The Ex-Girlfriend

"The Ex-Girlfriend" is the first episode of the sitcom Seinfeld's second season and the show's sixth episode overall.^[1] The episode was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on January 23, 1991, after being postponed for one week due to the start of the First Gulf War. During the course of the show, George Costanza breaks up with his girlfriend Marlene and leaves some books in her apartment. He persuades his friend Jerry to retrieve them. Jerry starts dating Marlene, who annoys him as much as she did George, but he finds himself unable to break up with her because she has a "psycho-sexual" hold on him.

Co-written by the series' co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the episode was inspired by one of David's personal experiences. Directed by Tom Cherones, "The Ex-Girlfriend" was the first episode of the show filmed at CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, California (and would stay there for the remainder of the show's run), the previous season having been filmed at Desilu Cahuenga in Hollywood. The episode received a Nielsen rating of 10.9/17 and was positively received by critics.