Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
show name	Seinfeld
genre	Sitcom
director	Art WolffTom CheronesAndy AckermanDavid Steinberg
writer	Larry DavidJerry Seinfeld
runtime	22 minutes
creator	Larry DavidJerry Seinfeld
starring	Jerry SeinfeldJulia Louis-DreyfusMichael RichardsJason Alexander
executive producer	Larry David (Seasons 1–7)Howard WestGeorge ShapiroAndrew Scheinman(Seasons 2–4)Jerry Seinfeld (Seasons 8–9)Alec Berg (Season 9)Jeff Schaffer (Season 9)
country	United States
language	English
network	NBC
camera	Multi-camera
company	Castle Rock EntertainmentConundrum Entertainment ("The Virgin")
distributor	Columbia Pictures Television (1989–1998)Columbia TriStar Television (1999–2002)Sony Pictures Television (2002–present)
first aired
last aired
related	''Curb Your Enthusiasm''
status	Ended
picture format	4:3 SDTV16:9 HDTV (details)
num seasons	9
num episodes	180
list episodes	List of Seinfeld episodes
website	http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/seinfeld/ }}

''Seinfeld'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block on Manhattan's Upper West Side (but shot in Los Angeles), the show features a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, in particular best friend George Costanza, former girlfriend Elaine Benes and next door neighbor, Cosmo Kramer.

''Seinfeld'' was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and distributed in association with Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television; Sony Pictures Television has distributed the series since 2002. It was largely co-written by David and Seinfeld with 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, Max Pross, Charlie Rubin, Marjorie Gross, Alec Berg, Elaine Pope, and Spike Feresten.

A critical favorite, commercial blockbuster and cultural phenomenon, the show led the Nielsen ratings in its sixth and ninth seasons and finished among the top two (along with NBC's ''ER'') every year from 1994 to 1998. In 2002, ''TV Guide'' named ''Seinfeld'' the greatest television program of all time.

Overview

''Seinfeld'' stood out from the many family and group sitcoms of its time. None of the principal ''Seinfeld'' characters were related by family or work connections but remained distinctively close friends throughout the seasons. The episodes of most sitcoms like ''Family Ties'', ''Who's the Boss?'' and ''Full House'' revolve around a central theme or contrived comic situations, whereas many episodes of ''Seinfeld'' focused on minutiae, such as waiting in line at the movies, going out for dinner, buying a suit and dealing with the petty injustices of life. The view presented in ''Seinfeld'' is arguably consistent with the philosophy of nihilism, the idea that life is meaningless.

The main characters and many recurring characters were based on Seinfeld's and David's real-life acquaintances. Two prominent recurring characters were based on well-known people: Jacopo Peterman of the J. Peterman catalog (based on John Peterman), and George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees.

With every ''Seinfeld'' episode, the structure is mainly the way the principal characters' storyline is set. A story thread is presented at the beginning of each episode, which involves the characters in separate and seemingly unrelated situations. Rapid scene-shifts between storylines bring the stories together toward the end of the episode. Despite the separate plot strands, the narratives reveal the creators' "consistent efforts to maintain the intimacy" amongst 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, story arcs spanned multiple episodes and even entire seasons. For example, Jerry's girlfriend appears in "The Stake Out" and he ends the relationship when things do not work out in "The Stock Tip". Other examples were Kramer getting his jacket back and Elaine heading the "Peterman catalog". Larry David, the show's head writer and executive producer for the first seven seasons, was praised for keeping a close eye on minor details and making sure the main characters' lives remained consistent and believable. ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''—David's later comedy series—further expanded on this idea by following a specific theme for all but one season in the series.

The most important difference between ''Seinfeld'' and other sitcoms prior to this is that the principal characters never learned their moral lessons throughout the seasons. In effect, they were indifferent to the outside world and could be callous towards their guest characters and relatives, indeed sometimes towards each other; a mantra of the show's producers was: "No hugging, no learning." This leads to very few happy endings, except when they come at someone else's expense. More often in every episode, situations resolved with characters getting a justly deserved "comeuppance".

Main characters

Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) – Jerry is a "minor celebrity" stand-up comedian who is often portrayed as "the voice of reason" amidst all the insanity generated by the people in his world. His character is a slight germophobe and a neat freak, as well as an avid Superman and breakfast cereal fan. Jerry's apartment is the center of a world visited by his eccentric friends George, Elaine, and Kramer. Plot lines often involve Jerry's romantic relationships. He typically finds small, silly reasons to stop dating women; some of the reasons for the breakups include his dislike for a woman because she eats her peas one at a time, a woman having over-sized "man hands" and a woman having an annoying laugh.

George Costanza (Jason Alexander) – George is Jerry's best friend. He is cheap, dishonest, petty and often envious of others' achievements. He is often portrayed as a loser who is insecure about his capabilities. He frequently complains and lies about his profession, relationships, and almost everything else, which usually creates trouble for him later. He often uses an alias ("Art Vandelay") when lying or concocting a cover story. Despite these shortcomings, George manages to date numerous women and achieves a successful career as Assistant to the Traveling Secretary for the New York Yankees. During the run of the show, he and Jerry work with NBC to produce a pilot episode of a TV show called ''Jerry''. During this time, he meets Susan Ross who works for NBC. George has an on-and-off relationship with her until she dies from licking envelopes. He often pretends to be an architect and once pretended to be a marine biologist to impress a woman.

Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) – Elaine is Jerry's ex-girlfriend. She is intelligent and assertive, but superficial. She sometimes has a tendency to be very honest with people, which often gets her into trouble. She usually gets caught up in her boyfriends' habits, her eccentric employers' unusual demands, and the unkindness of total strangers. A recurring theme for Elaine is her frustrating inability to find Mr. Right and really going out of her way to get what she really wants. She most regularly has arguments with almost anyone throughout the series. One of Elaine's trademark moves is her forceful shove while screaming "Get out!" when she receives good or shocking news. Another is her memorable "Little Kicks" dance moves. She also has a hatred for "The English Patient" in which she loses her friends because of the movie. Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) – Kramer is Jerry's "wacky neighbor". His trademarks include his humorous upright pompadour hairstyle, vintage clothing and energetic sliding bursts through Jerry's apartment door. At times, he appears naive, dense, and almost childlike yet he randomly shows astonishing insight into human behavior, in addition to displaying amazing "people skills" and charisma in gaining the confidence and goodwill of just about any person, no matter how ill-tempered they may be in general (ala "The Soup-Nazi"); likewise, he makes friends with people very easily with his charm and easygoing manner, and has almost effortless success with women. Indeed, his oddities aside, Kramer is often the only main character acting with any sort of apparent conscience, and is typically the only one to lobby for maintaining social decorum in order to appease acquaintances. Although he never holds a steady job, he often invents wacky schemes which usually work at first but then eventually fail. Among these are coffee table books about coffee tables (for which he appeared on ''Live with Regis and Kathie Lee''), an entrepreneurial venture called Kramerica in which he and an intern proposed lining an oil tanker with a large rubber bladder, and a brassiere for men called the ''Bro'' (or ''Manssiere'' suggested by Frank Costanza).

