Update:  Mike pointed out - to my shame - that I’d left off Lt. Bookman from this list.  I don’t know how I managed to skip over him, but clearly he deserves to be on this list, and high on it as well.  So, I’ve updated this one to include “the library cop”.

I watched several episodes of Seinfeld Sunday night, and with the purchase yesterday of two tickets to see Jerry live here in Little Rock next month, I was thinking of the show off and on yesterday. I’ve seen several blogs recently with lists of this and that - favorite movies, funniest movies, best actors, etc. So, I decided that leading up to seeing Jerry in a few weeks, I’d publish a weekly Seinfeld list.

I’ve considered three so far, including favorite episodes, favorite recurring characters, and this list - favorite single appearance characters. That’s one for each week prior to the show. I may add one for the week of the show as well - perhaps a favorite moments/scenes, or maybe favorite lines. Those will be hard without sitting down and watching the entire series - which I don’t have time to do, but I’ll see what I can come up with.

So, today is the first list, which consists of my favorite (i.e. the funniest, in my opinion) single appearance characters. These characters only appeared in one episode, other than the series finale, the “100th episode” of clips, or the “Pilot” season finale, all of which included brief appearances of a couple of them. It’s possible I’ve forgotten one or two, but nevertheless, here it is:

Favorite Single Appearance Characters

1. Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas)
   Appeared in episode “The Soup Nazi” (1995)
   The funniest single-appearance character in one of the funniest episodes. Larry Thomas delivers a great performance as the Soup Nazi. He was clearly the best single-appearance guy (although, yes, he did appear in the finale, too, but, of course, I’m not counting that.)
2. Lt. Bookman (Philip Baker Hall)
   Appeared in episode “The Library” (1991)
   Like the Soup Nazi, Hall’s portayal of the “Library Cop” that hassle’s Jerry about an overdue book is an outstanding performance.  I would say it was an unforgettable performance, but obviously I can’t do that now…
3. Tor (Stephen Tobolowsky)
   Appeared in episode “The Heart Attack” (1991)
   An episode and character that some forget about, but I loved Toblosky’s “Tor”, the New Age healer to whom George turns to avoid surgery. He wasn’t quite the Soup Nazi or Lt. Bookman, but he was pretty close in my book.
4. Jimmy (Anthony Starke)
   Appeared in episode “The Jimmy” (1995)
   Jimmy plays basketball with the guys and is known for talking in the third person, which later gets him a date with Elaine (unbeknownst to her). This guy cracked me up.
5. Timmy (Kieran Mulroney)
   Appeared in episode “The Implant” (1993)
   Only on screen for a few minutes, Timmy is the brother of George’s girlfriend Betsy (played by Megan Mullaly) and lectures George on double-dipping his chips, before they come to blows.
6. Aaron (Judge Reinhold)
   Appeared in episode “The Raincoats” (1994)
   The close-talker boyfriend of Elaine who befriends Morty and Helen during one of their visits to New York. I’ve always liked Judge Reinhold and he executed this character perfectly. The scene when he “close-talks” Jerry and Jerry doesn’t back away (as most people do) is hilarious.

Honorable Mentions

• Mel Sanger (Brian Doyle Murray)
  Appeared in episode “The Bubble Boy” (1992)
  I’ve always liked Brian Doyle Murray, who plays Mel Sanger, father of “The Bubble Boy”.
• Raymond the Masseuse (Jeff Lester)
  Appeared in episode “The Note” (1991)
  The man who gave George a massage, during which George later stated, “I think it moved.” He wasn’t particularly funny, but something about that moment when he comes out and introduces himself to George - “George? I’m Raymond.” with that smile on his face (coupled, of course, with George’s reaction) - it always makes me laugh.
• Dan the high talker (Brian Reddy)
  Appeared in episode “The Pledge Drive” (1994)
  The high-talking fiance of Elaine’s friend Noreen, who Kramer later mistakes for someone who has a crush on Jerry.
• Keith Hernandez (himself)
  Appeared in episode “The Boyfriend” (1992)
  This episode will probably be in my list of favorites, and I thought Hernandez did a pretty good job. Most of the humor came from the regulars, but I’ve always liked his appearance.

Next week - favorite recurring characters.