The Seinfeld Episode That Actually Changed People's Lives, According To Jason Alexander

It is not hyperbole to say that "Seinfeld" is one of the most influential sitcoms of all time. The sitcom, created by comedians Jerry Seinfeld (natch) and Larry David, is certainly one of the funniest. The duo developed several episodes that are in contention for "the greatest episode of all time." It predicted the viral meme of "rawdogging" a flight, created a real holiday celebrated around the world with Festivus, and introduced several new words into the real-life English language. If you've ever called someone out for double dipping, or yada yada'd someone to get them to stop talking, you have "Seinfeld" to thank for that.

And yet, according to Jason Alexander who played the neurotic and unfortunately very relatable George Costanza on the show, the series didn't just entertain audiences. Rather, it actually helped many people change their lives for the better thanks to the extremely funny episode "The Opposite."

Indeed, many of the show's funniest installments come from George, aka David's stand-in. George is a neurotic mess who has trouble holding his life together, which can feel unfortunately relatable for this writer. Throughout the show, George comes up with a variety of harebrained schemes to improve his life, and in "The Opposite," the 22nd episode of season 5, George realizes that he's his own worst enemy. So, his pal Jerry offers a simple observation: "If every instinct you have is wrong, the opposite would have to be right."

This leads George to turn his life around. "I used to sit here and do nothing and regret it for the rest of the day. So, now I will do the opposite, and I will do something," he pledged. What at first seems like a recipe for disaster has the opposite effect as George walks right up to a beautiful woman and tells her, "My name is George. I'm unemployed and I live with my parents." This simple action then proceeds to turn his whole life around, winning him a date and eventually a job working for the New York Yankees.

It's a hilarious outing, but according to Alexander, the episode's influence is far greater than a couple of laughs.

We usually don't turn to sitcoms for life advice. After all, what makes for a funny joke in a TV show doesn't often work out in real life. But what if it did?

In a behind the scenes featurette for the episode, Alexander recounts hearing stories from multiple people who took this philosophy of doing whatever the opposite of their instincts tell them to do to heart. And he was especially shocked to hear that it resulted in enormous success:

"I know people that have done it. I mean, It became a philosophy. For real people in real life who prospered. They literally said, 'My instincts are absolutely wrong. Everything I do is wrong. So I think I'm going to do the opposite of what I think I should do and see what happens.' And I know a handful of guys who tried that for a considerable period of time and really prospered from it."

So, it turns out that "the show about nothing" could actually change your life. Who knows: If you feel like your instincts are serving you poorly, stop listening to your gut and try doing the opposite. It might just work out for you, although it's hard to imagine it working out better for any of us than it did for Seinfeld and David, who are both billionaires thanks to episodes like "The Opposite."

Every episode of "Seinfeld," including "The Opposite," is currently available for streaming on Netflix.