The Pick


"The Pick" is the 53rd episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. It is the 13th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on December 16, 1992.

Plot

is humiliated when her Christmas card photo taken by Kramer accidentally exposes her nipple. The exposure is subtle enough that no one notices it until after Elaine has mailed out the Christmas card to all of her friends and relatives, including her 10-year-old nephew and her religious boyfriend. Jerry has a date with Tia Van Camp, the Calvin Klein model he met on the plane in the previous episode. After the date, Kramer identifies the perfume Tia is wearing as the one he pitched to a Calvin Klein representative in "The Pez Dispenser", called "The Beach". She tells him it is a new Calvin Klein product called "Ocean".
Tia dumps Jerry after witnessing him scratching his nose, which she mistakes for him picking his nose. Jerry attempts to explain his actions at the Calvin Klein office but Tia refuses to believe him. Jerry launches into a rant about how people who pick their noses should not be socially ostracized, with references to The Merchant of Venice and The Elephant Man. Elaine delivers a similar speech to her boyfriend when he breaks up with her over the nipple exposure.
George visits a therapist to discuss a problem with his girlfriend Susan, but the session is unproductive as first George, and then also the therapist, obsess over the stuck zipper on George's jacket. George convinces Susan to get back together with him by citing the example of Louis Pasteur and his wife. Upon their reconciliation he again feels entrapped by the relationship, so he uses "the pick" to disgust her enough to break up with him again. Kramer confronts Calvin Klein to complain about "Ocean", and is instead asked to be an underwear model. In the first advertisement to feature Kramer, his genitals are accidentally exposed.

Production

The original title for this episode was supposed to be "The Nipple", but Larry David thought that this would be too sexually explicit for network television.
Newman appears in this episode for only 13 seconds when Jerry brings him in and asks if Elaine's nipple is visible in her Christmas card photo.
In a scene where Elaine is at work discussing the picture with Fred, Larry David makes a brief cameo appearance overdubbing the voice of the uncredited office worker leaning into Elaine's office and asking if she's done with a manuscript, while addressing her as "Nip".