Overview: Seinfeld has never looked this good. All 22 episodes from the eighth season have been remastered in high definition for the best possible picture and sound quality. Including approximately 13 hours of exclusive special features from the creative talents behind the show, this DVD is a must own.

DVD Verdict: This show started as an exemplary slow-burner, and the next thing you knew - yada yada yada - it became a cultural phenomenon. There is something you may call a Seinfeld experience, and I want to appraise the 8th installment of it.

The eight season marked two departures: one of the co-creator/scriptwriter/producer Larry David, and second of the show itself into the realm of pure wackiness. The season seven much-maligned finale, 'The Invitations' (S07E22), can be properly understood only in the context of general quality of season eight, which was one of craziness let loose. Susan's death marked the exact moment in which the entire show made 'ping!', and flew way off into the space of absurd.

From the word go in 8th's season's opener, 'The Foundation (S08E01)', there is no way you can relate to the characters as real people. Right until the very last episode they will be first and foremost CHARACTERS - ones we all love and we all laugh our brains out at - but, nonetheless, CHARACTERS. In all of the previous seasons - despite the famous claim that it's all about nothing - there was a sense that IF any of those people encounter a real-life tragedy that touches them personally, they would stop cracking jokes and cry just as you or me would (remember Elaine's tears shed on behalf of the bubble boy...?)

'The Invitations' proved otherwise and the show really became one about nothing: just the four pop-culture characters thrown into wackier and wackier situations. To my mind, this time no Sein-imation is needed, since season 8 (and 9) simply is the live-action equivalent of traditional cartoon.

And what a cartoon it is! One of the benefits of a then well-established mega-popularity of the show is the delight the screenwriters take in self-references. One of the most hilarious episodes of this season, 'The Bizarro Jerry' (S08E03), is the best example of what I'm talking about. It takes for granted our familiarity with all the patterns, all the characters and all the soundstages even - and twirls them around in a way that makes the entire episode a comment on the Seinfeld universe itself.

By showing us the opposite (ha!) of Jerry's world within the 'Seinfeld' world, and laughing it up, the show gives a finger to all the reality that didn't absorb Seinfeld and even had the nerve to denounce it's mastery (of the domain). And no, I'm not misinterpreting the show's nose-scratching for an offensive gesture (or even for an actual pick).

The key word to the last two seasons of Seinfeld is irony: the show has become so self-aware, that it could go either way: mocking itself, mythologizing itself, aping itself - and the audience would love it even more than before because it was all so wacky and so familiar at the same time. The ideas were so crazy you sometimes went "Sweet holy Moses" - but the little kicks never stopped. And we all loved every minute of them.

The episodes look great, as they have for the past seasons. The image is clean, clear, and natural-looking, with lively colors and well-handled contrast. There's occasionally a touch of grain in the outdoor shots, but the other material looks consistently clean. It would be impossible to go back to watching miscellaneous episodes caught on TV, after seeing such a nice transfer available on DVD. The episodes appear in their original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

The 8 & 9 season are my favourites. To my mind they simply are the muffin tops: with all the stems of society, emotion and common sense neatly sliced off. Mmmmm! This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Jerry Seinfeld: Ssubmarine Captain - A Behind-The-Scenes Documentary
Inside Looks - Behind-The-Scenes Stories
Not That There's Anything Wrong With That - Never-Before-Seen Outtakes and Bloopers
In The Vault - Season 8's Never-Before-seen Deleted Scenes
Yada, Yada, Yada - Cast and Crew Audio Commentaries
Sein-Imation - See Classic SEINFELD Scenes Re-Imagined in Sein-Imation
Notes About Nothing - Behind-The-Scenes Trivia and Production Notes