A Classic Seinfeld Episode Inspired One Of Netflix's Most-Watched Reality TV Shows

In the "Seinfeld" episode "The Contest" (November 18, 1992), Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards) make a bet. It seems that George was recently caught doing the five-knuckle shuffle by his elderly mother, leaving her in the hospital and him utterly mortified. So traumatized by the incident, George says he's going to forego self-love altogether. Jerry says that George will resume the practice in no time, and even bets him $100 that he'll start up again posthaste. Indeed, all four of them put in money, betting that they could each make it the longest without touching their junk. 

The episode jokes that the word "masturbating" isn't used. Instead, they use terms like "master of my domain," as well as other colorful euphemisms for the practice. It's often considered one of the best episodes of "Seinfeld." Naturally, all four of them will be variously tempted by sexual imagery they encounter in their everyday lives, from sexy women undressing in public view to hunky men doing aerobics. Just as naturally, they will all lose mastery of their own domain by the end of the episode. 

Modulating one's self-pleasure habits has become unusually popular in recent years, and there have been reports on a growing subculture of people, mostly men, who are forcing themselves to go through prolonged periods of abstinence. Some people feel that giving up onanism will allow for healthier sexual relationships with other people. 

It seems that "The Contest," dovetailing with the emergence of "gooning," served as the primary inspiration for a Netflix dating game show called "Too Hot to Handle" in 2020. It was a show wherein attractive, oversexed, high-libido young contestants were gathered in a romantic, exotic setting, and told they could win $100,000 if they refrained from sex, kissing, or getting off for four straight weeks. Laura Gibson, the co-creator of "Too Hot to Handle," talked about the "Seinfeld" influence in a 2024 interview with Deadline.

Yes, it was a real thing. Indeed, it was a huge, huge hit for Netflix, and the series has, so far, run for 59 episodes over the course of its six seasons. The show was hosted by "Lana," a talking, cone-shaped robot, and the contestants are all avowed bachelors and bachelorettes ... who are about to be hoodwinked. The contestants all admit that they tend not to get involved in long-term relationships, preferring flings and one-night stands, and it's not until they've moved into the contest house (located on a beach in Mexico) that they are told the premise of the series they are on. Suddenly confronted with the idea of zero sexual gratification for four weeks, the contestants get jittery. 

Any time anyone does anything sexual, the $100,000 grand prize is reduced. To keep them occupied, the show's producers force the contestants to attend dating workshops and listen to relationship lectures. The idea is that the casual daters might find more emotional gratification if they temporarily remove sex from their lives. Yes, the series is simultaneously titillating and brazenly sex-negative. 

Gibson noted that "Seinfeld" was the first inspiration for "Too Hot to Handle," but also that she was disillusioned with modern dating. In her words: 

"One of my favorite shows is 'Seinfeld' and my favorite episode is 'The Contest.' I thought there's a show in this. It was that combined with the fact that one of my friends was on Tinder at the time and she showed me an exchange with a guy and within two messages, he sent her a d*** pick. This is what dating is today. So, we have to get out there and help people."

Gibson believes in the show's thesis, and viewers seem to like what she's serving. The first season was the most-watched show on Netflix in April of 2020. 

The series merely sounds like "Sexual Frustration: The Game Show," and that's kind of the point. "The Contest" was such a powerful inspiration that "Seinfeld" creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David have an "inspired by" credit. Gibson liked that idea playing itself out in real life, but also thought it would make for great TV if the contestants all looked like swimsuit models. She continued: 

"I thought 'wouldn't it be interesting to do a reality show where instead of trying to get all of these hot people to get with each, why don't we try and make them not get with each other?' What's sexier than not being able to have sex? Nothing drives you crazier than that."

As mentioned, the prize pot is reduced when contestants get too horny, and none of the six seasons to date has ended with the jackpot fully intact. Sometimes contestants leave the island, too frustrated to continue, or happy to work on any kind of relationship issues they may have on their own. 

Despite its popularity, "Too Hot to Handle" has been savagely drubbed by critics, pointing out that, yes, this is a salacious premise. Decider's John Serba wrote that "To call it tawdry is to engage in nuclear understatement." He said that the contestants "are as deep as ice cube trays," and that "watching them hit on each other is so embarrassing, you might shove your head in the oven so you won't witness their shameless displays." Its sexual politics might strike a reader as slightly unsavory, as it promotes abstinence in exchange for cash prizes. It seems to me that if a pile of sexy people wanted to engage in sport-coitus for four straight weeks, then who am I to judge? 

It should be remembered that all four contestants lost in "The Contest."