Seinfeld

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For the comedian, see Jerry Seinfeld, and for the fictional eponymous protagonist, see Jerry Seinfeld.

Seinfeld is an American television situation comedy "about nothing" set in New York City and revolving around the everyday occurrences and misadventures of Jerry Seinfeld and his close friends. It was created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David and ran in NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998 running a total of nine seasons.

The sitcom was one of the most popular TV programs of the 1900s, and became so influential that in 2002 topped TV Guide's list of the top 50 greatest American shows of all time (TV Guide's Top 50 TV Shows of all Time, it came in first in E!'s 2004 countdown of 101 Reasons the 90s Ruled, won countless awards throughout the including 10 Emmys awards (and was nominated in every year of its run), it is still heavily syndicated and a great deal of its catchphrases and coined terms have entered into the pop culture lexicon.

Jerry Seinfeld stars as the eponymous character supposed to be just like himself along with Jason Alexander, who plays neurotic and insecure George Costanza, a character largely based on Larry David, the co-creator of the show, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Jerry's selfish friend and ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes, a character based on ex-girlfriends of both creator and Michael Richards, who plays Kramer, Jerry's dufus and clumsy neighbor based on Kenny Kramer, a comedian and former neighbor of David. The sitcom is set predominantly in an apartment block on Manhattan's Upper West Side where several of the most recurring characters, including relatives and family members, acquaintances, local profesionists, dates, co-corkers, friends and neighbors of the main characters also live and often interact like a community or social circle.

The sitcom was described by its creators as "a show about nothing", which eventually became it's most popular description. However, Seinfeld have also revealed that his show was inspired by the 1950s sitcom The Abbott and Costello Show and as the creators parodied in some episodes, the show is not literally about nothing. In the average episode every character deals with peculiar problems with their dates, work, acquaintances or family and try to bend the protocols standards of society in a somewhat obsessive and neurotic way until their actions backfire. They would often comment those situations and mock and give each other ideas at Jerry's apartment or at Monk's Cafe, a near by diner at 112th St. and Broadway in Manhattan. After The Chinese Restaurant, the 11th. episode of the 2nd. season, in which the story is done in real time and set in a Chinese restaurant, certain episodes started to bend the setting and structure of the story in ways that had practically no precedent in sitcoms. Then, after The Marine Biologist, the 14th episode of the 5th. season, their troubles started to clash in amusing comedic twists towards the end of the episodes.

Seinfeld was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment then helmed by director-actor-producer Rob Reiner, and distributed by Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television). Seinfeld was written largely by Larry David (co-written with Jerry Seinfeld early in its run), with later input from numerous script writers, including Larry Thomas, Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gamill & Max Pross, Alec Berg and Spike Feresten, most of whom had been nominated for best writing awards such as the Emmys.

[edit] Overview

While most television sit-coms to date had been mostly family or co-worker driven, none of the Seinfeld characters are related by blood or employed by the same organization; in fact, many characters were not employed at all. Like the self-parodying "show within a show" episodes of year four, Seinfeld was a "show about nothing."

According to Bruce Fretts' 1993 The "Entertainment Weekly" "Seinfeld" Companion, Seinfeld's audience was, "TV-literate, demographically desirable urbanites, for the most part - who look forward to each weekly episode in the Life of Jerry with a baby-boomer generation's self-involved eagerness." In the original concept, the show featured clips of Seinfeld himself delivering a standup routine in a club (in reality, the studio), the theme of which relates to the events depicted in the plot, at the beginning and end of each episode. This device deliberately blurred the distinction between the actor Jerry Seinfeld and the character whom he portrays. In later seasons, these standup clips became less frequent and were ultimately discontinued. The show's main characters were modeled after Seinfeld's or Larry David's real-life acquaintances. Many of the plot devices too are based on real-life counterparts - such as the Soup Nazi (based on Al Yeganeh), J. Peterman of the J. Peterman catalogue, and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

