My connection to the Seinfeld series came years after the show aired. My dad had a friend, Dr. Nick Catalano, who was a professor with him at Pace University in New York City. Nick told the story of how, as a young professor, he was also a musician who played in comedy clubs, where he got to know Larry David (creator of Seinfeld) when he was a young, struggling comedian.
Larry David went on to become the co-creator and writer for the Seinfeld television show. Several retrospective pieces have been done on what the Seinfeld show was based on. The joke was that it was the “Show about nothing.” The truth is that most of their shows were about real-life experiences that Seinfeld, and mostly David, had had.
The following clip explains how most Seinfeld episodes are based on real-life experiences:
https://youtu.be/qYBaJe_0cz4?si=ivT2VIPOxlP0egA6
After watching the Seinfeld episode about a dentist, I am convinced it is based on the real-life story of Dr. Marvin Toucher, (Name has been changed to protect the guilty) a dentist I caddied for. I worked as a caddy all through high school, college, and business school. Dr. Toucher played golf regularly in a group we called the “gamblers” as it was common to have a couple of thousand dollars change hands. I used to caddy for Dr. Toucher a lot. (He once claimed he put me through business school). Marvin was a larger-than-life character, whose “locker room banter” included stories of sexual exploits. As a young, innocent caddy, what did I know? Then Marvin got arrested for putting his female patients under with gas and then molesting them. The District Attorney got him on videotape with a police officer. He did real time in jail. It made national news. Johnny Carson even did a parody on it.
After Marvin was convicted, he came back to the club for a round of golf. One of his longtime playing partners, with a Henny Youngman-type sense of humor, came up to him and said: “Marvin, I want you to know that you have ruined it for millions and millions of American children. They grew up wanting to be doctors. So now they want to be dentists…”
The real-life punchline is that while Marvin’s case was out on appeal, he performed in a local summer stock play. The New York Times did a review of his performance. They said Marvin Toucher, the dentist being prosecuted for sexual malpractice…amongst his many talents, can also sing and dance. (This, you can’t make up)
https://youtu.be/WS0P9XkWNoQ?si=5wEDw0p3Idc-Ope_
Bryan Cranston (the actor who later starred as Walter White in Breaking Bad) tells great stories about his experiences as a young actor playing the dentist on the Seinfeld series. He explains how taking a hit of gas became part of the bit in the episode where Jerry Seinfeld is convinced he was sexually molested by his dentist. In retrospect, this episode is a direct parody of “Dr. Toucher’s” real-life story.
https://youtu.be/HsfFYm1NROA?si=ZpA1-L2pTrRGiUsC
While I haven’t seen Nick Catalano in years, I am looking forward to sharing this story with him. Who knows, he might even be able to reach out to his old friend Larry David
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