"The Chaperone" is the 87th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the first episode for the sixth season. It aired on September 22, 1994. This is the first episode to be directed by Andy Ackerman. In this episode Jerry's efforts to date Miss Rhode Island of the Miss America competition are frustrated by Kramer's insinuating himself as her personal coach, and Elaine takes a job as Justin Pitt's personal assistant.
Plot
Responding to player complaints that they feel hot in their uniforms, George convinces Yankees manager Buck Showalter to replace polyester with cotton as the material for the team's uniforms. The players are enthusiastic about the new uniforms and show noticeably improved performance in games. At one of the team's games Jerry meets Karen, who is competing in the Miss America pageant as Miss Rhode Island. According to contest rules, she must be chaperoned on her date with Jerry; when her regular chaperone is unavailable, Kramer fills in. Throughout the date Kramer relentlessly quizzes her and makes derogatory suggestions such as that she wear a waist cincher for the competition, giving Jerry no chance to enjoy her company. Karen is impressed by Kramer and asks him to become her personal coach. Elaine seeks to follow in the footsteps of Jackie Kennedy Onassis in securing a position with Doubleday, where she unsuccessfully interviews with Ms. Landis. Elaine meets Mr. Pitt as the interview ends. She reminds him of Onassis, so he offers her a job as his personal assistant. Mr. Pitt proves demanding and impossible to please. Elaine must turn down an invitation to go toAtlantic City with Jerry, who is doing a show there, in order to buy new socks for him. At night in Atlantic City George and Jerry are disturbed by the sound of birds; Jerry tries to scare them off by pouring a bucket of water over the balcony, with apparent success. The birds turn out to have been Karen's trained doves, who were being kept in a cage on the terrace of her room on the floor below, and as a result were killed by the water. When Kramer visits Jerry to tell him the news, he spots the empty bucket and concludes Jerry sabotaged Karen's place in the contest out of jealousy. He encourages Karen to sing a song in lieu of her magic act with the doves, but as she has never sung before, her performance at the competition is a disaster. Watching the latest Yankees game from their hotel room, Jerry and George see the team is playing horribly because their cotton uniforms have shrunk.
Production
made his Seinfeld debut with this episode, coming on when the show was already an established success. He recalled being in awe of the show's creators and feeling "like a kid in a candy store." The episode also introduced the character of Justin Pitt, Elaine's new employer. Though he was originally intended as a one-off character, and the episode implies that Elaine will quit or be fired following the end, after production was finished Larry David asked Julia Louis-Dreyfus how she felt about Pitt being Elaine's employer for the long term. The show originated as a script by Bill Masters and Bob Shaw called "The Birds"; Larry David wrote a second draft of the story, which was used as the shooting script. The locker room scenes were filmed at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California during late July 1994, when the New York Yankees were actually in town for a series against the then-California Angels. A studio set populated with numerous extras served as Yankee Stadium.
