20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Seinfeld
2. The Connection With OJ Simpson
The OJ Simpson murder trial was so monumental, it was known as The Trial of the Century. It was referenced in everything. Family Guy. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Even Shrek 2 make a joke about it!
Since Seinfeld was known for dissing controversial topics, the series had their fair share of references to the former footballer and actor. In The Big Salad episode, Kramer drives a white bronco - the same vehicle Simpson drove when he fled from the police. In The Caddy episode, Kramer's bombastic barrister, Jackie Chiles, is an unsubtle parody of Simpsons' lawyer, Johnnie Cochran.
However, the strangest reference to Simpson has to be in the episode, The Masseuse, where Elaine dates a man who has the same name as the serial killer, Joel Rifkin. Elaine gets so freaked out, she encourages Joel to change his name to something friendly like "OJ".
If you watched this episode now, you'd assume this is an intentional reference to OJ Simpson. In reality, this episode aired seven months before Simpson was arrested for murder! Of every "friendly" name Elaine could've chosen, she picked the name of the most famous murder suspect in American history.