Jason Alexander’s George Costanza is one of the greatest comic creations in television history, a man defined entirely by his own pettiness, insecurity, and spectacular capacity for self-sabotage who somehow remains utterly watchable through every disaster he brings upon himself. Larry David based him loosely on himself, and it shows, because there is a specific, painful truthfulness to George’s awfulness that elevates him far beyond a simple buffoon. Every scheme he devises, every lie he tells to maintain a lie, and every moment he chooses the worst possible option is a small masterpiece of comic writing and performance.
