The Wig Master

"**The Wig Master**"
"The Wig Master"
Seinfeld episode
Episode no.	Season 7; Episode 19
Directed by	Andy Ackerman
Written by	Spike Feresten
Production code	719
Original air date	April 4, 1996
Guest appearances
	Heidi Swedberg as Susan Ross; Patrick Bristow as Wig Master; Michael McDonald as Jesse; Harry Van Gorkum as Craig Stewart; Gina Mastrogiacomo as Prostitute; Kim Chase as Charmaine; Chaim Jeraffi as Jiffy Park Guy; Pamela Dillman as Salesperson; Zack Phifer as Bob; Shashi Bhatia as Flower Girl; Norman Brenner as Ian;
Episode chronology
← Previous; "The Friar's Club"	Next →; "The Calzone"
	Seinfeld season 7
	List of episodes

"The Wig Master" is the 129th episode of the NBC situation comedy Seinfeld. This is the 19th episode for the seventh season, originally airing on April 4, 1996.^[1] The episode follows the mishaps which befall George and Kramer as a result of their parking at a discount parking lot, while Jerry feels emasculated by Elaine's new boyfriend, who holds out the promise of a discount on a designer dress in order to keep her going out with him.

Plot

When Jerry leaves an upscale clothing store without making a purchase, he feels guilty and claims he will return with a friend to get their opinion of a jacket he does not like. The sales clerk Craig Stewart, who sports a long ponytail, looks skeptical. Jerry returns with Elaine just to prove Craig wrong. Craig flirts with Elaine in front of Jerry, making him feel emasculated. Moreover, Elaine strongly endorses the jacket, thereby pressuring Jerry into buying it. Craig promises Elaine a discount on a Nicole Miller dress, but claims it sold out immediately after and is being restocked.

George and Kramer begin parking at a discount parking lot. After picking up his car George discovers a condom inside and suspects prostitutes are servicing their clients inside the cars. The lot loses Kramer's keys, forcing him to use another customer's Mary Kay pink Cadillac Eldorado and sleep in Jerry's apartment. George questions the prostitutes hanging around. He offers one of them money for information, but is caught by Susan. Susan has no trouble believing him when he explains, to his frustration since he was hoping she might call off their wedding due to his seeming infidelity. The lot refuses to refund George's money, denying the prostitution allegations, and says George cannot reclaim his car for several days because it is parked in the back.

George and Susan have a houseguest, Susan's friend Ethan, who is the "Wig Master" for a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Ethan's co-worker, the show's costume designer, lends Kramer the technicolor dreamcoat. Wearing the coat, a woman's large hat blown off by the wind, and a silver-handled walking stick Elaine gave him after writing about it for the Peterman catalogue, Kramer goes to pick up the Cadillac. He finds a prostitute servicing a client in the car. When he ejects them, she starts attacking him over the fee he has cost her. Police arrive and assume Kramer to be a pimp due to his attire and fight with a prostitute, and arrest him.

Fuming about Craig's slight toward him, Jerry unsuccessfully attempts to return his jacket in order to deny Craig the sales commission. When Jerry is lunching with Ethan, a friend of Ethan's stops by and sets up a get-together with him; Jerry demands to know why he assumed he and Ethan were not together.

Jerry suspects Craig is just promising the discount on the dress in order to keep seeing Elaine. She does not believe it, especially when Craig promises the same discount to a male friend. When Elaine is over at Craig's apartment, his manager calls; she confirms from him that the dress has been in stock all along. In revenge, Elaine cuts off Craig's ponytail to sell for wig hair.

Production

The episode was inspired by the time writer Spike Feresten's live-in girlfriend had her wig master friend as a house guest. Feresten recalled, "He ended up staying for two days, and I made his life a living hell. And he left."^[2] Feresten also once took his car to a discount parking lot. His car door would not lock, and when he picked it up he found discarded condoms inside; it turned out that prostitutes had been operating in the car.^[2]

The cafe scenes were filmed outside the CBS Studio Center commissary on February 27, 1996.^[3] At the beginning of the second one Ethan was scripted to be talking about George and Susan: "How could you love a guy like George? He's a mess."^[3] Actor Patrick Bristow said "like that" instead of "like George", making the line more ambiguous. Filming of the parking lot scenes on the same day was plagued by rain, and they were re-shot on March 19.^[3]

The ending of George's story was cut; in deleted footage Susan does not believe him when he tells her that the parking lot owners would not let him take his car, and George unsuccessfully tries to turn her mistrust into a breakup. In another cut scene Jerry, at Kramer's suggestion, goes around town gauging people's reactions to the crest on his jacket, only to bump into Kenny Bania wearing the same jacket.^[3]

In the legal world

The clothing store's policy of not allowing purchases to be returned for the sake of denying a sales clerk his commission was cited in Clancy v. King (Maryland Court of Appeals, No. 112, 26 August 2008).^[4]

References

^ "Seinfeld Season 7 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Seinfeld Season 7: Inside Look - "The Wig Master" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2006.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Seinfeld Season 7: Notes about Nothing - "The Wig Master" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2006.
^ Underhill, Kevin (September 30, 2008). ""Seinfeld" Episode Used to Illustrate Duty of Good Faith". Lowering the Bar. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

External links

"The Wig Master" at IMDb

[tvguide-1] "Seinfeld Season 7 Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved December 10, 2021.

[InsLook-2] Seinfeld Season 7: Inside Look - "The Wig Master" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2006.

[NaN-3] Seinfeld Season 7: Notes about Nothing - "The Wig Master" (DVD). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2006.

[4] Underhill, Kevin (September 30, 2008). ""Seinfeld" Episode Used to Illustrate Duty of Good Faith". Lowering the Bar. Retrieved 20 February 2020.

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v t e Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend"† "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip"† "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"†
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats"† "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100"† "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac"† "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit"† "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle"† "The Finale"†
† Indicates two-part episode