Seinfeld

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Seinfeld
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Larry David Jerry Seinfeld
Starring	Jerry Seinfeld Julia Louis-Dreyfus Michael Richards Jason Alexander
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	180 (including two-part episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Fred Barron Larry David Jerry Seinfeld Howard West George Shapiro Andrew Scheinman
Running time	21 Minutes (syndication), 22 Minutes (original)
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	July 5, 1989 – May 14, 1998
Links
Official website

Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning United States based television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, running a total of nine seasons. Many of its catchphrases have entered into the pop culture lexicon. The show was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s, leading the Nielsen Ratings in its sixth and ninth seasons.

The series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as an eponymous, fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block on Manhattan's Upper West Side, the show features a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, including George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Seinfeld was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and distributed by Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television). Seinfeld was largely co-written by David and Seinfeld, with later input from numerous script writers, including Larry Charles, Peter Mehlman, Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin, Carol Leifer, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gammill and Max Pross, Alec Berg and Spike Feresten.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Major characters 1.2 Minor characters 1.3 "No hugging, no learning" 2 Criticism and popularity 2.1 Early years 2.2 Seinfeld's prime years 2.3 After Larry David 3 Ending 3.1 Hype 3.1.1 The Finale storyline 3.2 Awards 4 DVD releases 5 Life after Seinfeld 5.1 The "Seinfeld curse" 5.2 Successes 5.3 Seinfeld himself 6 Product placement 6.1 Seinfeld re-creations 7 Trivia 8 Sub articles 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Overview

While most television sitcoms to date had been mostly family- or coworker-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 perhaps, more than other sitcoms, a "show about nothing." This is because the episodes' plots concerned themselves not with huge events or comical situations, but instead focused on the minutiae annoyances and petty discussions of real life, such as waiting in line at the movies, going to eat, buying a suit and so on.

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. After season five, these standup clips became less frequent and were ultimately discontinued after season seven. The show's main characters were modeled after Seinfeld's and David's real-life acquaintances. Many of the plot devices too are based on real-life counterparts - such as the Soup Nazi (based on Soup Kitchen International manager Al Yegenah), Jacopo Peterman of the J. Peterman catalogue, and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

In virtually every Seinfeld episode, one story thread is presented at the beginning, involving the characters in separate and unrelated situations. Rapid scene shifts between story lines moves the action forward as rapidly as possible and eventually the separate story lines meet. Despite the separate plot strands, the narratives show "consistent efforts to maintain [the] intimacy" between the small cast of characters.

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 celebrated 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.

Another aspect of the show that was different from most sitcoms was that it was purely a comedy, having no serious or dramatic moments.

[edit] Major characters

• Jerry Seinfeld (played by Jerry Seinfeld) - Jerry is the "passive central player" in the show, a figure who is "able to observe the chaos around him but not always be a part of it." Plot lines involving Jerry often concern his various relationships -- Jerry often finds "stupid reasons to break up" with women, something which according to Elaine occurs "every week." While seemingly the normal one in the group, his character is made neurotic by his obsessive cleanliness and his steadfast devotion to immaturity.

• George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) - Once succinctly described by Elaine as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man", George is a neurotic, self-loathing man. Paranoid, selfish, abrasive, a flagrant coward and an expert liar, George is arguably the show's most immoral character. He has been best friends with Jerry since their middle school years.

• Elaine Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) - Intelligent and assertive, but superficial and short-tempered, Elaine is frequently a victim of fate. She may get caught up in the machinations of the other characters, or come into conflict with boyfriends or the arbitrary requirements of her eccentric employers. She used to date Jerry, and remains close friends with him.

• Cosmo Kramer (played by Michael Richards) - Kramer is the archetypal "wacky neighbor" and friend of Jerry. His trademarks include his humorous upright bouffant hairstyle and vintage wardrobe, the combination of which led to his categorization as a 'hipster doofus'; his energetic sliding bursts through Jerry's apartment door; his assortment of comic pratfalls; and his penchant for nonsensical, percussive outbursts of noise to indicate alarm, skepticism, agreement, or annoyance. Although one of the more fascinating characters on the show, he was the only one not to have had an internal monologue even once.

