Film Theory: The Science of Seinfeld's Deadly Envelopes

Seinfeld...famously, it's the show about NOTHING. And yet, for it being about nothing, there are SO MANY memorable moments throughout the show's nine seasons, from the Soup Nazi to The Contest. And yet, one of the most enduring storylines was the infamous "Death by Envelope," where Seinfeld's best friend George Costanza's fiancee keels over after licking too many envelopes. But could that ACTUALLY happen? With Seinfeld just released on Hulu and Jason Alexander revealing the TRUE reason behind Susan's death on Howard Stern, now seems as good a time as any to examine this sitcom staple!

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[notrolps]

Well, I learned two things from this videos
1: envelopes can kill you if you try hard enough
2: there are a surprising amount of envelope puns

[hayamakaily]

Having so much time makes you go back and binge mat's theory

[leimmortalraven]

FINALLY! FILM THEORY WILL BE COVERING A SHOW THAT I'VE ACTUALLY SEEN!!! SOMETHING I CAN RELATE TO!

[GameTheory]

But I don't want to be a PIRATE!!!

[nathan-tlqn]

Starts video
"How about that dress, huh?"
Checks description
"Published on Jul 7, 2015"
...ah

[Rkha]

Have I really been watching for four years? I still can't lick an envelope without thinking about this one video.

[GeometryDashAgent]

I could imagine killing someone with an envelope and I'd say "Special Delivery!"

[cranberry]

"When you get wet, it gets sticky, and then it hardens"
- Matpat

[retrogamer]

Hearing matpat talk about your favorite sitcom lifts you to a new level of life

[CoolspyGaming]

Make a theory about Courage: The Cowardly dog!!!

[Emmycron]

Never thought I would see anime on Film Theory

[Jj-vdes]

This means George poisoned her and blamed the envelopes

[strangemonarchist]

You could always chock it up to one envelope strip that was practically made up entirely of Arsenic? Production errors aren't uncommon otherwise there wouldn't be so many manufacturing companies with quality control. If that happened once in the entire batch, she may have licked it a few times if it wouldn't stick, ingesting even more arsenic.

[andrewbowers]

"I've got a date with some dwarves." THAT BETTER BE A LOTR/HOBBIT THEORY HINT!

[dram]

he puts a allot of effort into these episodes. Gotta him him that. good stuff, keep it up

[alejandrozamora]

5'3 without shrinkage 😂😂. Love how you sneaked that in.

[RyandBurtson]

Ok so wait:
1) The whole episode, you build up the idea that we're talking about envelopes that were indeed made with PVAC adhesive that was toxic
2) You point out that the FDA didn't regulate envelopes until about 20 years after these types of envelopes were made
3) Then in your conclusion that these envelopes won't kill you, you use the fact that the FDA doesn't allow a certain amount of parts arsenic per parts paper.

But if the FDA didn't regulate those envelopes, they wouldn't follow the same standard as do envelopes of today. They could have boatloads of more parts arsenic than is allowed now. So this isn't quite sound...

[TheChancinator]

These pretzels... Are MAKING ME THIRSTY!

[heyitzbabygurl]

MatPat it's official If I get married you're going to be my wedding planner.

[HyperK]

4:50. That tank is the t28 or t95 heavy tank destroyer. It never saw action. Just so you people know.