"Seinfeld" (1990) TV series 1990-1998

User Rating:

9.4/10   

Creators:

Larry David
Jerry Seinfeld

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

31 May 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York friends.

Plot Keywords:

Eccentric | Neurotic | Stand Up Comedian | Friendship | Sitcom

Awards:

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 58 wins & 121 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 8	7:30 PM	MyNetwork	The Fusilli Jerry	#6.20
Sun. Nov. 8	11:30 PM	Fox	The Diplomats Club	#6.21

Cast

Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld / ... (174 episodes, 1990-1998)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes / ... (173 episodes, 1990-1998)
Michael Richards	...	Kramer / ... (173 episodes, 1990-1998)
Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza / ... (173 episodes, 1990-1998)
Ruth Cohen	...	Ruthie Cohen (101 episodes, 1992-1998)

Also Known As:

Good News, Bad News (USA) (working title)
Stand-Up (USA) (working title)
The Jerry Seinfeld Show (USA) (working title)
The Seinfeld Chronicles (USA) (working title)
Seinfeld (Italy) [it]
Seinfeld (Germany) [de]
Seinfeld (Hungary) [hu]
Seinfeld (France) [fr]
Seinfeld (Brazil) [pt]
Seinfeld (Argentina) [es]

Runtime:

23 min (180 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:12 (some episodes) | Australia:G (some episodes) | Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG | UK:PG | UK:U (some episodes) | USA:TV-14 (some epiosodes) | UK:15 (one episode) | Finland:K-18 (2005) (DVD) (self applied) | Finland:K-3 (2004) | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp | Denmark:A | Singapore:PG | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

757 New Hampshire, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

In addition to Jerry having a sister who is only mentioned once (in "The Chinese Restaurant"), George has a brother who is mentioned only twice in the series: "The Suicide" (his brother impregnated a woman named Pauline) and "The Parking Space" (George's father, mother and brother never pay for parking). Elaine has a sister, Gail, who she visits in St. Louis, and who she calls after she sends Gail's son her exposed nipple Christmas card. Elaine also mentions a brother-in-law (presumably Gail's husband) in "The Phone Message" (he blurted out secret business information on an answering machine).

Goofs:

Continuity: You will notice that on external shots of Jerry's building there are insect screens on the windows. However, these are never evident whenever any of the cast occasionally lean out the window whilst the scene is being shot from inside Jerry's apartment.

Quotes:

George Costanza: You know, in the cab on the way over here, I actually thought about converting.
Jerry: To Latvian Orthodox?
George Costanza: Yeah, why not, what do I care...
Jerry: Ya know, it's not like changing toothpastes.
Elaine: I think it would be romantic.
George Costanza: Really?
Elaine: Yeah, it's like Edward the Eighth abdicating the throne and marrying Mrs. Simpson. Ooh.
George Costanza: King Edward.
[snapping fingers]
George Costanza: Like King Edward, Jerry!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: The Father, the Son and the Holy Fonz (#4.18)" (2005)

Seinfeld, a cultural landmark?

I caught a few episodes of Seinfeld over it's final two seasons run on public channel, and made it a point to catch a lot more of Jerry and friends during it's reruns. I found it very amusing on first viewings, but as time wore on, I began to like it more and more, and to eagerly borrow taped episodes from friends, and to hunt for re-runs on syndicated channels.

Of the two comedy TV series in the history of television, I would choose both Seinfeld and Monty Python as the cultural landmarks of the medium. In Seinfeld, there is not a trace of sentimentality and glib moralizing that plagues the American sitcom genre. Characters do not hug each other on Christmas, fall in love, wax on and on about family and friends, there is no faux-cathartic season ender so favoured by the writers of, say, "Friends".

Instead, we have the narcissistic Jerry, constantly mining the minutiae of everyday detail for every bit of situational comedy; we have the hyper-aggressive Elaine, whose strings of breakups with boyfriends are as impressive as her petty neuroses leading up to the breakups themselves; the ultimate schlub-loser George, who lies to every single woman he dates, sells faulty equipment to the handicapped and muscles off women and children when fleeing an apartment fire; and the impossibly inventive physical comedy of the entrepreneur cum schmooze Kramer.

Over and over again, week in and week out, the quartet discuss trivialities with unbridled zeal, as the non-descript narrative pings from one mundane setting to another. Seldom has such wit been generated by such gargantually pointless human endeavours. That is where the brilliance of Seinfeld lies, in the ability to go to the most bizarre ends to fulfill the potential of a less than hopeful comedic premise; and the endless, pointlessly smug and nihilistic banter that almost invariably escalates into some of TV's classic lines, such as when George shouts triumphantly after winning an argument that "there is no bigger loser than me!".

Surely, we won't find something like this again, for many more years to come.