[edit] Minor characters

Main article: Minor characters in Seinfeld

There were numerous recurring minor characters in Seinfeld. The most prominent were:

• Newman (played by Wayne Knight) — A rotund postal worker who served as an accomplice of Kramer and a nemesis of Jerry, Newman was a neighbor of both (Apartment 5E) and was noted for his excessive and enthusiastic eating habits. When Jerry and Newman meet, Jerry usually quips, "Hello, Newman." while scowling at him, and Newman replies "Hello, Jerry." while smirking at him devilishly. In some episodes, Newman goes completely out of his way to make life more difficult for Jerry. All of the main characters curse his name atleast once from being tricked by him in some way by saying "Newman!", while on some occasions, Newman has done the same for Jerry, saying "Jerry!" in the same manner.

Since the show has a reccuring theme of making comparisons and aullusions to superheroes, mostly Superman(Jerry's idol), Jerry plays the role of hero in the Seinfeld universe. To further this idea, the character Newman is essentially the arch-nemesis of Jerry; the villain of the show. While Newman is not a criminal mastermind on the same level as Lex Luthor, he and Jerry openly loathe one other, and Newman devotes much time to plotting new ways to defeat Jerry. In keeping with this theme, Newman's schemes are alway's foiled by Jerry, thus increasing Newman's neverending quest for revenge. Also like Lex Luthor, Newman will always be present to terrorize the hero another day, never being ultimately defeated and put away for good. Because as we all know, every hero needs a villain.

• Frank Costanza (played by Jerry Stiller) and Estelle Costanza (played by Estelle Harris) — George's eccentric parents. George credits them with driving him crazy.
• Susan Biddle Ross (played by Heidi Swedberg) — George's fiancée. She was previously an NBC executive and she also briefly experimented with lesbianism.
• Morty Seinfeld (played by several actors, with the most recognized being Barney Martin) and Helen Seinfeld (played by Liz Sheridan) — Jerry's parents. Morty was most famous for obstinately sticking to his convictions; Helen didn't understand why anyone wouldn't like her son Jerry, and perennially believes he is financially strapped. These two characters are thought to be based on Jerry Seinfeld's parents.
• Uncle Leo (played by Len Lesser) — Jerry's uncle and Helen's brother. He personified the eccentric old man and frequently belittled Jerry with comparisons to his own purportedly successful son. Usually greets Jerry by saying, "Jerry! Hellooo!", while Jerry responds awkwardly, "Hello Uncle Leo..."
• David Puddy (played by Patrick Warburton) — Elaine's on-and-off boyfriend. He was a fine auto mechanic, but was also an airhead with numerous quirks.
• J. Peterman (played by John O'Hurley) — Elaine's eccentric boss. He owned the J. Peterman haberdashery whose catalog Elaine worked on. Known to ramble on and on about his journeys to far off locations to find unique clothing in the style of a treasure hunter describing his adventures.
• George Steinbrenner (voiced by Larry David in a rapid-fire non-stop delivery) — George's boss and owner of the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner's face was never shown. He was parodied for his arrogance and being out-of-touch with the actual running of a baseball team. In edited scenes, the real George Steinbrenner made a cameo appearance and went out with Elaine. The scenes were cut due to time and can be seen in the 7th season DVD.

[edit] "No hugging, no learning"

Seinfeld violated several of the conventions of mainstream television. The show (which correctly or not) is often described as "about nothing",^[1] became the first television series widely described as postmodern.^[2] Several elements of Seinfeld fit in with a postmodern interpretation.

The characters were: "thirty-something singles ... with no roots, vague identities, and conscious indifference to morals." And the usual convention of isolating the characters from the actors playing them, and separating the characters' world from that of the actors and audience was broken. For example, the story arc in which the characters are promoting a television sitcom series named Jerry: Jerry was much like Seinfeld in that Seinfeld played himself, and that the show was "about nothing." Jerry was launched in the 1993 season four finale, though unlike Seinfeld, it was not picked up into a series.

