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“I’ve got a flash for you, joyboy… Party time is over!”

I’ve got all nine series of Seinfeld on DVD. (In fact, I’m pretty sure they’re only DVDs I own.) One of my favourite scenes of the entire run is this exquisitely scripted exchange between Jerry Seinfeld and the hard-nosed library investigations officer, Mr Bookman.

It was written by Larry Charles – who went on to direct Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat and Bruno. But he admits was inspired by reruns of the 1960s cop show Dragnet, and it’s lead character Sergent Joe Friday
As a writer, if I ever compose a punchline one tenth as funny as “I’ve got a flash for you joyboy!” I’ll die a happy man.

On the DVD commentary, Larry David reveals that Bookman (played brilliantly by Philip Baker Hall) was one of his favourite ever characters on the show. He would have loved to have made Bookman a recurring character, he says, but found it impossible to write a library investigations officer back into the series. Philip Baker Hall, however, would later resurface on Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry’s doctor.

P.S. Here’s Sergent Joe Friday interrogating Johnny Carson.