be screamed.
• The phrase "Serenity Now" was later used in reference to the movement by fans of the short-lived science fiction television series Firefly to revive the series on the big screen.
• The title of Folly's album "Insanity Later" is a reference to this episode.
• The inspiration for Frank's computer business was the 1995 film The Net (to which Frank Costanza refers to "starring that girl from 'The Bus').
• The sales contest Frank Costanza institutes (where the highest seller is rewarded and the lowest is fired) is a parody of the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross.
• Kramer mentions to Jerry that he was ambushed by the "neighborhood kids", including Joey Zambino, who Kramer previously babysat in The Wait Out.
• "Serenity Now" is the name of a guild in the MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The guild is infamous for "raiding" the in-game funeral of the character owned by a real-life woman who died while playing the game. The raid consisted of a party of "guildies" ambushing the outdoor funeral and massacring many unsuspecting characters.

• Seinfeld episodes