'Seinfeld' Episode With Parsippany Is One Of The Nation's Most-Watched Thanksgiving Shows

PARSIPPANY, NJ — What's the deal with Parsippany? Although the township hasn't made Jerry Seinfeld's standup act (yet), it plays an important role in one of the nation's favorite Thanksgiving programs.

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Parsippany holds an integral role in "The Mom & Pop Store" — the Seinfeld episode that aired Nov. 17, 1994. This is the Thanksgiving-themed episode in which George Costanza believes he purchased a vehicle previously owned by actor Jon Voight.

Also in the episode, Kramer convinces Jerry to send his sneakers to a "mom and pop" shoe-repair store. Kramer develops a nose bleed at the store. When he lies down to stop it, he notices wires hanging out of the ceiling and calls an inspector, who orders Mom and Pop to find an electrician to repair it.

Mom and Pop can't afford the repairs necessary to bring them up to building code, so they close the store and disappear with all of Jerry's sneakers. Later in the episode, Jerry receives a call from a man who bought a pair of his sneakers from a garage sale in Parsippany.

Jerry and Kramer take the bus to confront Mom and Pop. On the bus ride, Kramer's nose starts bleeding again, in a scene that parodies Midnight Cowboy.

The episode ends there, so viewers don't get the privilege of seeing Jerry and Kramer in Parsippany. As show creator Larry David said, the program features "no hugging and no learning." So whatever ended up happening in Parsippany is left behind for Seinfeld's remaining three-plus seasons.

And with that, the 32.4 million Americans who watched the episode's premier heard about Parsippany. It turns out, the township became part of one of the most popular Thanksgiving episodes for any show in TV history.

The DISH Network compiled a list of the most-watched Thanksgiving episodes of all time. "The Mom and Pop Store" ranks behind only "The One with the List," a Friends episode that garnered 32.9 million viewers in 1995.

Here's the full list:

1. Friends: "The One with the List," 32.9 million viewers
2. Seinfeld: "The Mom and Pop Store," 32.4 million
3. Friends: "The One with the Football," 29.3 million
4. Friends: "The One with Chandler in a Box," 26.8 million
5. Friends: "The One with Rachel's Other Sister," 26.8 million
6. Friends: "The One with the Rumor," 24.2 million
7. Friends: "The One with All the Thanksgivings," 23.9 million
8. Friends: "The One Where Underdog Gets Away," 23.1 million
9. Friends: "The One with the Late Thanksgiving," 23.9 million
10. Friends: "The One Where Ross got High," 19.2 million
11. The Big Bang Theory: "The Thanksgiving Decoupling," 16.6 million
12. Friends: "The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs," 16.6 million
13. House: "Ignorance is Bliss," 11.9 million
14. How I Met Your Mother: "Belly Full of Turkey" 10.3 million
15. This is Us: "Pilgrim Rick," 9 million

The most-searched Thanksgiving episode in New Jersey is "The One with the List." But Seinfeld's episode that name-drops Parsippany is the most-searched in several states, according to DISH:

If you lived in a Seinfeld household in the 1990s, you have to hand it to "Team Friends" for their show's Turkey Day dominance. But, you can forever relish the moment where Seinfeld helped tens of millions hear about Parsippany.

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