On the set this was expressed as the "no hugging, no learning" rule, which held that the characters should not develop or improve throughout the series.

Gantz maintains that another factor in, or further proof of, spectators' and characters' participation in a larger Seinfeld community is the large amount of in-slang, "a lexicon of Seinfeldian code words and recurring phrases that go unnoticed by the infrequent or 'unknowing' viewer". Only the cognoscenti would understand the concepts of "double dipping" or "close-talking", or appreciate the addition of "not that there's anything wrong with that" by someone trying to take the edge off a politically incorrect remark. When questioned about whether or not he thought Seinfeld could be considered deconstruction, the philosopher Jacques Derrida^[3] rejected the claim that a sitcom could be deconstruction. However, this remark is often taken out of context, as he states he has never seen the Seinfeld show.

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."

[edit] Criticism and popularity

[edit] Early years

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. However, Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, diverted money from his budget, and the next four episodes: "Male-Unbonding," "The Stakeout," "The Robbery," and The Stock Tip were filmed.

Seinfeld was championed by television critics in its early seasons, even as it had yet to cultivate a substantial audience. The series was generally seen as steadily improving over the course of its first four seasons.

[edit] Seinfeld's prime years

Season 4 marked the sitcom's entrance into the Nielsen ratings Top 30, coinciding with a handful of high-profile episodes, such as "The Outing", "The Bubble Boy", and "The Junior Mint". In seasons 6 to 9 the show landed in the top 3 of the Nielsen Ratings, taking the number one spot twice (season 6 and 9).

Much publicity followed the controversial "The Contest," an Emmy Award-winning episode written by co-creator Larry David, whose subject matter (masturbation) was considered very risque. Strangely, the word "masturbation" was not even used in the script itself. Midway through that season Seinfeld was moved from its original 9pm timeslot on Wednesdays to 9:30pm on Thursdays, following Cheers, which gave the show even more popularity, and also resulted in the show winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993.

Season 5 was also a hit season as it made many popular episodes such as "The Mango", "The Puffy Shirt", "The Marine Biologist", "The Hamptons", and "The Opposite". This was also the first season to be shown on the 9pm timeslot on Thursdays, replacing Cheers. The show was again nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost to the Cheers spin-off Frasier, which was in its first season. Seinfeld was nominated for the same award every year for the rest of its run, but would keep losing to Frasier.

Season 6 found the show changing directors (Andy Ackerman replacing Tom Cherones) and quickening its pace, to the displeasure of some. Even so, the series remained well-regarded and produced some of its most famous shows, such as "The Fusilli Jerry", "The Jimmy" and "The Switch" which finally revealed Kramer's first name, Cosmo. This was also the first season in which Seinfeld landed at #1 on the Nielsen ratings.

According to the cast, crew and many critics, the series fully returned to form in its seventh season. A story arc was introduced in which George Costanza became engaged to former girlfriend Susan Ross, whose life he had derailed a few seasons back. Garnering its highest ratings yet, Seinfeld went on to produce some of its most famous episodes—namely "The Soup Nazi," in which Elaine and George get revenge on a draconian owner of a soup restaurant, "The Sponge" and "The Rye." The season ended on a highly polarizing note, however: "The Invitations", featuring a dark and unexpected plot twist in which George's fiancée Susan suddenly dies. The cause of death is revealed to be a toxic glue contained on cheap wedding invitations, which were selected by frugal George earlier in the episode. When delivered the news of her passing, the four main characters are hardly affected; George even seems relieved that his engagement has been so neatly dissolved. The episode drew Seinfeld's highest audience ever (later surpassed by the series finale) and a barrage of mixed critical and viewer reaction. "The Invitations" was removed from syndication in the fall of 2001, in the wake of the Anthrax scare. The episode returned to syndication in the summer of 2002.