Recurring characters

There are numerous recurring characters in ''Seinfeld''. The most prominent are:

Newman (portrayed by Wayne Knight) – With his first name never mentioned throughout the series run, Newman is mainly considered to be Jerry's nemesis. Newman is an overweight and despicable postal carrier, though curiously well-educated and articulate, who lives in Jerry and Kramer's building. At times, he goes out of his way to make Jerry's life miserable; he also frequently barges into Jerry's apartment uninvited, usually with Kramer. Aside from the main four, he is the most frequently recurring character; first appearing off-screen (voiced by Larry David and later by Knight for syndication purposes) in "The Revenge", he marked his first on-screen appearance in "The Suicide" and carried on until the series' finale.

Morty Seinfeld (originally portrayed by Phil Bruns, replaced by Barney Martin) and Helen Seinfeld (portrayed by Liz Sheridan) – Jerry's parents, who live in Florida. Morty is a retired raincoat salesman, the inventor of a beltless trenchcoat and famous for obstinately sticking to his convictions; Helen cannot understand why anyone would not like her son. They always feel that Jerry is not making enough money, frequently belittle his comedy career, and try to help him out financially by sending him "fifty dollars". These two characters are based on Jerry Seinfeld's real-life parents.

Frank Costanza (originally portrayed by John Randolph, replaced by Jerry Stiller) and Estelle Costanza (portrayed by Estelle Harris) – George's eccentric parents, who live in Queens. George usually blames them for his current mental state and failure to succeed in life. They are known for their violent tempers, often leading to yelling and constant verbal fights. They make many appearances in seasons 4–9. John Randolph's scenes as Frank Costanza in the episode "The Handicap Spot" were reshot for syndication with Jerry Stiller in the role.

Uncle Leo (portrayed by Len Lesser) – Jerry's eccentric uncle. He keeps mentioning his son, Jeffrey, who works in the NYC Parks Department. He is often seen saying "Hello" in his trademark style whenever he sees Jerry. He appears in several episodes from season 2 to 9.

Susan Ross (played by Heidi Swedberg) – George's fiancée and a former NBC executive. She first appeared in season 4 as an NBC executive overseeing Jerry and George's pilot. She and George dated for a while until she broke up with him because he got her fired. She returned in season 7 when she and George get engaged. In the last episode of this season, she dies as a result of licking toxic envelopes while making invitations to her and George's wedding. She is the most frequent recurring female character in seasons 4 and 7 and has a brief appearance again in a flashback sequence in the season 9 episode titled "The Betrayal".

George Steinbrenner (voiced by Larry David, portrayed by Lee Bear, who is only seen from behind, or in silhouette) – George's boss and owner of the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner's face is never shown on the show. He is parodied for his arrogance and lack of touch with the realities of running of a baseball team. A recurring gag is for him to call George into his office, then proceed to ramble on about inane topics as George slowly walks out the door. He frequently appears from the finale of season 5 to season 9. The real Steinbrenner made an appearance in an episode, "The Invitations", but the scene was edited out when it was aired on television.

Jacopo Peterman (played by John O'Hurley) – one of Elaine's eccentric bosses. Peterman owns The J. Peterman Company and Elaine works on the catalog published by the company. Using the florid style of a treasure-hunting adventurer, he typically announces his journeys to exotic locations in search of unique clothing. In the beginning of Season 8, he walks out on the company and escapes to Burma (or Myanmar), appointing Elaine as the president of the company. He eventually returns later in the same season. He makes frequent appearances from the finale of season 6 through to season 9.

Kenny Bania (played by Steven Hytner) – Jerry's fellow stand-up comedian. Jerry considers Bania a "hack" and is usually annoyed by his attempts at humor. Bania is also shown to have a rather obsessive fondness for soup and Ovaltine, which he likes to frequently include in his stand-up routine. He appears in six episodes from seasons 6 to 9.

David Puddy (played by Patrick Warburton) – Elaine's on-again, off-again boyfriend. He is a competent auto mechanic, but also an airhead with numerous quirks, most notably his squinting, staring, and insatiable appetite for high fives. He is known for his curt, unapologetic delivery and unflinching assuredness. His trademark catch phrase is "Yeah, that's right." He appears in two episodes near the end of season 6 and in eight episodes of season 9.

Jackie Chiles (played by Phil Morris) – Kramer's lawyer. He has a secretary named Suzy and sets up appointments for his clients with an unseen "Dr. Bison". He also speaks with a rapid-fire delivery and tends to overuse adjectives like "preposterous" and "outrageous". Chiles is a caricature of Johnnie Cochran. He appears in five episodes between seasons 7 to 9.

Notable guest appearances

In addition to its regularly recurring characters, ''Seinfeld'' featured numerous celebrities who appeared as themselves or as girlfriends, boyfriends, bosses and other acquaintances. Many of those who made guest appearances became household names later in their careers, or were comedians and actors already well known for previous work.

Characteristics

Theme

''Seinfeld'' broke several conventions of mainstream television. The show, often described as being about "nothing", became the first television series since ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' to be widely described as postmodern. Several elements of ''Seinfeld'' fit in with a postmodern interpretation. The show is typically driven by humor interspersed with superficial conflict and characters with strange dispositions. Many episodes revolved around the characters becoming involved in the lives of others to typically disastrous results. On the set, the notion that the characters should not develop or improve throughout the series was expressed as the "no hugging, no learning" rule. Unlike most sitcoms, there are no moments of pathos; the audience is never made to feel sorry for any of the characters. Even Susan's death in the series elicits no genuine emotions from anyone in the show.

The characters were "thirty-something singles with no roots, vague identities, and conscious indifference to morals." Usual conventions, such as isolating the characters from the actors playing them and separating the characters' world from that of the actors and audience, were broken. One such example is the story arc in which the characters promote a television sitcom series named ''Jerry''. The show within the show, ''Jerry'', was much like ''Seinfeld'' in that it was "about nothing" and Seinfeld played himself. ''Jerry'' was launched in the Season 4 finale but unlike ''Seinfeld'' it was not picked up as a series.

Plotlines

Many Seinfeld episodes are based on its writers' real-life experiences. For example, "The Revenge" is based on Larry David's experience at ''Saturday Night Live''. "The Contest" and "The Phone Message" are also based on David's experiences. "The Smelly Car" is based on Peter Mehlman's lawyer friend, who could not get a bad smell out of his car. "The Strike" is based on Dan O'Keefe's dad, who made up his own holiday—Festivus. Other stories take on a variety of different turns. "The Chinese Restaurant" consists of the main characters (excluding Kramer) simply waiting for a table throughout the entire episode. "The Boyfriend", revolving around Keith Hernandez, extends through two episodes. "The Betrayal" is famous for using reverse chronology, and was inspired by a similar plot device in a Harold Pinter play. Some stories were inspired by headlines and rumors, which are explained in the DVD features "Notes About Nothing," "Inside Look," and "Audio Commentary." In "The Maestro", Kramer's lawsuit is roughly similar to the McDonald's coffee case. "The Outing" is based mainly on rumors that Larry Charles heard about Jerry Seinfeld's sexuality.

