28 Years Ago Today: George Costanza Risked It All in "The Frogger"

28 years ago today, NBC delivered one of its wildest and most creative episodes of Seinfeld. And it was all thanks to another flawless performance from Jason Alexander as George Costanza.

Before episode 18 from season nine of Seinfeld had aired, George Costanza delivered countless moments of erupting laughter and smiles with his reckless, clueless, self-centered and insecure characters over 172 episodes (Costanza was absent from The Pen, the third episode of season three).

But Costanza's outrageous ideas and mishaps in episode No. 174, The Frogger, took fans on a completely different ride. And millions of fans got to watch it unfold for the first time, 28 years ago today.

With only six shows to go until the polarizing two-part series finale, George Costanza took center stage in the three-plot episode. And it delivered in every aspect.

George Costanza's Journey in "The Frogger"

In one subplot, Elaine tries to overcome her "sugar rushes" at work. In the other, Jerry tries to break up with his girlfriend while avoiding the path of a serial killer called "The Lopper."

With their high school hangout, Mario's Pizza, about to close down, Jerry and George go one last time for old time's sake. George is thrilled to see that the owner has kept his Frogger arcade machine.

In another surprise, Jerry points out that George's score of 860,630 on the Frogger arcade game remains the highest on the machine all these years later. George then works out a deal to buy the machine from the parlor owner.

But this being George, nothing ever comes easy. Jerry reminds his best friend that the machine will lose its memory and wipe out George's high score when they unplug and eventually move it.

George works with Kramer and two of the latter's not-so-helpful peers (a truck driver and an electrician) to safely move the Frogger machine, keep its battery running and maintain its memory.

But in Seinfeld, George Costanza almost has a happy ending. Just as he's about to successfully move the machine across a street (Frogger-style, by the way), a Freightliner truck ends his dream.

That part of the episodes ends with Jerry's iconic, "Game over" line.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 5:39 PM.