[edit] After Larry David

The show continued to dominate the Nielsen ratings in its final two seasons (8 and 9), but its critical standing suffered. This coincided with the departure of Larry David, the series co-creator, longtime writer and executive producer.

In David's absence, and under the direction of a new writing staff, Seinfeld became more of a fast-paced, absurdist show. The humor began to rely heavily on slapstick, and storylines occasionally delved into pure fantasy—such as a thread in which birthday wishes are shown to come true, or where a night club magically transforms into a meat-packing plant by morning. This was a dramatic shift from the character and dialog-based humor of past seasons, and one lamented by many critics while coinciding with increasingly stronger ratings.^[4] Many popular episodes, such as "The Bizarro Jerry" and "The Strike", hail from this period; the latter being responsible for introducing Festivus into the pop culture lexicon.

The New York Post went so far as to conduct a poll early in the ninth season, asking readers whether or not the most recent episodes were as strong as the classic reruns, then ubiquitous in syndication. More than half of those polled felt that Seinfeld was not up to its previous standards. Jerry Seinfeld responded with a letter to the paper, thanking them for considering his show to be worthy of such a survey. ^{[citations needed]}

[edit] Ending

[edit] Hype

After nine years on the air and 176 episodes filmed (along with four clip shows), Jerry Seinfeld announced on December 26, 1997, 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.^[5]

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, which aired on May 14, 1998. Before the finale a one-hour retrospective and clip show aired which included memorable scenes from the show's 180 episodes.

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."^[6] The secrecy only seemed to increase speculation on how the series would end. Some suggested Jerry and Elaine would marry, 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 marry.^[7]

Since the episode aired on the same day that Frank Sinatra died, the episode's airing was largely overshadowed by this event, however it still enjoyed a huge audience, estimated at 76 million viewers. This makes the episode the third most watched finale in television history^{[citation needed]}, but received mixed reviews from both critics and fans of the show.

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,^[8] while the show itself held the record for the Highest Television Advertising Rates until 2004, when the final episode of Friends aired.^[9]

[edit] The Finale storyline

Main article: The Finale (Seinfeld episode)

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.

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 crash and die. Shortly after, the pilot makes a successful emergency landing in the fictional Massachusetts town of Latham where they witness a mugging and violate a Good Samaritan law. Ironically, they are prosecuted for not coming to the victim's aid, thus, the show about nothing, ends with them being charged for doing nothing. The four friends are put on trial and are sent to prison for one year after an unfair hearing, despite Jackie Childs' character protesting that the character witnesses are only trying to settle a score and Costanza's mother attempts to seduce the judge. This fails after the judge receives testimony from a parade of familiar people, such as the Soup Nazi, the Bubble Boy, a woman who got hit by a car, 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. George mentions that they can get on parole after serving six to seven months to try and restart Jerry again, and that they will only have to pay half a year's rent for their apartment. They question whether or not they have had the conversation already. The "second button" conversation was the first conversation in the very first episode.

[edit] Awards

The show topped TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002, and placed two characters in TV Guide's List of the 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time (Costanza at #10, Kramer at #35) in 1999. It was so influential in the '90s popular culture, it came in first in E!'s 2004 countdown of 101 Reasons the '90s Ruled. For its impact, the show won countless awards throughout the decade, winning 10 Emmy Awards and being nominated every year of its run.

[edit] DVD releases

Main article: Seinfeld DVD releases

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 three seasons were released on 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 was released in the U.S. on November 21, 2006. Season 8 is going to be released in the U.S. on June 5, 2007.

[edit] Life after Seinfeld

[edit] The "Seinfeld curse"

Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus and Richards have all attempted unsuccessfully to launch new sitcoms as title-role characters. Despite decent acclaim and even some respectable ratings, almost every show was cancelled quickly, usually within the first season. This has given rise to the term "Seinfeld curse" to describe sitcom failure by an actor following massive success on an ensemble show. Shows specifically cited regarding the Seinfeld curse are Jason Alexander's Bob Patterson and Listen Up!, Michael Richards' The Michael Richards Show, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Watching Ellie.