Catchphrases

Many terms coined, popularized, or repopularized during the series' run have become part of popular culture. Notable catchphrases include "Yada, yada, yada", "shrinkage", "hellooooo", "These pretzels are making me thirsty", "master of your domain", "Anti-dentite", "Double dip", "No soup for you!" and "Not that there's anything wrong with that".

Other popular terms that also made the transition into slang were created by, directed at or about secondary characters, including: "Festivus", "spongeworthy", "re-gifter", "man hands", "close-talker", "mimbo", "low-talker" and "high-talker".

As a body, the lexicon of Seinfeldian code words and recurring phrases that evolved around particular episodes is referred to as Seinlanguage, the title of Jerry Seinfeld's best-selling book on humor.

Progression

Seasons 1–3

The show premiered as ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' on July 5, 1989. After it aired, a pickup by NBC did not seem likely and the show was actually offered to Fox, which declined to pick it up. Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, however, diverted money from his budget, and the next four episodes were filmed. These episodes were highly rated as they followed ''Cheers'' on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., and the series was finally picked up. At one point NBC considered airing these episodes on Saturdays at 10:30PM, but instead gave that slot to a short-lived sitcom called ''FM''. The series was renamed ''Seinfeld'' after the failure of short-lived 1990 ABC series ''The Marshall Chronicles''.. After airing in the summer of 1990, the series' second season was bumped off its scheduled premiere of January 16, 1991, due to the start of the Persian Gulf war. It settled in a regular time slot on Wednesdays at 9:30PM and eventually flipped with veteran series ''Night Court'' to 9:00PM.

''Seinfeld'' was championed by television critics in its early seasons, even as it was yet to cultivate a substantial audience. Early episodes such as "The Chinese Restaurant", "The Pony Remark", "The Parking Garage", and "The Subway", tended to be more realistic than the later ones, and dealt with the minutiae of daily life, such as getting stuck on the subway or waiting to be seated at a Chinese restaurant. An episode in Season 2, titled "The Bet" written by Larry Charles, showed Elaine buying a gun from Kramer's friend. This episode was, however, not filmed because the content was deemed unacceptable and was hastily replaced by the episode "The Phone Message". An episode "The Stranded" which was aired in Season 3 was originally intended to air in Season 2. In the beginning of this episode, Jerry clears up the continuity error over George's real estate job. For the first three seasons, Jerry's stand-up comedy act would bookend an episode, for a while even functioning as cut scenes during the show.

Seasons 4–5

Season 4 marked the sitcom's entry into the Nielsen ratings Top 30, coinciding with several popular episodes, such as "The Bubble Boy", "The Outing", "The Airport", and "The Junior Mint". This was the first season to use a story arc, in which Jerry and George try to create their own sitcom, ''Jerry''. Also at this time, Jerry's stand-up act slowly declined with the middle stand-up segment no longer part of the episodes that preceded it.

Much publicity followed the controversial episode, "The Contest", an Emmy Award-winning episode written by co-creator Larry David, whose subject matter was considered inappropriate for primetime network television. To circumvent this taboo, the word "masturbation" was never used in the script itself, instead substituted by a variety of oblique references. Midway through that season, ''Seinfeld'' was moved from its original 9:00 P.M. time slot on Wednesdays to 9:30 P.M. on Thursdays, following ''Cheers'' again, which gave the show even more popularity. The move was also sparked by ratings, as Tim Allen's megahit sitcom'' Home Improvement'' on ABC had aired at the same time and ''Improvement'' kept beating ''Seinfeld'' in the ratings. NBC moved the series after Ted Danson had announced the end of ''Cheers'' and ''Seinfeld'' quickly surpassed the ratings of the 9:00 P.M. ''Cheers'' reruns that spring. The show won an Emmy Award for ''Outstanding Comedy Series'' in 1993, beating out its family-oriented and time-slot competitor ''Home Improvement'', which was only in its second season on fellow network ABC.

Season 5 was an even bigger ratings-hit, as it consisted of many popular episodes such as "The Mango", "The Puffy Shirt", "The Lip Reader" with Marlee Matlin in the title role, "The Marine Biologist", "The Hamptons", and "The Opposite". Another story arc has George returning to live with his parents. In the midst of the story arc, Kramer creates and promotes his coffee table book. The show was again nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost to the ''Cheers'' spin-off ''Frasier'', which was only in its first season. ''Seinfeld'' was nominated for the same award every year for the rest of its run but always lost to ''Frasier'', which went on to win a record 39 Emmy Awards.

Seasons 6–7

With Season 6, Andy Ackerman replaced Tom Cherones as the director of the show. The series remained well-regarded and produced some of its most famous episodes, such as "The Fusilli Jerry", "The Chinese Woman", "The Jimmy", "The Face Painter", and "The Switch", when Kramer's mother revealed that his first name is Cosmo. Story arcs used in this season were Elaine working as a personal assistant to her eccentric boss Justin Pitt as well as George's parents' temporary separation. This was also the first season in which ''Seinfeld'' reached Number 1 in the Nielsen Ratings. Jerry's stand-up act further declined with the end stand-up segment no longer in use as the storylines for all four characters got more dense.

In Season 7, a story arc involved George getting engaged to his former girlfriend, Susan Ross, whose last appearance was in Season 4. He spends most of the season regretting the engagement and trying to get out of it. Garnering its highest ratings yet, ''Seinfeld'' went on to produce some of its most famous episodes—namely "The Soup Nazi", "The Secret Code", "The Maestro", and "The Rye" among others.

Following the anthrax scare of 2001, the episode, "The Invitations" was temporarily not shown in syndication due to the concern that it might seem objectionable and insensitive to portray Susan's death due to licking toxic envelopes.

Seasons 8–9

The show's ratings were still going very strong in its final two seasons (8 and 9), but its critical standing suffered. Larry David left at the end of Season 7 (although he would continue to voice Steinbrenner), so Seinfeld assumed David's duties as showrunner, and, under the direction of a new writing staff, ''Seinfeld'' became a more fast-paced show. The show no longer contained extracts of Jerry performing stand-up comedy, and storylines occasionally delved into fantasy, slapstick humor. An example being "The Bizarro Jerry", when Elaine is torn between exact opposites of her friends or when Jerry dates a woman who has the now-famed "man hands." Some notable episodes from season 8 include "The Little Kicks" showing Elaine's horrible dancing, "The Yada Yada", "The Chicken Roaster", and "The Comeback". A story arc in this season involves Peterman's trip to Burma and Elaine writing Peterman's biography which leads to Kramer's parody of Kenny Kramer's Reality Tour seen in "The Muffin Tops".