[edit] Response

The show premiered as The Seinfeld Chronicles on Thursday, May 31, 1990 on NBC. The show was not an immediate success. After the pilot was shown, on July 5, 1989, a pickup by the NBC network did not seem likely and the show was actually offered to Fox, which declined to pick up the show. It was only thanks to Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, for diverting money from his budget, that the next four episodes were filmed (to which he admitted in an interview for NBC's special "The Seinfeld Story"). After nine years on the air and 176 episodes filmed (along with 4 clip shows,) the series finale of Seinfeld aired on Thursday, May 14, 1998. It was watched by a huge audience, estimated at 76 million viewers. Jerry Seinfeld holds both the record for the "most money refused" according to the Guinness Book of World Records by refusing an offer to continue the show for $5 million per episode, and another record for the Highest Ever Annual Earnings For A TV Actor,^[1] while the show itself held the record for the Highest Television Advertising Rates up until 2004, when the final episode of Friends aired.^[2]

In 2004 a deal was negotiated to make Seinfeld available on DVD for the first time. Due to legal problems with the cast involving episode commentary and other DVD extras, the release was pushed back. The first 3 seasons were released November 23, 2004, and season 4 was released on May 17, 2005. Season 5 and season 6 were released on November 22, 2005. Season 7 will be released in the U.S on November 21, 2006. The release date(s) for the final two seasons are unknown, but a May, 2007 release appears to be most likely.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Criticism and popularity

[edit] Seasons 1-5: Critical Favorite

Television critics championed the series from the beginning, even as it was slower-paced and had yet to catch on with viewers. The series was widely seen as steadily improving over its first five seasons. Seasons four and five in particular are considered the show's "prime", as it became one of television's top-rated comedies and managed to impress critics at magazines such as TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly and even The New Yorker.

Season four marked Seinfeld's first entrance in the top 30-ranked television shows, and produced a string of high-profile episodes (e.g. "The Outing", "The Bubble Boy") but chief among them was "The Contest", from an Emmy-winning script by co-creator Larry David, whose subject matter - masturbation - was considered both risky for producers and risqué by audiences.

[edit] Seasons 6 & 7: "Crawling", Return to Form

Season six found the show changing directors (Andy Ackerman replacing Tom Cherones) and slightly altering its pace, to the displeasure of some. Jerry Seinfeld later told TV Guide that he and his writers were "crawling" creatively at this point, struggling to keep its premises and trademark resolutions on par with previous seasons. Even so, the series remained well-regarded and produced some of its most famous shows ("The Fusilli Jerry", "The Jimmy"). This was also the first season Seinfeld scored #1 in the Nielsen ratings.

The series bounced back from this dry spell - according to the cast, crew and many critics - at the beginning of season seven. A younger and almost all-new writing staff poked fun at the underdeveloped lives of its four lead characters, who were now becoming neurotic, single forty-somethings. A story arc was introduced in which George Costanza became engaged to former girlfriend Susan Ross, whose life was derailed by him a few seasons back. Ranking in its highest ratings ever, Seinfeld produced some of its most well-regarded episodes in the first half of this season - namely "The Soup Nazi", "The Sponge" and "The Rye."

[edit] Season Seven Finale: Too Far?

Template:Spoilers As the season advanced, however, it took on an increasingly darker tone. This culminated in perhaps the most polarizing episode in the series, "The Invitations", which boasted a surprise ending in which Susan is suddenly killed. The cause of death is revealed to be a toxic glue on cheap wedding invitations picked out by George, who is almost gleeful that the engagement has been prematurely dissolved. Many felt the show had taken its misanthropic streak too far, while others found the twist to be edgy and original.^{[citation needed]} In syndication, this episode, at the request of Jerry, was not to be shown, but for another reason: due to the sensitivity of the episode's subject and the relationship to the anthrax scare that swept the US in the months following the 9/11 attacks. However, the syndicated version is now broadcast regularly on TBS.