Since the end of the program, Alexander has acted in film, theater and television, including guest appearances on Larry David's HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Louis-Dreyfus also appeared on "Curb" and has received on-screen and voice credits in television (such as Arrested Development) and animated film. Louis-Dreyfus is starring in the CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which debuted in March 2006 to strong ratings and has been consistent ever since. The show was also renewed for a second season, causing many to claim that the Seinfeld curse has been broken.^{[citation needed]} Its 24 episodes make it the longest running show starring a Seinfeld alumnus since Seinfeld ended. Louis-Dreyfus also received an Emmy Award for lead actress in a comedy series for her role as Christine. The "Seinfeld curse" was discussed in the opening of Saturday Night Live episode on May 13, 2006, hosted by Louis-Dreyfus. Alexander and Seinfeld also appeared in this episode of SNL. Richards continues to appear in new film and television work as well.

"It's so completely idiotic.... It's very hard to have a successful sitcom," Larry David once said of the curse.^[10] Most new sitcoms do not enjoy the success of hits like Seinfeld, though David's Curb Your Enthusiasm went on to win Emmy Awards; the series relied on his signature humor, embodied in the Seinfeld character of George.

Patrick Warburton, who played David Puddy, was also hit by the curse when his superhero-themed show, The Tick, was canceled after just one season. However, he has found success in voice acting. His repertoire includes the voice of Joe Swanson in Family Guy, the title character of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, acts in American Dad, Steve Barkin in Kim Possible, the Wolf in Hoodwinked, and Kronk in The Emperor's New Groove, Kronk's New Groove, and the The Emperor's New School. Lately, he can be seen on ABC's show Less Than Perfect as Jeb Denton, and on Adult Swim's The Venture Brothers as Brock Samson. Since February 5, 2007 he stars in a new series, Rules of Engagement.

[edit] Successes

Alexander was also the voice of Duckman, a series whose 1994 until 1997 run coincided with Seinfeld as well as guest starring as "Leonard" on Malcolm in the Middle. Wayne Knight has since had roles of similar importance to Newman, as in the not-so-successful The Edge, and as a police officer in 3rd Rock from the Sun. He has also done some voice acting, notably as the dragon Dojo in Xiaolin Showdown, and later on, as Mr. Blik in the Nickelodeon cartoon Catscratch. The actor who really broke "the curse" was Jerry Stiller, who was cast successfully as Arthur, Doug Heffernan's annoying father-in-law in The King of Queens. Bryan Cranston, who had a semi-recurring role on Seinfeld as Dr. Tim Whatley, was cast as Hal in the successful FOX sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. He also had a recurring role as Doug Heffernan's annoying neighbor Tim Sasky on The King of Queens.

In the summer of 2005, John O'Hurley, who played J. Peterman in a recurring role on the final seasons of Seinfeld, received extensive publicity when he finished as the runner-up on the highly rated American ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars. He was topped in this effort by Kelly Monaco, but won the subsequent "rematch". O'Hurley has gone on to make cameo appearances in many other programs, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Drake & Josh, and has done numerous television commercials for GCI, an Alaskan phone and internet communications company. In addition, he appeared in a commercial for Progressive Insurance, in which he portrayed a character very similar to the Peterman character. On September 11, 2006, O'Hurley began hosting Family Feud, replacing Richard Karn. Also, in a case of life imitating art, O'Hurley became a major investor in the real-life J. Peterman catalog company, and sits on the company's board of directors.

On August 27, 2006, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won an Emmy for her show The New Adventures of Old Christine, where she exclaimed, “I’m not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby" in reference to the "Seinfeld Curse."

[edit] Seinfeld himself

Main article: Jerry Seinfeld

After his television series ended in 1998 Jerry Seinfeld has not been involved in projects on the scale as Seinfeld. He returned to stand-up comedy and appeared in various short projects such as commercials and short appearances.