Season 9 included episodes such as "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Butter Shave", "The Betrayal" (scenes shown in reverse order chronologically), and "The Frogger" where George pushes a ''Frogger'' machine across the street. The last season included a story arc in which Elaine has an on/off relationship with David Puddy. Despite the enormous popularity and willingness from the rest of the cast to return for a tenth season, Seinfeld decided he should end the show after its ninth season in an effort to maintain quality and "go out on top".

A major controversy caused in this final season was the accidental burning of a Puerto Rican flag by Kramer in "The Puerto Rican Day". This scene caused a furor amongst Puerto Ricans, and as a result, NBC showed this episode only once.

Series finale

After nine years on the air, NBC and Jerry Seinfeld announced on December 25, 1997, that the series would end production the following spring in 1998. 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.

The series ended with a 75-minute episode (cut down to 60 minutes in syndication, in two parts) written by co-creator and former executive producer Larry David, which aired on May 14, 1998. Before the finale, a 45-minute retrospective clip show, "The Chronicle", was aired. The retrospective was expanded to sixty minutes after its original airing and aired once more on NBC as an hour-long episode, which has since aired in syndication.

It was also the first episode since the finale of Season 7, "The Invitations", to feature opening and closing stand-up comedy 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 shoot for the sake of keeping its plot secret, and all those who attended the shoot of the final episode signed written "vows of silence." The secrecy only seemed to increase speculation on how the series would end. 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.

The episode enjoyed a huge audience, estimated at 76 million viewers (58 percent of all viewers that night) making it the third most watched finale in television history, behind ''M*A*S*H'' and ''Cheers''. However, the finale received mixed reviews from both critics and fans of the show. 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 violating a "Good Samaritan law" and are sentenced to jail. The last conversation in this final episode repeats the very first conversation from the pilot episode, discussing the positioning of a button on George's shirt. In the finale, the characters vaguely recall having the conversation before.

According to ''Forbes'' magazine, Jerry Seinfeld's annual earning from the show in 2004 was $267 million. He was reportedly offered $5 million per episode to continue the show into a tenth season but he refused. As of July 2007, he is still the second highest earner in the television industry, earning $60 million a year. The show itself became the first television series to command more than $1 million a minute for advertising–a mark previously attained only by the Super Bowl. According to Barry Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros. Entertainment, ''Seinfeld'' has made $2.7 billion through June 2010.

Awards and nominations

''Seinfeld'' has received awards and nominations in various categories throughout the mid-90s. Several magazines and publications have listed it as the greatest television series of all time. It was awarded the Emmy for "Outstanding Comedy Series" in 1993, Golden Globe Award for "Best TV-Series (Comedy)" in 1994 and Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" in 1995, 1997 and 1998. Apart from these, the show was also nominated for an Emmy award from 1992 to 1998 for "Outstanding Comedy series," Golden Globe award from 1994 to 1998 for "Best TV-Series (Comedy)," and Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" from 1995 to 1998.

Ratings history

! Season	! Timeslot	! Season premiere	! Season finale	! TV season	! Seasonrank	! Viewers(in millions)
! 1		July 5, 1989	June 21, 1990	style="text-align:center;"
! 2	January 23, 1991	June 26, 1991	style="text-align:center;"
! 3	September 18, 1991	May 6, 1992	style="text-align:center;"
! 4		August 12, 1992	May 20, 1993	style="text-align:center;"
! 5		September 16, 1993	May 19, 1994	style="text-align:center;"
! 6	September 22, 1994	May 18, 1995	style="text-align:center;"
! 7	September 21, 1995	May 16, 1996	style="text-align:center;"
! 8	September 19, 1996	May 15, 1997	style="text-align:center;"
! 9	September 25, 1997	May 14, 1998	style="text-align:center;"

After ''Seinfeld''

The ''Seinfeld'' curse

Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander and Richards have each attempted to launch new sitcoms as title-role characters. Despite decent acclaim and even some respectable ratings, almost every show was canceled quickly, usually within the first season. This gave rise to the term ''Seinfeld curse'': the failure of a sitcom starring one of the three, despite the conventional wisdom that each person's ''Seinfeld'' popularity should almost guarantee a strong, built-in audience for the actor's new show. Shows specifically cited regarding the ''Seinfeld curse'' are Julia Louis-Dreyfus' ''Watching Ellie'', Jason Alexander's ''Bob Patterson'' and ''Listen Up!'', and Michael Richards' ''The Michael Richards Show''. Larry David once said of the curse, "It's so completely idiotic... It's very hard to have a successful sitcom."

This phenomenon was mentioned throughout the second season of Larry David's HBO program ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. However, the Emmy award-winning success of Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the CBS sitcom ''The New Adventures of Old Christine'' led many to believe that she had broken the curse. In her acceptance speech, Louis-Dreyfus held up her award and exclaimed, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!" The show was on the air for five seasons starting March 13, 2006 before its cancellation on May 18, 2010. The ''Saturday Night Live'' episode guest-hosted by Louis-Dreyfus on May 13, 2006 made several references to the curse.

Another scene

On the November 1, 2007, episode of ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', Jerry Seinfeld mentioned the possibility of shooting one last scene, after they leave prison. He mentioned he is far too busy to do it now, but did not announce what the scene would entail as it is still a possibility they will do it. In commentary from the final season DVD, Jerry Seinfeld outlines that he and Jason Alexander spoke about this scene being in Monk's Cafe, with George saying “That was brutal” in reference to the four's stint in jail.

''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' 2009 Reunion

Early in March 2009, it was announced that the ''Seinfeld'' cast would reunite for the seventh season of ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. The entire cast first appeared in the third episode of the season, all playing themselves. The season-long story is that Larry David tries to initiate a ''Seinfeld'' reunion show as a ploy to get his ex-wife, Cheryl, back. Along with the four main characters, some of ''Seinfeld'''s supporting actors such as Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris and Steve Hytner also appeared in the ninth episode at a table read for the reunion show. Though much of the dialogue in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' is improvised, the plot was scripted, and the ''Seinfeld'' special that aired within the show was scripted and directed by ''Seinfeld'' regular Andy Ackerman, making this the first time since ''Seinfeld'' went off the air that the central cast appeared together in a scripted show.

Consumer products

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, Nestlé 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, Clark Bar, Twinkies).

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), Oreo Cookies, Ben & Jerry's, H&H; Bagels, Baskin Robbins, Dockers, bite size Three Musketeers, Drake's Coffee Cakes, Ring Dings, Pepsi, Mello Yello, Snapple, Clearly Canadian, Bosco Chocolate Syrup, Cadillac, Saab, Ford Escort, Tyler Chicken (a parody of Tyson Chicken), Specialized Bicycles, Nike, BMW, Volvo, Toyota, Tupperware, Calvin Klein, Klein Bicycles, Ovaltine, Yoo-hoo, Arby's, ''TV Guide'', Trump Tower, Glide Floss, Gore-Tex, Entenmann's, J. Peterman clothing catalog, and the board games Risk, Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, and Battleship.

