Newman
Posted on 16. Sep, 2011 by admin in Characters
Newman lived in apartment 5F, which was directly down the hall from Jerry’s apartment, 5A. However, there were many inconsistencies regarding who lived in 5E. In the Season 9 episode “The Strong Box”, long after Newman’s character was established, another man, named Phil, is seen entering 5E.
Newman was created as a counterpart to the Jerry character, though the reason for their animosity is never revealed. Seinfeld once described Newman as Lex Luthor to his Superman. Newman’s role is primarily as a villain/enemy to Jerry and a collaborator in Kramer’s elaborate and bizarre schemes. Often described as Jerry’s “sworn enemy” (“The Andrea Doria”), Newman is cunning and often schemes against Jerry. He speaks often in a humorously sinister tone (mainly to Jerry). Jerry refers to Newman as “pure evil” on more than one occasion. The two generally greet each other this way, Jerry in a distrustful, baleful voice, Newman in a falsely jovial one:
Newman is a frequent source of annoyance to Jerry, such as in attracting fleas to the apartment (“The Doodle”), and generally making Jerry’s life more difficult. However, the depth of Jerry and Newman’s enmity seems to vary between episodes—or even within the same episode (“The Soul Mate”)—and Jerry sometimes seems to consider him merely an annoying neighbor, rather than an outright enemy. At times they even work together on some scheme, though with some reluctance on Jerry’s part (and usually with mutual friend Kramer as a buffer). In “The Old Man”, Jerry casually mentions “a couple of friends,” referring to Kramer and Newman.
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