Finally building the Lego Seinfeld set gave me the inner-peace I've been looking for
Also: All the TV news stories that matter
You were probably doing something better than me on Saturday afternoon. Out on some big picnic. Cooking burgers. Making out on blankets.
Me? I was sitting at my dining table finally building my Lego Seinfeld set.
It was unquestionably the greatest TV merchandise product I have ever engaged with.
Release back in August 2021, this was a limited edition Lego set based on the sitcom. With 1326 pieces, it comes with a 175-page instruction booklet. And it took me about 4-5 hours all up to build.
What made the experience of building it so great is that, sure, the set is filled with a lot of really subtle inclusions for fans of the show, but that you’re quite literally getting so involved with the merchandise that you are personally building the set brick by brick.
It was intimate. And joyous.
A fun fact about the Seinfeld set is that it was originally conceived by Brent Waller, a guy from my home town of Brisbane, Australia. (If anyone knows Brent, I’d love to chat to that guy sometime).
Lego stopped selling the set after about a year, as they do with all of their Ideas fan-driven projects. In 2022, Lego followed it up with a set based on The Office (US).
I don’t know what took me so long to get around to building the Seinfeld Lego set. It has sat on my shelf for years waiting. I also have The Office set waiting to be unboxed.
The Seinfeld set is a recreation of the TV set for Seinfeld and not the apartment itself (note the above the studio lights). I like that the set captures the structural impossibility with where the outside hallway is positioned against the kitchen. The narrowness of the apartment is also captured well (that table behind Jerrys couch is so uncomfortably close to everything around it).
I also like that it comes with a set for Jerry at the comedy club. Lego, I’d happily buy a sister set of the Monks coffee shop.
There’s some elements of the set which don’t quite work:
Did we really need a Newman mini-figure? Being that this is a recreation of the set, it would have been more fun if it were a Larry David minifig. Newman should never be a welcome figure in the apartment - he is positioned in the hallway on my set.
The faces on George and Elaine look especially odd.
Why did the minifigs need to come with accessories? I want George to look at home in the apartment - its hard to make that happen with him carrying a marble rye and fishing rod.
Anyway, it’s all pretty fun. You can still buy the set on eBay with most going for around AUS$230. That’s about $100 more than it originally went for, but if you’re a Seinfeld fan, that’s still probably worth it.
What would be your dream TV set Lego recreation?
News Desk
NBC has increased security around Today following the kidnapping of Savannah Guthrie’s mother Nancy. Read: Variety
Guthrie, meanwhile, says that her family has received messages from the suspected kidnappers and that they will pay for their mothers return. Read: Deadline
21.4 million Americans watched the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Read: Deadline
NBC denies that it edited the crowd audio to remove booing of US VP JD Vance (“Booooooo!”). Read: The Guardian
Daniel Stern, oft-cited as a Home Alone Wet Bandit, but will forever be the older Kevin Arnold as far as I’m concerned, has been cleared of a misdemeanor prostitution solicitation charge. Read: Deadline
Channel 5 in the UK has been slowly building an audience for the NFL. Read: Variety
The UK’s TV licence fee is to increase from £174.50 to £180 a year from April 1. There is also talk of linking BBC’s iPlayer to home addresses, which I am not a fan of (for reasons that absolutely have nothing to do with me watching it internationally). Read: The Guardian
With Netflix’s Untamed (a really solid crime procedural drama starring Eric Bana and set in Yosemite National Park) has announced season 2 will take Bana’s character to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. Unlike season one, the show will not use a stand-in location and will actually film in Hawaii. Also, hopefully, the show manages to not be so obvious in its secret bad guy reveal this time. Read: Deadline
Former Bones EP Barry Josephson has said that he is ashamed of what he said in emails revealed in the latest Epstein tranche. Read: Deadline
Anthony Mackie, Ben Mendelsohn, Emily Alyn Lind, and Sharon Stone are leading the cast of David Mamet’s return to film, an adaptation of his play Speed The Plow. Everyone needs money. That’s why they call it money. Read: Deadline
Droupout will release the first two seasons of its game show Game Changer onto Blu-ray. Read: Polygon
EU regulators argue that TikTok has failed to put in adequate safeguards to ensure the addictive nature of the app doesn’t harm its users. Read: The Verge
Former Beverly Hills 90210 Queen Jennie Garth has revealed she was up for a part in the most recent season of The White Lotus, but obviously didn’t get it. Justice for Kelly Taylor! Read: Deadline
Brian Vanhooker rightly asks why Disney haven’t brought back Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers as an ongoing animated series. Read: Polygon
Trailer Park
Pavane debuts on Netflix Feb 20.
Three lonely strangers meet at their department store jobs and find solace in each other's company while they explore connection and the nature of love.
Strangers in The Park debuts on Netflix March 6.
Strangers in the Park is a comedy that tells the unlikely story of a friendship between a lifelong Communist Party activist and a man who has always preferred to stay out of trouble. Through their conversations, filled with laughter, tenderness, and emotion, on a park bench, and their conflicts with other park-goers and their own families, Antonio Cardoso and León Schwartz experience firsthand the never-ending struggle between change and the status quo.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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You could make a fortune creating Lego sets for the various Star Trek bridges.
Good job on the Lego! :)