The computers shown in Jerry's apartment are Apple Macintosh and several different models were shown, although Jerry is only seen using his computer once during the entire show. Also seen throughout the show's run were many different brands of cereal, e.g. Cheerios. Notable exceptions to this pattern are a fictional scotch brand called "Hennigan's" (a portmanteau of "Hennessy" and "Brannigans") and a canned meat product called "Beef-a-reeno" (a parody of "Beef-a-roni"). 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 (owner of a Pakistani restaurant named as "Dream Cafe") 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.'"

Many advertisers capitalized on the popularity of ''Seinfeld''. American Express created a webisode in which Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman (voiced by Patrick Warburton, who played the role of David Puddy) starred in its commercial. The makers of the Today Sponge created the "Spongeworthy" game, on their website, inspired by the episode "The Sponge". Another advertisement featured Jason Alexander in a Chrysler commercial. In this, Alexander behaves much like his character George, and his relationship with Lee Iacocca plays on his George's relationship with 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.

Fake Movie Titles in Episodes

Another signature of ''Seinfeld'' was that fake movie titles were often used in the show. They could appear or be mentioned in various ways. For instance, one of the more well known fake movie titles was ''Rochelle, Rochelle'' (which became a fake musical featuring Bette Midler in a later episode). Note: There were some movie titles seen or mentioned in ''Seinfeld'' that are actual movies, listed here are only the made-up titles. The following is believed to be a complete list of fake ''Seinfeld'' movies, shown in alphabetical order:

Blame It on the Rain Blimp Brown Eyed Girl Checkmate Chow Fung Chunnel Cold Fusion Cry, Cry Again Death Blow Eve

!! Fake Movie Title !! !! Fake Movie Title
1	Agent Zero	12
2	|	13	Means to an End
3	|	14	Mountain High
4	|	15	Muted Heart, The
5	|	16	Other Side of Darkness, The
6	|	17	Pain and the Yearning, The
7	|	18	Ponce De Leon
8	|	19	Prognosis Negative
9	|	20	Rochelle, Rochelle
10	|	21	Sack Lunch
11	|

''Seinfeld'' in HD

There are two high-definition versions of ''Seinfeld''. The first is that of the network television (unsyndicated) versions in the original aspect ratio of 4:3 that were downscaled for the DVD releases. Syndicated broadcast stations and the cable network TBS have begun airing the syndicated version of ''Seinfeld'' in HD. Unlike the version used for the DVD, Sony Pictures cropped out the top and bottom parts of the frame, while restoring previously cropped images on the sides, from the 35 mm film source, to use the entire 16:9 frame. The TBS airings were edited to reduce running time (presumably for more advertising space), cutting out certain lines, even rearranging the stand-up scenes position in the episodes as well as showing the credits during the last scene as opposed to after the end of the episode. Amazon.com lists season 1 of ''Seinfeld'' in Blu-ray, though no release date has been announced.

Media

DVD releases

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released all 9 seasons of ''Seinfeld'' on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 between 2004 and 2007. On November 6, 2007, ''Seinfeld: The Complete Series'' was released on DVD. The final season and the complete series set included a 2007 reunion of the four main cast members and Larry David.

Music

A signature of ''Seinfeld'' is its theme music. Composed by Jonathan Wolff, it consists of distinct solo sampled bass synthesizer riffs which open the show and connect the scenes, often accompanied by a "percussion track" composed of mouth noises, such as pops and clicks. The bass synthesizer music eventually replaced the original standard sitcom music by Jep Epstein when it was played again after the first broadcast "The Seinfeld Chronicles".

''Seinfeld'' lacked a traditional title track and the riffs were played over the first moments of dialogue or action. They vary throughout each episode and are played in an improvised funk style with bass synthesizer. An additional musical theme with an ensemble, led by a synthesized mid-range brass instrument, ends each episode.

In "The Note", the first episode of Season Three, the bumper music featured a scatting female jazz vocalist who sang a phrase that sounded like "easy to beat." Jerry Seinfeld and executive producer Larry David both liked Wolff's additions, and three episodes were produced with the new style music. However, they had neglected to inform NBC and Castle Rock of the change, and when the season premiere aired, they were surprised and unimpressed, and requested that they return to the original style. The subsequent two episodes were redone, leaving this episode as the only one with the additional music elements. In the commentary of "The Note", Julia Louis-Dreyfus facetiously suggests it was removed because the perceived lyric related too closely to the low ratings at the time.

In the final three seasons (7, 8, and 9), the bits were tweaked slightly to give them more frenetic rhythms and the occasional hint of guitar. Throughout the show, the main theme could be re-styled in different ways depending on the episode. For instance, in "The Betrayal," in which part of the episode takes place in India, the theme is heard played on a sitar.

Non-original music featured in the show:

Song	! Artist	! Episode	! Notes
	Songs_from_Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Master_of_the_House>Master of the House" from ''Les Misérables''	Robert Hossein, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Alain Boublil		The chorus is sung repeatedly by George throughout the episode and is eventually sung by Alton Benes in the closing credits scene.
	Maria (1959 song)>How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" from ''The Sound of Music''	Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II	Oscar Hammerstein	"The Phone Message"	George suggests that they use the song as an emergency signal.
	Lemon Tree (Will Holt song)>Lemon Tree"	Will Holt	"The Phone Message"	Jerry's suggestion.
	"Good Morning (1939 song)	[[Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown		Elaine sings it to show her happiness over getting the apartment.
	"Joltin' Joe DiMaggio"	Les Brown (bandleader)	Les Brown		The episode ends with this song.
	Piano Sonata No. 21 (Beethoven)>Sonata No. 21 Op. 53 ("Waldstein")	Ludwig van Beethoven	"The Pez Dispenser"	George sings a few measures to let Jerry know what Noel played for him.
	Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)>Sonata No. 8 Op. 13 ("Pathétique")	Ludwig van Beethoven	"The Pez Dispenser"	Elaine laughs during Noel's performance of the music.
	If I Were a Rich Man (song)>"If I Were A Rich Man" from ''Fiddler on the Roof''	Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick		George whistles the tune once in the episode in front of some neo-Nazis.
	Side by Side (1927 song)>Side by Side"	Gus Kahn and Harry M. Woods	"The Watch"	Elaine and Joe Davola sing an impromptu duet outside Dr. Reston's office.
	"This is It" (Bugs Bunny theme)	Mack David and Jerry Livingston		Jerry sings and dances ("Overture, curtain, lights/This is it, we'll hit the heights...") when Elaine mentions the ''Pagliacci'' overture.
	"Vesti la giubba" from ''Pagliacci''	Ruggero Leoncavallo		It plays close to the opera.
	"Parla Più Piano" (''The Godfather'' theme)	Nino Rota	"The Bris"	The episode ends with this theme.
	Selected music from ''The Barber of Seville''	Gioachino Rossini		The music replaces ''Seinfeld'' main bass synthesizer music.
	War (Edwin Starr song)>"War"	Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong	"The Marine Biologist"	Jerry connects the song to Tolstoy, and Elaine sings "Absoutely nothing" in the limo with Lippman and Testikov
	"Wouldn't It Be Nice"	The Beach Boys		Cover version performed by another band
	"It's a Most Unusual Day"	Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh
	"Entrance of the Gladiators"	Julius Fučík (composer)	Julius Fučík	"The Gymnast"	This is the circus music being played backstage when Jerry and Katya are visiting Misha.
	"Everybody's Talkin'"	Harry Nilsson	"The Mom & Pop Store"	George sings this song after buying a car supposedly owned by Jon Voight. Also featured at the end of the episode, when Kramer and Jerry ride to New Jersey to find Jerry's shoes. The scene is a reference to the film ''Midnight Cowboy'', which featured the song (and co-starred Voight).
	Superman (film)>Superman'' theme	John Williams		Played when Jerry wins the race and during past reflection of ''Seinfeld'' episodes.
	"When You're Smiling"	Larry Shay	Shay, Fisher, and Goodwin	"The Jimmy"	Mel Tormé sings the song to Kramer at a benefit for the Able Mentally Challenged Adults.
	"Wind Beneath My Wings"	Bette Midler
	"Final Frontier" (theme from ''Mad About You'')	Paul Reiser and Don Was		George and Susan are watching ''Mad About You'' in bed.
	Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)>Symphony No. 7, Op. 92 (4th mvmt.)	Ludwig van Beethoven	"The Maestro"	The Maestro is listening in his car and conducting along as he drives up.
	"La donna è mobile" from ''Rigoletto''	Giuseppe Verdi	"The Maestro"	Elaine sings it as she gets into the Maestro's car.
	"Funiculì, Funiculà"	Luigi Denza	"The Maestro"	Plays in the scene where Elaine jumps into the Maestro's car and he begins conducting.
	"O Mio Babbino Caro" from ''Gianni Schicchi''	Giacomo Puccini	"The Maestro"	Elaine and the Maestro are listening to it as Jerry and Kramer arrive at the villa in Tuscany.
	Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)>Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (1st mvmt.)	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky		When it comes on, the Maestro suspends his pool game with Frank and Kramer to conduct along.
	Overture to ''The Marriage of Figaro''	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart		The Maestro begins to conduct the opening piece of his concert and finds his baton is broken.
	Downtown (Petula Clark song)>Downtown"	Petula Clark		George looks for clues about his work assignment when Wilhelm mentions the song to him.
	9 to 5 (Sheena Easton song)>Morning Train (9 to 5)"	Sheena Easton	"The Bizarro Jerry" and "The Butter Shave"	Kramer and George in separate episodes have brief stints in going to work.
	Shining Star (Earth, Wind & Fire song)>Shining Star"	Earth, Wind & Fire	"The Little Kicks" and "The Bookstore"	Elaine does the infamous dry heave dance to this song.
	"Adagio for Strings"	Samuel Barber	"The Fatigues"
	Desperado (song)>Desperado" and "Witchy Woman"	Eagles (band)	Eagles	"The Checks"	Elaine's boyfriend gets obsessed with "Desperado" while Elaine tries to offer "Witchy Woman" as "their" song (a doctor later "zones out" to the latter).
	Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero''	Joey Scarbury	"The Susie"	The message on George's answering machine has him singing his own words to this song.
	"Three Times a Lady"	Commodores	The Commodores	"The Pothole"	Newman sings this song just before his mail truck catches fire at the end of the episode.
	Heartbreaker (Pat Benatar song)>Heartbreaker"	Pat Benatar	"The Nap"	Steinbrenner can't get the song out of his mind and keeps trying to sing it.
	"Meet the Mets"	Ruth Roberts and Bill Katz		George sings this song after learning that the New York Mets would like to hire him, provided he gets himself fired from the Yankees.
	Hello (Lionel Richie song)>Hello"	Lionel Richie	"The Voice (Seinfeld)	The song shows a reflection of their life.
	"[[Mañana (Is Soon Enough For Me)"	Jackie Davis		Kramer and Newman listen to a recording of it while making sausages.
	"Slow Ride"	Foghat	"The Slicer"	Elaine tunes into her bedside radio and offers up a few characteristic dance moves.
	In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (song)>In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"	Iron Butterfly	"The Slicer"	Elaine makes an attempt to phone the locksmith.
	"Mexican Radio"	Wall of Voodoo	"The Reverse Peephole"	Kramer sings this as he is reversing his peephole. It is also featured at the end of the episode after the credits.
	"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"	Green Day		Behind the scenes throughout the series.
	"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"	Michael Jackson		Clips of the gang dancing in the series.

See also

Must See TV

References

General references

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "Seinfeld." British Film Institute, TV Classics. 2007. ISBN 1-84457-201-3.

Fretts, Bruce. ''The Entertainment Weekly Seinfeld Companion''. New York: Warner Books. 1993. ISBN 0-446-67036-7.

Dawson, Ryan (2006). ''"Seinfeld: a show about something"'' Cambridge University.

William Irwin (Ed.). ''Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing''. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company. 1999. ISBN 0-8126-9409-0.

Gantz, Katherine. ''"Not That There's Anything Wrong with That": Reading the Queer in Seinfeld''. In Calvin Thomas (Ed.). ''Straight with a Twist: Queer Theory and the Subject of Heterosexuality''. Champaign. Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06813-0.

Gattuso, Greg. ''The Seinfeld Universe: The Entire Domain''. New York: Citadel Press. 1996. ISBN 0-8065-2001-9.

Murphy, Noah. ' 'Seinfeld: A Beginner's Guide''. Brisbane: Penguin Books. 2011.

Seinfeld, Jerry. ''Sein Language''. Bantam. 1993. ISBN 0-553-09606-0.

Weaver, D.T. & Oliver, M.B. (2000) Summary of the paper,"Television Programs and Advertising: Measuring the Effectiveness of Product Placement Within Seinfeld."

External links

Seinfeld Wikia

Category:1989 television series debuts Category:1980s American comedy television series Category:1990s American comedy television series Category:1998 television series endings Category:American television sitcoms Category:Best Musical or Comedy Series Golden Globe winners Category:Culture of New York City Category:English-language television series Category:Fictional versions of real people Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:NBC network shows Category:Nielsen Ratings winners Category:Peabody Award winning television programs Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television Category:Television shows set in New York City

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Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Jerry Seinfeld
birth name	Jerome Allen Seinfeld
birth date	April 29, 1954
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
medium	Television, Film, Stand up
nationality	American
active	1976–present
genre	Observational comedy, Political satire, Black comedy
subject	Avant-garde, American culture, Human behavior, American Politics, Gender differences, Everyday life
influences	Bill Cosby, George Carlin, Robert Klein, Abbott and Costello, Jean Shepherd, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Don Rickles, Ricardo Montalban
influenced	Carol Leifer, Ricky Gervais, Mitch Hedberg, Kevin Bridges
spouse	Jessica Seinfeld(1999–present),3 children
notable work	Jerry Seinfeld on ''Seinfeld
signature	Seinfeldsignature.svg

}} Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld (born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons, co-executive-produced.

