But First

Jerry Seinfeld’s new Netflix film Unfrosted — and his publicity-tour musings about the state of comedy — have made many of us long for the days of Seinfeld, one of the most beloved of all sitcoms.

The idea of mining minutiae from life for humor was part of Jerry Seinfeld’s standup style, and he brought it to life with beloved comedy figure Larry David. While Jerry was a decent actor at best, it helped that the core four was fleshed out by three tremendous sitcom actors in Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards.

Additionally, Seinfeld’s willingness to adhere to its “No hugging, no learning” ethos allowed the show to stand out in a world where sitcoms wants to have their cake and eat it too, where characters can be awful but you also ostensibly care about them and root for them. If you cared about anybody from Seinfeld, well, David and Seinfeld would probably wonder what is wrong with you.

Here are the 12 best Seinfeld episodes, starting with the twelfth best and building to the best.