Seth Tobin was a scientist colleague and rival of Michael Tribbiani, portrayed by Simon Helberg.
Seth first appears in the episode "Joey and the Party" as one of the guests at the gathering.
He is introduced as an astrophysicist working at Caltech with Michael. Michael describes Seth as highly competitive, often boasting about his achievements -- most notably a prestigious fellowship he received. When Seth announces he will be attending the party with his girlfriend, Molly, Michael is disheartened to realize he is now the only one among his friends without a serious relationship -- even the "allergic-to-light guy" has someone.
Frustrated by Seth's constant one-upping, Michael enlists Alex to pretend to be his girlfriend for the evening.
At the party, Michael and Alex begin to suspect Seth is also faking his relationship. Seth brings Molly a plate of chicken and mini-hotdogs, despite her earlier claim of being vegetarian, and Molly seems unaware of Seth's asthma. When Molly fails to answer a simple question about Star Wars, it's revealed that she is not really Seth's girlfriend.
Seth eventually admits he fabricated the relationship in an attempt to finally outdo Michael. Despite being the one with the fellowship, Seth had been rejected from Caltech's doctoral program and was still living with his grandmother, while Michael had been accepted and had a great apartment.
Michael confesses that he, too, pretended to be in a relationship to impress Seth. The two ultimately acknowledge the futility of their rivalry -- though Seth insists he learned the lesson first.
Character trivia[]
- The American Journal of Astrophysics wrote about Seth's recent fellowship.
- Seth claims that the famous physicist Stephen Hawking called to congratulate him on winning the fellowship.
- He states that he works out and can bench-press his own body weight, which he says is 90 pounds (40.8 kg).
- At the party, he is wearing a t-shirt featuring the arcade video game Space Invaders with the label "Original Gangstas".