In his first major foray back into the media since the finale of ''Seinfeld'', he co-wrote and co-produced the film ''Bee Movie'', also taking on the lead role of Barry B. Benson. In February 2010, Seinfeld premiered a reality TV series called ''The Marriage Ref'' on NBC. Seinfeld was more recently directing Colin Quinn in the Broadway show Long Story Short at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York which ran until January 8, 2011.

Early life

Seinfeld was born in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. His father, Kalman Seinfeld (d. 1985), was of Austrian Jewish background and was a sign maker; his mother, Betty (1915- ), is of Syrian Jewish descent. Her family was registered as Turkish.

Seinfeld grew up in Massapequa, New York. In September 1959, his mother enrolled him at Birch Lane Elementary School, Massapequa High School. At the age of 16, he spent a short period of time volunteering in Kibbutz Sa'ar in Israel. He went to SUNY Oswego, and after his sophomore year he transferred to Queens College, City University of New York, graduating with a degree in communications and theater.

Seinfeld developed an interest in stand-up comedy after brief stints in college productions. In 1976 after graduation from Queens College, he tried out at an open-mic night at New York City's Catch a Rising Star, which led to an appearance in a Rodney Dangerfield HBO special. In 1979 he had a small recurring role on the ''Benson'' sitcom as "Frankie", a mail delivery boy who had comedy routines that no one wanted to hear, but he was abruptly fired from the show due to creative differences. Seinfeld has said that he was not actually told he had been fired until he turned up for the read-through session for an episode, and found that there was no script for him (Interview in "How It Began," a special feature in the Seinfeld Season 1 & 2 DVD). In May 1981 Seinfeld made a highly successful appearance on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', impressing Carson and the audience and leading to regular appearances on that show and others, including ''Late Night with David Letterman''.

''Seinfeld''

Seinfeld created ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' with Larry David in 1989 for NBC. The show was later renamed ''Seinfeld'' to avoid confusion with the short-lived teen sitcom ''The Marshall Chronicles'' and, by its fourth season, had become the most popular and successful sitcom on American television. The final episode aired in 1998, and the show has been a popular syndicated re-run. The show also starred ''Saturday Night Live'' veteran Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as experienced actors Michael Richards and Jason Alexander. On the show, Seinfeld played a caricature of himself. He has said that his show was influenced by the 1950s sitcom ''The Abbott and Costello Show''. Citing Jean Shepherd as an influence in his commentary for "The Gymnast" episode on "Seinfeld, Season 6," he said, "He really formed my entire comedic sensibility--I learned how to do comedy from Jean Shepherd." Seinfeld also holds the distinction of being the only actor to appear in every episode of the show. From 2004–2007, the former ''Seinfeld'' cast and crew recorded audio commentaries for episodes of the DVD releases of the show. Seinfeld himself provided commentary for numerous episodes.

Post-''Seinfeld''

1998–2006

After his sitcom ended, Seinfeld returned to stand-up comedy instead of pursuing a film career. In 1998, Seinfeld went on tour and recorded a comedy special entitled ''I'm Telling You for the Last Time''. The process of developing and performing new material at clubs around the world was chronicled in a 2002 documentary, ''Comedian'', which focused also on fellow comic Orny Adams, directed by Christian Charles. He has written several books, mostly archives of past routines.

In the late 1990s, Apple Computer came up with an advertising slogan called "Think different" and produced a 60-second commercial to promote the slogan which showed people who were able to "think differently", like Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and many others. This commercial was later cut short to thirty seconds and ended up paying tribute to Jerry Seinfeld. This commercial aired only once, during the series finale of ''Seinfeld''.

In 2004, Seinfeld also appeared in two commercial webisodes promoting American Express, entitled ''The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman'', in which he appeared together with an animated rendering of Superman, who was referenced in numerous episodes of ''Seinfeld'' as Seinfeld's hero, voiced by Patrick Warburton, who had portrayed David Puddy on ''Seinfeld''. The webisodes were aired in 2004 and directed by Barry Levinson. Seinfeld and "Superman" were also interviewed by Matt Lauer in a specially-recorded interview for the ''Today'' show.

On November 18, 2004, Seinfeld appeared at the National Museum of American History to donate the "Puffy Shirt" he wore in the famous ''Seinfeld'' episode of the same name. He also gave a speech when presenting the "Puffy Shirt", claiming humorously that "This is the most embarrassing moment of my life."

Seinfeld had a special appearance on May 13, 2006, ''Saturday Night Live'' episode as Julia Louis-Dreyfus' assassin. Louis-Dreyfus was the host of that episode and in her opening monologue she mentioned the "Seinfeld Curse". While talking about how ridiculous the "curse" was, a stage light suddenly fell next to her. The camera moved to a catwalk above the stage that Seinfeld was standing on, holding a large pair of bolt cutters. He angrily muttered, "Dammit!", angry that it didn't hit her. Louis-Dreyfus then continued to say that she is indeed not cursed.

2007

On February 25, 2007, Seinfeld appeared at the 79th Academy Awards as the presenter for "Best Documentary". Before announcing the nominations he did a bit of a stand-up comedy routine about the unspoken agreement between movie theater owners and movie patrons. One of the winners of the award was Larry David's now ex-wife, Laurie.

On October 4, 2007, Seinfeld made a brief return to NBC, guest-starring in the episode "SeinfeldVision" of ''30 Rock'' as himself.

2008

On February 24, 2008, Seinfeld appeared as the voice of his ''Bee Movie'' animated character Barry, at the 80th Academy Awards as the presenter for "Best Animated Short". Before announcing the nominees, he showed a montage of film clips featuring bees, claiming that they were some of his early work (as Barry).

Amidst his spring 2008 tour Seinfeld made a stop in his hometown of New York City for a one-night-only performance on June 2, 2008 at the Hammerstein Ballroom to benefit ''Stand Up for a Cure'', a charity aiding lung cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

In August 2008 the Associated Press reported that Jerry Seinfeld would be the pitchman for Windows Vista, as part of a $300 million advertising campaign by Microsoft. The adverts, which were intended to create buzz for Windows in support of the subsequent "I'm a PC" adverts, began airing in mid-September 2008 and were cut from television after just 3 installments, Microsoft opting instead to continue with the "I'm a PC" advertisements, and instead continued running the Seinfeld adverts on the Microsoft website as a series of longer advertisements.

2009

In March 2009, it was announced that Seinfeld and the entire cast of ''Seinfeld'' would be appearing for a reunion in Larry David's HBO series ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. The fictional reunion took place in the seventh season's finale.

Seinfeld appeared on an episode of the Starz original series ''Head Case''. Like many of his previous guest appearances on sitcoms he played himself.

