45 Favorite Episodes: 32

This is a great example of a bottle episode done right: Seinfeld's The Chinese Restaurant. The whole thing takes place in the waiting room for a Chinese restaurant. And the problems are the ones you'd expect both from the show and situational comedies in general. Elaine is hungry, Jerry doesn't want to be late, and George wants to make a phone call. But the frustrating inability for any of them to reconcile their problems for twenty-two minutes is what makes this episode pure gold. And you don't even need Kramer! Just: Cartwright!