[edit] Seasons 8 & 9: After Larry David

The show divided even more of its audience in its final two seasons. Executive producer and alleged driving-force behind Seinfeld, writer/comedian Larry David, left the series (except to continue a recurring voice-over as George Steinbrenner). Without his, as Jerry Seinfeld put it, "obsessive" attention, the show became more of a fast-paced, absurdist farce, with more slapstick humor and plotlines occasionally delving into pure fantasy.

Some of these earlier off-beat entries were greeted as fun diversions, such as "The Bizarro Jerry" (which featured Elaine befriending polar opposites of Jerry, George and Kramer). As the eighth and ninth seasons progressed, however, most critics felt the show had gotten too cartoonish for its own good. The New York Post went so far as to conduct a poll early in the ninth season, asking readers whether or not the series was as strong as it used to be. More than half of those polled said that it was not up to its previous standards. Jerry Seinfeld responded with a letter to the paper thanking them for considering his show to be so important.

Many fans argue that even as Seinfeld changed its comedic approach in later years, it remained funny and watchable.^[3] It certainly remained popular, continuing to spawn catch phrases (ala "Serenity Now!", "Yada Yada Yada") and stayed atop the Nielsen Ratings up through to its series finale.

[edit] Ending

[edit] Hype

On December 26, 1997, Jerry Seinfeld announced that the series would end production the following spring. The announcement made the front page of all the major New York newspapers, including the New York Times. Jerry Seinfeld was even featured on the cover of Time Magazine's first issue of 1998.^[4]

The series ended with a 75-minute episode (cut down to 60 minutes in syndication, in two parts) written by returning co-creator and former executive producer Larry David. It also was the first episode since the seventh season to feature opening and closing stand-up acts by Jerry Seinfeld. The finale was filmed in front of an audience of NBC executives and additional friends of the show. The press and the public were shut out of the filming for the sake of keeping its plot secret, and all who attended the finale signed written "vows of silence".^[5]

With all the hype surrounding the finale, the episode aired on the same day that Frank Sinatra died. The episode's airing was largely overshadowed by this event.

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The secrecy only seemed to increase speculation on how the series would end. Some suggested Jerry and Elaine would get married, and more cynical fans favored Julia Louis-Dreyfus's suggestion that the foursome die in a car accident after all their wishes come true. The producers of the show tweaked the media about the hype, spreading a false rumor about Newman ending up in the hospital and Jerry and Elaine sitting in a chapel, presumably to get married.^[6]

The actual finale poked fun at the many rumors that were circulating, seeming to move into several supposed plots before settling on its true storyline - a lengthy trial in which Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer are prosecuted for lack of humanity.

[edit] The Finale

Main article: The Finale (Seinfeld episode)

Template:Spoiler The series' final one hour episode aired on NBC on Thursday May 14, 1998 following a one hour retrospective and clip show which included memorable scenes from the show's 180 episodes. The final episode began with Jerry and George being offered a series commitment for their failed 1993 pilot Jerry by NBC executives. When Jerry and George announce their news to their friends and family, they decide to celebrate their good news by vacationing to Paris with Elaine and Kramer. On the way to Paris, the plane loses control when Kramer, in an attempt to free water from his ear, loses his balance and falls into the cockpit, and the friends believe that they are about to die. Shortly after, the pilot makes an emergency landing in a Massachusetts town where they witness a mugging and are arrested for violating a Good Samaritan law. The four friends are put on trial and are sent to jail for one year after the jury and judge hear testimonies from a parade of familiar people whom the four friends have hurt or affected in the past. The final conversation between George and Jerry was regarding the "second button" on a buttoned up shirt and how it lies in a no-man's land. The two characters question whether or not they have had the conversation already. The "second button" conversation was the first conversation in the very first episode.

The plot of this episode is generally seen as an homage to Albert Camus' novel, The Stranger.

