The History of Seinfeld
It has been hailed as the greatest sitcom of all time, and a cultural phenomenon, despite being a show about nothing! Originally premiering on NBC in 1989, the show went on to entertain audiences for nine laughter-filled seasons, all while becoming a major hit in syndication. Created by Larry David and stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, it is centered on the fictional portrayal of Seinfeld’s personal life. Set in, and around, his apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Monks Café, Jerry was joined by several co-stars. These included Jason Alexander as his petty and envious best friend George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as his superficial ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes, and Michael Richards as his wacky next-door neighbor Cosmo Kramer. Always hilarious, its topics and plots were directly exploited from the writer’s real-life experiences and the everyday and mundane aspects of life. In this video, WatchMojo.com takes a look back at the popular sitcom Seinfeld.
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The History of Seinfeld
It became a cultural phenomenon, and has been hailed as the greatest sitcom of all time, despite being a show about nothing! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be taking a look at the history of Seinfeld.
Originally premiering as “The Seinfeld Chronicles” on NBC in 1989, the show quickly changed its name, and went on to entertain audiences for nine laughter-filled seasons, all while becoming a major hit in syndication.
Created by Larry David and stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, the series was created as a fictional portrayal of Seinfeld’s personal life. Not only bookending the series with his stand up acts, its topics and plots were directly exploited from the writer’s real-life experiences and Seinfeld’s own stage material. This was centered on poking fun at the everyday and more mundane aspects of life.
These included scenarios like forgetting where the characters parked their car, lining up for soup and waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant.
Set in, and around, his apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and Monks Café, Jerry was joined by several co-stars. These included Jason Alexander as his petty and envious best friend George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as his superficial ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes, and Michael Richards as his wacky next-door neighbor Cosmo Kramer.
Among a huge list of recurring characters are Jerry’s nemesis Newman, his parents, uncle Leo, Elaine’s boss Peterman, deranged mechanic David Puddy, and even an eccentric and never fully seen spoof of New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.
Breaking several conventions of mainstream television, its characters never seemed to learn anything, and never become pitiable. In fact, Seinfeld dodged moral lessons, and rarely ended an episode with a happy ending. But when it did, it would come at somebody else’s expense.
The series is also attributed with leaving a huge impact on popular culture. This includes coining hundreds of memorable catchphrases that are taken for granted today. (such as “Yada Yada Yada”, “Re-gifter”, “Man Hands”, Close-Talker”, “Anti-Dentite”, “No Soup for you!”, “Shrinkage” and “These Pretzels are making me thirsty”)
Winning several awards throughout the 90s, it has been recognized for being an outstanding comedy series, with outstanding performances by an ensemble cast.
Strangely, the sheer success and reputation of the show and its actors never translated well for its three co-stars. Going on to several television flops each, these failures have been labeled as “The Seinfeld Curse,” and in true Seinfeld tradition this real life phenomena has become a major source of material for Larry David’s later project “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
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