Of all the sitcoms in TV history, it’s safe to say that Seinfeld delivered some of the funniest and most iconic moments ever — and quite a few of those hilarious scenes involved David Puddy (the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Elaine Benes). So it’s no surprise that fans were freaking out when Patrick Warburton, the actor who played Puddy, shared a real-life throwback moment from the show in a recent social media post.
In a video shared to his TikTok account this week, Warburton, 60, was walking through Buckland Hills Mall in Hartford, Conn., when he spotted some familiar-looking jackets in a store window.
“Well I’m here in a mall in Hartford, Connecticut, and in the realm of fashion, look what has now made the front window,” he said before panning over to reveal a display of Magic 8 Ball jackets similar to Puddy’s infamous outerwear.
@thepatrickwarburton I actually know one person who would wear it… David Puddy 🎱 #patrickwarburton #voiceactor #actor #comedian #seinfeld
♬ original sound – Patrick Warburton
“The 8 Ball jacket. And I don’t know if this is for a gag or…I mean, I don’t know who would ever wear one of these things…seriously,” he continued, adding in his caption, “I actually know one person who would wear it…David Puddy.”
Commenters couldn’t get over the comically serendipitous sighting.
“High five, all signs point to YEAH,” one person quipped, quoting Puddy.
“Amazing how it all comes full circle,” another noted.
“Did they have any fur coats too?” somebody asked, referring to another one of Puddy’s problematic jackets.
“This man is a national treasure,” raved yet another fan, with someone else joking, “Ahead of your time!!”
In a 2024 interview with The AU Review, Warburton — whose non-Seinfeld credits include voice acting roles in The Tick and Family Guy — admitted that he didn’t expect the Puddy character to have such a lasting impact on audiences.
“I was aware of the show’s impact because I watched it religiously with my wife every Thursday night. But Puddy didn’t make an appearance until the sixth season, so the show was already fully established,” he explained, adding, “Anytime I got invited back I just felt very fortunate to be there on that hallowed ground, which is Stage 9 at CBS Radford. It was all shot in Los Angeles. There’s even a New York Street on the lot, so even the exteriors were shot in Los Angeles.”
“It was a great opportunity, and you always have hope that whatever you do has an impact,” he added. “But to be with that group of people, and to be working with Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] and Jerry [Seinfeld] and, of course, Jason [Alexander] and Michael [Richards] was just such a great opportunity.”
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