He recorded a comedy special entitled I'm Telling You for the Last Time. An album of the same name was also released that year, and it featured samples of his stand-up performance. The process of developing and performing new material at clubs around the world was chronicled in a 2002 documentary, Comedian, directed by Christian Charles. His stand-up routine is highly acclaimed and Seinfeld was ranked #12 in Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. Seinfeld has also written a few books, which are mostly archives of past routines.

An episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Jerry Seinfeld featured an "episode" of Oz (using the actual set and actors) where Jerry, who was sent to prison during the final episode of Seinfeld, is transferred to Em City; the short film combines and parodies memorable moments in both series.^[11]

In 2004, Seinfeld also appeared in two commercials 'webisodes' promoting American Express Credit Cards in which he appeared together with an animated rendering of Superman, voiced by Patrick Warburton (who had portrayed David Puddy on Seinfeld). The webisodes were directed by Barry Levinson.

In 2007 Seinfeld will appear in Bee Movie.

[edit] Product placement

A recurring feature of Seinfeld was its use of specific products, especially candy, as plot points. These might be a central feature of a plot (e.g. Junior Mints, Twix, Jujyfruits,Snickers, Chunky, Oh Henry! and Pez), or an association of a candy with a guest character (e.g. Oh Henry! bars), or simply a conversational aside (e.g. Chuckles). Non-candy products featured in Seinfeld include Rold Gold pretzels (whose advertisements at the time featured Jason Alexander), Kenny Rogers Roasters (a chicken restaurant chain), Ben & Jerry's, H&H Bagels, Drake's Coffee Cakes, Pepsi, Bosco Chocolate Syrup, Cadillac, Saab, Specialized Bicycles, BMW, Tupperware, Calvin Klein, Klein Bicycles, Ovaltine, Arby's, TV Guide, Trump Tower, the board games Risk, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, and Battleship, Entenmann's and the J. Peterman clothing catalog. The computers in Jerry's apartment are always Apple Macintosh; 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.

One product placement, for Snapple, was inserted as a parody of product placement; when offered some by Elaine in the middle of a conversation, the character Babu Bhatt's brother declines, calling the drink "too fruity."

The show's creators claim that they were not engaging in a product placement strategy for commercial gain. One of the motivations for the use of real-world products, 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 effecting a change in attitude toward product placement in US primetime TV shows. Product placement became more common in TV shows after Seinfeld demonstrated that a successful show could work specific products into its plots and dialogue.^{[citation needed]}

Although not exactly product placements but of a fanboyism as Jerry, himself a real life collector, 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. Similarly, the episode The Pledge Drive takes place at the real-life public television station WNET.

Two other types of advertising also capitalized on Seinfeld. One is 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 commercial 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 plays on his George's relationship with George Steinbrenner. 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.

In addition to placement of actual products, repeated mention and use of Hennegan's whiskey was inserted throughout the series. With the exception a few notable episodes (and then usually relating to Elaine or her current beau), alcohol was typically absent from consumption or mention.

[edit] Seinfeld re-creations

Perth, Australia-based comedian and hoaxer Anthony Frosh attempted numerous Seinfeld situation recreations, the best known being a setup in which he posed as Mr. Bookman (i.e. The Library cop from "The Library") to head film critic Mark Naglazas for the West Australian. The incident was covered each day for a week in May 2005 in the inside cover of that publication, until Frosh eventually revealed the hoax.