[edit] Scripts

• Seinfeld Chronicles - Includes all 180 scripts

[edit] Story Arcs and Continuity

The show kept a strong sense of continuity - characters and plots from past episodes were frequently referenced or expanded upon. Occasionally, storylines would span multiple episodes and even entire seasons. Larry David, the show's head writer and executive producer for the first seven seasons, was notorious for keeping a close eye on minor details and making sure the main characters' lives remained consistent and believable, and would later make use of season-long story arcs in his next series, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[edit] Product placement

A recurring feature of Seinfeld was its use of specific products as plot points, especially various candy products. These products might be a central feature of a plot narrative (e.g. Junior Mints, Twix, Jujyfruits, and Pez), or associating the candy with a guest character (e.g. Oh Henry! bars), or simply discussing the merits of the candy in a conversational aside (e.g. Chuckles). Examples of non-candy products featured in Seinfeld are Rold Gold pretzels (whose advertisements at the time featured Jason Alexander), Kenny Rogers Roasters (a chicken restaurant chain), Drake's Coffee Cakes, Pepsi, Bosco Chocolate Syrup, Snapple, Cadillac, Saab, Specialized Bicycles, Tupperware, Calvin Klein, Klein Bicycles, Ovaltine, Arby's, TV Guide, Trump Tower, the board games Risk, Boggle, Scrabble, and Battleship, Entenmann's and the J. Peterman clothing catalog (which actually went bankrupt whilst the show was still active). The computers in Jerry's apartment are always Apple Macintosh brand computers; the featured model changed every few seasons to reflect Apple's latest offerings. Also seen throughout the show's run were many different brands of cereal, since Jerry ate a lot of it.

The show's creators claim that they themselves were not engaging in a product placement strategy for commercial gain. One of the motivations for the use of real-world products, which is quite unrelated to commercial considerations, is the comedy value of funny-sounding phrases and words. "I knew I wanted Kramer to think of watching the operation like going to see a movie," explained Seinfeld writer/producer Andy Robin in an interview published in the Hollywood Reporter. "At first, I thought maybe a piece of popcorn falls into the patient. I ran that by my brother, and he said, 'No, Junior Mints are just funnier.'"

Nevertheless, Seinfeld is widely credited by marketers and advertisers with affecting a change in attitude toward product placement in US primetime TV shows. In general, product placement became much more frequent in TV shows after Seinfeld demonstrated that a successful show could work specific products into its plots and dialogue.^{[citation needed]}

For details of a study on the effectiveness of product placement (without respect to whether it was paid for or intended to promote products), see "Television Programs and Advertising: Measuring the Effectiveness of Product Placement Within Seinfeld." by Dana T. Weaver of Penn State University.

Two types of advertising, neither of which were actual product placement, also capitalized on the Seinfeld show. One is described as a "Webisode," a reverse form of product placement. In this form, instead of inserting its product into an episode, American Express "inserted" Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman (voiced by Patrick Warburton, who also acted on the show, playing the role of David Puddy) into its commercial. The second type is the use of the show's actors, such as Jason Alexander in a Chrysler commercial. In this type, which ran after the series ended, Alexander behaves much like his character George, and his relationship with Lee Iacocca is said to play on his relationship with George Steinbrenner in the show. Similarly, Michael Richards was the focus of a series of advertisements for Vodafone which ran in Australia where he dressed and behaved exactly like Kramer, including the trademark bumbling pratfalls.

Although not necessarily seen as product placements, several episodes feature a Porsche-themed painting (depicting a 904 GTS race car competing in the 1964 Targa Florio race in Italy, which it won) on a wall in Seinfeld's apartment; an issue of Excellence magazine, a Porsche-centered publication, is also featured prominently on an outdoor magazine rack.

[edit] See also

• Vic and Sade (Paul Rhymer's earlier, quite different "show about nothing")
• Must See TV

Characters | Episodes | Cast and crew | Broadcasting | Awards | DVD releases | Music scores | Post-Seinfeld | Logo | Sein-imation

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Template:Wikiquote

• Seinfeld.com, the Official Site from Sony Pictures Television
• Template:Wikia
• Seinfeld at IMDb

[edit] Frequently asked questions

• SeinFAQ - The unofficial Seinfeld FAQ

[edit] Episodes

• Seinfeld - TV Series - TV.com