Columbia Tri-Star Television Distribution has decided to pull from syndication the “Seinfeld” episode in which Susan, George’s fiancee, dies after she licks cheap wedding invitations George bought. Its reasoning was that the particular episode was too insensitive in wake of recent national fears of anthrax-laden mail.

Talk about your “national security at stake” issues. How many more had to contract this disease before the networks realized the portly George Costanza was to blame?

In all seriousness, there’s a difference between sensitivity and overkill. This is the latter. Since Sept. 11, TV shows and movies with any hint of suggestive content have been put on indefinite hiatus. Bill Maher was chastised for a comment he made toward the government on his show, “Politically Incorrect.” How is America supposed to get back to normalcy when programs are pulled because the plot can, by some extreme stretch, be equated with the anthrax “outbreak?”

The episode is pure comedy. Susan, George’s wife-to-be, dies when she has to lick the cheap, old wedding invitation envelopes George got a deal on. After she dies, George doesn’t seem to care. In fact, he’s quite happy with the situation. Her death is trivialized and is for pure comedic value. And the audience knows it.

Finding any small hint of insensitive content in this episode can be a slippery slope. If “The Invitations” episode is not fit for TV, why is “The Pony Remark,” the one where Jerry makes a comment that immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to ride ponies?

Seems a bit xenophobic, doesn’t it? That’s the last thing us impressionable Americans need at a time when people are being killed or harassed because of their ethnicity.

Or maybe the networks should yank “The Soup Nazi” from syndication. This authoritative character can easily be identified as being of Middle-Eastern descent. While it’s clear that not all from the Middle East hurl insults at women and are Nazi-like, those are just the types of stereotypes we need to be avoiding at this time, right?

Wrong. “Seinfeld” is classic American humor, as harmless as anything. The decision to yank this specific episode from syndication is just another example of hysteria and sensitivity overkill winning out over rational thinking. Maybe if terrorists begin infiltrating the wedding invitation industry with anthrax-laden envelopes, this decision may hold some water.

“The Invitations” appears gone for good. How will we explain to America’s youth what happened to Susan, George’s overbearing fiancee? She’s there one episode, talking of wedding plans, and then the next she’s dead and gone. This is how mass hysteria happens. Imagine a world of confusion, where episodes don’t follow a logical succession and sitcom characters come and go. If the networks feel the need to pull one “Seinfeld” episode, it may be best to pull them all, avoiding any chance of confusion in the future.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell