Seinfeld 

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

Creators:

Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld

Stars:

Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards

Top Rated TV #48 | Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 70 wins & 184 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Jerry Seinfeld	...	Jerry Seinfeld 173 episodes, 1989-1998
Michael Richards	...	Kramer / ... 173 episodes, 1989-1998
Jason Alexander	...	George Costanza / ... 173 episodes, 1989-1998
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Elaine Benes 172 episodes, 1990-1998
Ruth Cohen	...	Ruthie Cohen / ... 101 episodes, 1992-1998

Storyline

Jerry Seinfeld stars in this television comedy series as himself, a comedian. The premise of this sitcom is Jerry and his friends going through everyday life, discussing various quirky situations, to which we can all relate (especially if we live in New York City). The eccentric personalities of the offbeat characters who make up Jerry's social circle contribute to the fun.

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Plot Keywords:

cringe comedy | buddy comedy | based on standup comedy | black comedy | situation comedy | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Hulu Sony Pictures Television

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stand-Up

Filming Locations:

757 New Hampshire, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

West-Shapiro, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) tells a polygraph examiner that his address is 129 West 81st Street.

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Goofs

In episode 2.12, Seinfeld: The Busboy, George (Jason Alexander) complains about eating yet another plate of Pesto. Originally, that particular food was supposed to be Elaine's (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) "sworn enemy."

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Quotes

Jerry: It's Jerry. Who's this?
Valerie: It's Valerie.
Jerry: Oh hi, Valerie. What's up?
Valerie: I'll tell you what's up - my stepmother is violently ill. So I hit the number for poison control and I get you.
Jerry: Wow, poison control? That's even higher than Number One. Hello?

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Crazy Credits

In the season 2 episode "The Apartment", Michael Richards is credited twice in the opening credits.

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Alternate Versions

George's father was initially played by 'John Randolph' in the episode "The Handicap Spot". In syndication his guest appearance has been replaced by new footage featuring Jerry Stiller who played George's father in the later episodes. The DVD release of this episode featured in the Season 4 box set allows the option to watch either version.

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Connections

Referenced in This Is MST3K (1992)

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Soundtracks

Seinfeld Theme Song
Written by Jonathan Wolff

User Reviews

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.