"The Switch" is the 97th episode of NBC sitcom Seinfeld, and the 11th episode of the show's sixth season. It aired on January 5, 1995. In this episode, Jerry wants to switch from dating a non-laughing woman to dating her roommate, Elaine has difficulty retrieving a tennis racket she loaned out, and George enlists Kramer's mother to spy on his seemingly bulimic girlfriend, leading to him learning Kramer's first name.
Plot
After playing tennis, Elaine is recognized by Mrs. Landis, who had rejected her application to Doubleday but now hints there may be an opening for her there. Elaine lends Mr. Pitt's tennis racket, a Bruline, to her in hopes of getting a new job. When she comes by to pick upthe racket so Mr. Pitt can use it in his match with Ethel Kennedy, she learns that Landis injured her humeral epicondyle playing tennis. Landis is despondent and tells Elaine she may never be able to play tennis again, so Elaine doesn't have the heart to ask for the racket back. Jerry suggests she retrieve it while Landis is out for lunch. However, she is caught by Landis's assistant, who doesn't believe her when she tells him the racket is hers. Jerry is dating Sandy, a "non-laugher". She seems unamused by his jokes; her most enthusiastic response is saying "That's funny" in an emotionless tone. When Jerry goes to Sandy's apartment he meets Laura, her roommate, who laughs at all his jokes and is generally attractive. Later, he tells George he wants to break up with Sandy and start dating Laura. Jerry and George spend long hours brainstorming how to accomplish "the switch". Finally, George comes up with a plan: Jerry will suggest a ménage à trois, Sandy will be disgusted, break up with Jerry, and tell Laura, who will feel flattered, thus paving the way for Jerry to ask her out. However, both Sandy and Laura agree to the ménage à trois. Jerry promptly backs out of the suggestion. George brags to Kramer about his girlfriend Nina, a model who maintains a stunning figure even though she eats a lot. However, Kramer suggests the explanation may be that she is bulimic, which rings true to George since she always excuses herself to the bathroom after eating. He plans to have a matron spy on her to verify that she is purging. Kramer lets out that his estranged mother Babs works as a matron. Jerry convinces him to reconcile with her. When she sees her son, she yells out "Cosmo!" This comes as a dramatic revelation to George, Jerry, and Elaine, who have been trying to learn Kramer's first name for years. Kramer is philosophical about this, finally embracing his first name. Kramer tells his mother to quit her job as a matron and go into business with him. Lacking Babs' help, George goes to the women's bathroom himself. Hearing the noise of someone vomiting, he bursts in, but it turns out to be another woman who was genuinely sick. Newman is out of town, so Kramer uses his keys to retrieve his Bruline tennis racket for Mr. Pitt to use. When he opens the door, he sees Babs in a compromising position with Newman.
Production
The episode was written by Bruce Kirschbaum and Sam Kass, who usually work individually, but Larry David decided to team them up for the episode. It was titled "The Bulimic" in pre-production drafts. The name "Cosmo" was suggested by David; he took the name from a boy who lived in the same apartment building as him and Kenny Kramer. The revelation of Kramer's first name was heavily promoted by NBC in the leadup to the episode's first broadcast, and all copies of the script had "X"s in place of every instance of the name "Cosmo" to prevent it being leaked to the press. Though the episode was filmed three weeks before "The Race", it was aired after it so that the Christmas-themed "The Race" could air during the Christmas season.
