Seinfeld: The Ex-Girlfriend

"The Ex-Girlfriend" is the first episode of the sitcom Seinfeld's second season, and is the show's sixth episode overall. The episode first broadcast on NBC in the United States on January 23, 1991, after being postponed for one week due to the start of the First Gulf War. During the course of the show, George Costanza (Jason Alexander) breaks up with his girlfriend Marlene (Tracy Kolis). Later, he remembers that he left some books in her apartment and persuades his friend Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), the show's protagonist, to retrieve them. Jerry starts dating Marlene, but once she begins to annoy him as much as she did George, he finds himself unable to break up with her because she has a "psycho-sexual" hold on him. Co-written by the series' co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the episode was inspired by one of Larry David's personal experiences. Directed by Tom Cherones, "The Ex-Girlfriend" was the first episode of the show filmed at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, California, the previous season having been filmed at Desilu Cahuenga in Hollywood. The episode featured one new set, a chiropractor's office; the remaining had been used on the show earlier. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 10.9/17 and was positively received by critics.