The Beard

"The Beard" is the 102nd episode of the NBC situation comedy Seinfeld. This was the 16th episode for the sixth season. It aired on February 9, 1995.

Plot

Elaine has tickets for Swan Lake. She is going as a beard for a gay man (Robert Mailhouse) whose boss, he believes, is homophobic. George is still wearing his toupee and only Kramer thinks he looks handsome. Kramer tries to set up a date for George, but as he doesn't have a picture of her they go to the police station where an acquaintance, who works as a sketch artist, can draw them a picture.

On their way to the station, Kramer gives Chinese food leftovers to a homeless man (Jon Gries). At the police station, George likes the picture and Jerry has his eye on a female Sergeant, Sgt. Cathy Tierny (Katherine LaNasa). On their way back, Kramer argues with the homeless man and cannot retrieve his Tupperware container. At the ballet, Elaine is acting as Robert's girlfriend.

Back at Monk's Café, Elaine talks with Jerry how nice Robert is, and the possibility to make him "change teams" (i.e., "convert" to heterosexuality). Jerry says conversion is not possible since they are only comfortable with their own "equipment."

At Jerry's apartment, Kramer needs a Tupperware to save his meal. George arrives very confident after talking on the phone with Denise, Kramer's friend. Jerry mocks George's "hair hat" telling him Denise will find out.

Kramer decides to eat lunch at the police station with his friend Lou, the sketch artist, and Jerry tags along to meet with Sgt. Tierny. At the station, Kramer stands in a police lineup for a quick $50. George meets Denise at Monk's, although she is wearing a hat to hide her baldness. While looking at the lie detector, Jerry's new girlfriend, Sgt. Cathy, wants him to take the test to see whether or not he watches Melrose Place; even though Jerry denies watching the show, he actually does watch it. Later, Elaine mocks Jerry for not telling her that he watched Melrose Place. Jerry then wants George to tell him how to beat the polygraph.

Elaine is going on another "date" with Robert and she is ready to perform the conversion. At Jerry's apartment, George arrives disgusted saying that Denise is bald and tells Kramer this which surprises him. After arguing that George is, too, bald (although he claims "I WAS bald!"), Elaine angrily throws his wig out the window, and the homeless guy picks it up. After the date, Elaine invites Robert to her apartment.

Wig-less George tells Jerry he is again himself, and will continue seeing the bald woman; he then tells Jerry, who is going to take the lie detector test, that a lie is not a lie if he believes it. Later, Elaine triumphantly announces to Jerry that Robert has defected from his team and that the conversion went perfectly ("Sex and shopping"). Afterwards, Kramer is still doing police lineups. Jerry takes the lie detector test, but quickly cracks under the pressure of clever questions regarding controversial plot developments in Melrose Place, which provoke him to vent his strongly held opinions on those controversies, thereby exposing his familiarity with the series and presumably ending his relationship with Sgt. Cathy.

At Jerry's apartment, Elaine comments how Robert went back to his team because they always have access to their "equipment". George arrives upset because he "got rejected by a bald woman"; she also told him that he wasn't her type and that she preferred "a slimmer guy." Kramer, also in the apartment, assumes that the bald woman got upset because she saw George's baldness, and blames Elaine for throwing out his toupee, thus ruining a perfect relationship. Elaine refuses to apologize, insisting that George looked like an idiot and that the wig made him act like a jerk. Jerry then quiets them as Melrose Place comes on the TV.

In the last scene, Kramer is still doing lineups but then he gets in trouble when he is recognized by a witness of a jewelry store robbery: the homeless man.

External links

• "The Beard" at the Internet Movie Database

Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend" "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip" "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats" "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100" "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac" "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit" "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle" "The Finale"
Indicates two-part episode