[edit] Trivia

• The George Costanza character is based upon the co-creator of Seinfeld, Larry David; Kramer is based on Larry David's former neighbor, Kenny Kramer.
• A popular myth is that Superman appears in every episode of the show, either during discussions or as picture or a statue.^[12] This is not true. For instance, "The Chinese Restaurant" (Season 2, Episode 11) and "The Parking Garage" (Season 3, Episode 6), contain no reference to Superman.
• All Seinfeld episode titles start with the word 'The', with the exception of "Male Unbonding" (episode 4 from season 1).^[13]
• Jerry Seinfeld appears in every episode. Jason Alexander did not have a part in "The Pen". Michael Richards was absent from "The Pen" and "The Chinese Restaurant". Julia Louis-Dreyfus was missing from "The Seinfeld Chronicles", "The Trip, Part 1", and "The Trip, Part 2".
• The audience in the stand-up segments is actually the studio audience.
• The show's original name was "Stand-up" then "The Seinfeld Chronicles" before they finally settled with Seinfeld.
• Kramer's apartment was originally leased by Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) from Mad About You who gave up the apartment when he married. Kramer subleased the apartment from Paul until Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) made her husband give up the apartment. This was revealed in a 1992 episode ("The Apartment") of Mad About You, but never mentioned in Seinfeld. This does present a continuity issue, because some years later in a Seinfeld episode, George is summoned by his fiancee Susan Ross to the bedroom, to watch Mad About You on TV.
• In most of the episodes, Jerry is seen eating a bowl of cereal. According to DVD commentary, Jerry does eat a significant amount of cereal in real life.
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus's two pregnancies were hidden during the course of the show. There are episodes in which Julia is shown wearing layers of coats to hide it.
• Some minor characters, or characters who are referred to but who don't appear onscreen, are sometimes named after writers and other members of the crew. For example, Alec Berg (who gives Jerry hockey tickets) and Steven Koren (who appeals to George to return the Susan Ross Foundation's scholarship with the aid of The Van Buren Boys) were both writers and producers on the show.
• In various episodes where one or more of the main characters are shown on the street, there is sometimes a Coca-Cola advertisement. However, it is scratched up and distorted-looking. This was done to bypass having to pay the Coca-Cola company.
• In the episode The Engagement, when caught by the police for kidnapping a dog, Newman asks, "What took you so long?" These are reportedly the first words that mailman and mass-murderer David Berkowitz (aka The Son of Sam) said upon his arrest.
• The pilot episode also has an alternate title; "Good News, Bad News".

[edit] Sub articles

• List of Seinfeld episodes
• Seinfeld music scores
• Seinfeld DVD releases
• Seinfeld awards
• Running gags in Seinfeld
• Festivus

[edit] See also

• Must See TV

Seinfeld view • talk • edit
Characters
Main Characters:	Jerry Seinfeld • George Costanza • Elaine Benes • Cosmo Kramer
Associated with Jerry:	Helen Seinfeld • Morty Seinfeld • Uncle Leo • Kenny Bania • Sally Weaver • Dr. Tim Whatley
Associated with George:	Estelle Costanza • Frank Costanza • Susan Ross • Mr. Wilhelm • Mr. Kruger • Lloyd Braun • George Steinbrenner
Associated with Elaine:	J. Peterman • David Puddy • Mr. Lippman • Justin Pitt • Sue Ellen Mischke
Associated with Kramer:	Newman • Mickey Abbott • Jackie Chiles • Bob Sacamano • Babs Kramer • Lomez
Other:	The Soup Nazi • "Crazy" Joe Davola • Minor characters in Seinfeld
Culture of the Seinfeld Universe
Festivus • Master of your domain • Regifting • Shrinkage • Close talker • Fictional films in Seinfeld • Coffee Table Book
Other
Episodes • Running gags • DVD releases

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Seinfeld.com, the Official Site from Sony Pictures Television
• Seinfeld at Wikia
• Seinfeld at the Internet Movie Database
• Seinfeld Blog
• The Unofficial Seinfeld Encyclopedia
• SeinFAQ - The Unofficial Seinfeld FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
• Seinfeld episodes at TV.com
• SeinfeldChronicles.com - includes all 180 scripts
• SeinfeldScripts.com - includes all scripts
• Seinfeld Scripts - gives scripts for all episodes
• In Pursuit Of Nothing, The Seinfeld DVD Trivia Board Game
• Seinfeld Quiz