"The Comeback" is the 147th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This was the thirteenth episode of the eighth season, originally airing on January 30, 1997. The episode was written by Gregg Kavet & Andy Robin and was directed by David Owen Trainor. In the episode, George Costanza goes to great lengths to deliver a retort (the eponymous comeback) to a coworker that he thought of too late to deliver on the spot (a phenomenon described by the French expression l'esprit de l'escalier). Jerry Seinfeld learns the proprietor of a tennis pro shop is a bad tennis player. After seeing a movie, Cosmo Kramer decides he needs a living will. Elaine Benes has a tragic romance with a video rental shop worker who shares her taste in movies. Plot George's coworker Reilly notices him stuffing himself with shrimp cocktail at a meeting and remarks: "Hey George, the ocean called; they're running out of shrimp." After the meeting, George thinks up a comeback: "Well, the Jerk Store called, and they're running out of you." He becomes obsessed with recreating the encounter so that he can make use of this comeback, despite Jerry, Elaine and Kramer all telling him that the comeback makes no sense. Reilly changes jobs to Firestone in Akron, Ohio. George flies there to attend a meeting, and brings a tray of shrimp, prompting Reilly to repeat his "ocean" zinger. When George delivers the comeback, Reilly simply shoots back "What's the difference? You're their all-time bestseller." In desperation, George claims he had sex with Reilly's wife. This reduces the room to an offended silence, since Reilly's wife is in a coma. After arriving back in New York, George thinks of a new comeback, beginning with "the life support machine called...", and makes a U-turn so he can fly back to Akron and deliver it. While browsing the staff picks at Champagne Video, Elaine becomes a fan of Vincent's picks. While Elaine is watching a Vincent pick, he calls her on the telephone. Elaine becomes romantically interested in him, but he refuses to meet her in person. On a subsequent visit to the video store, Elaine craves something lighter than the tearjerkers which dominate Vincent's picks. Kramer convinces her to try a Gene pick, Weekend at Bernie's II. Vincent feels betrayed by this, terminates their relationship, and stops making picks. After Elaine rents Vincent's pick that she spurned in favor