In Australia, Seinfeld appears on a series of advertisements for Greater Building Society, a building society based in New South Wales and south eastern Queensland. His appearance in these adverts were highly publicized and considered a coup for the society, being only the third time Seinfeld had appeared in a television commercial. The adverts were filmed in Cedarhurst, Long Island, with the street designed to emulate Beaumont Street in Hamilton, where the Greater's head offices are located. Seinfeld also wrote the scripts for the fifteen advertisements that were filmed. The adverts largely aired in the Northern New South Wales television market, where the society has most of its branches.

Seinfeld was the first guest of Jay Leno's new talk show, ''The Jay Leno Show'', which premiered on September 14, 2009.

2010s

Seinfeld was featured on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update sketch to do the "Really!?!" segment with Seth Meyers. Seinfeld was also executive producing and occasionally starring as a panelist in ''The Marriage Ref''. On August 30, 2010, Seinfeld made a notable surprise guest appearance on ''The Howard Stern Show'', repairing the falling out the two had in the early 90s. Jerry appeared on SNY during a Mets game and announced for an inning. Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, SNY analysts, were very thankful for the opportunity.

Seinfeld toured the U.S. in 2011 and made his first appearance on stage in the U.K. in 13 years. In July 2011, he was a surprise guest on The Daily Show, helping Jon Stewart to suppress his urge to tell "cheap" "Michele Bachmann's husband acts gay" jokes. He also launched a personal archives website at JerrySeinfeld.com. In 2011 he also appeared in the HBO Special 'Talking Funny' with fellow comedians Chris Rock, Louis C.K. and Ricky Gervais.

Books

Seinfeld is also a bestselling author, most notably for his book ''Seinlanguage''. Released in 1993, the book went on to become a number one New York Times bestseller. The book, written as his television show was first rising in popularity, is primarily an adaptation of the comedian's standup material. The title comes from an article in ''Entertainment Weekly'' listing the numerous catch-phrases for which the show was responsible.

In 2002, he wrote a children's book titled ''Halloween''. The book was illustrated by James Bennett. There are also several books about both the sitcom and Seinfeld himself, though many of them are not written by Seinfeld.

Seinfeld wrote the forewords to Ted L. Nancy's ''Letters from a Nut'' series of books and Ed Broth's ''Stories from a Moron''. Both authors were rumored to be pseudonyms for Seinfeld or a friend of his. Neither Nancy nor Broth have been seen publicly, although Seinfeld is heavily involved in pitching their books for television.

In promoting Broth's book, Seinfeld hosted a toast in the author's honor. Broth did not attend.

Seinfeld also wrote the foreword to the ''Peanut Butter & Co. Cookbook'', from his favorite sandwich shop in New York City.

Personal life

Seinfeld dated Carol Leifer, a fellow comedian and rumored to be the inspiration for the character of Elaine from his eponymous sitcom ''Seinfeld'', although both parties deny it. When he was in his late thirties, Seinfeld began a romantic relationship with then-seventeen year old high school student Shoshanna Lonstein. A while later, after meeting Jessica Sklar at the Reebok Sports Club, he began dating her. Sklar, a public relations executive for Tommy Hilfiger, had just returned from a three-week honeymoon in Italy with Eric Nederlander, a theatrical producer and scion of a theater-owning family. Sklar divorced Nederlander and married Seinfeld on December 25, 1999. Comedian George Wallace was the best man at the wedding. After the nuptials Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld bought Billy Joel's Amagansett, Long Island house for $32 million in March 2000.

Seinfeld and his wife have one daughter and two sons; daughter Sascha was born on November 7, 2000 in New York City, son Julian Kal was born on March 1, 2003 in New York City, and Shepherd Kellen was born on August 22, 2005 at New York's Cornell Medical Center. His son Julian's middle name is Kal, which is the first name of Seinfeld's father. Kal is also the first name of Seinfeld's hero Kal-El. Among Seinfeld's best friends are fellow comedians Larry Miller and Mario Joyner.

In 2000, Jessica Seinfeld launched Baby Buggy, a charity that provides clothing and gear for underprivileged women and children. She is the author of the best-seller ''Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food'', released by HarperCollins in October 2007.

Seinfeld is recorded as having made several political contributions, including George W. Bush and Al Gore's presidential campaigns in 2000, and subsequently to four Democratic Party primary candidates in 2000 and 2004.

Seinfeld says that he has practiced Transcendental Meditation for most of his life, and he appeared at a 2009 benefit for TM. Seinfeld has admitted dabbling in Scientology when he was in his twenties, though he says he was never in the organization. The association came to light in 1992.

A fan of the New York Mets, Seinfeld periodically calls Steve Somers' show on WFAN-AM, a sports talk radio station, as "Jerry from Queens." Seinfeld called four innings of a Mets game on SportsNet New York June 23, 2010, reuniting with analyst Keith Hernandez who appeared in the ''Seinfeld'' two part episode The Boyfriend.

Personal wealth

According to ''Forbes'' magazine, Jerry Seinfeld's annual earning from ''Seinfeld'' in 1998 was $267 million, making him the highest-earning celebrity that year. ''Seinfeld'' still generates more revenue than most current shows, through syndication and DVD sales. He reportedly turned down $5 million per episode, for 22 episodes, to continue the show for a tenth season. He earned $100 million from syndication deals and stand-up appearances in 2005 and $60 million in 2006. He also earned $10 million for appearing with Bill Gates in Microsoft's 2008 ads for Windows. Between June 2008 and June 2009, Seinfeld earned $85 million, making him the highest-paid comedian during that 12-month period.

Car collection

Seinfeld, an automobile enthusiast and avid collector, is rumored to own one of the largest Porsche collections in the world. He rented a hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, in Santa Monica, California, for an extended period of time during the 1990s for storage of some of the vehicles in the collection. After his return to New York City, he was involved in an extended dispute with several neighbors over the proposed building of a $1.4 million multi-story garage to contain the cars.

A current tally has Seinfeld owning 46 Porsches. Reporter Paul Bannister reports that Seinfeld's collection includes Porsche 911s from various years, 10 Porsche Boxsters each painted a different color, and the famous 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder, the same model and pearl-grey color that actor James Dean was driving when he crashed and died. The Discovery Channel television show "Chasing Classic Cars" claims that Seinfeld owns the first and last original Porsche 911s produced. The centerpiece is a $700,000 Porsche 959, one of only 337 ever built. To his initial despair, he was not allowed to drive it as US emission and crash tests were never performed because Porsche refused to donate four Porsche 959s for destruction tests, rendering the car "not street-legal". He imported the car "for exhibition purposes", which stipulates the car may never be driven on American roads. The car was made US street legal in 1999 under the "Show or Display" federal law. In several episodes of ''Seinfeld'', Seinfeld drives a Saab 900 (NG) convertible, but a Porsche-themed painting, depicting a Porsche 904 GTS race car competing in the 1964 Targa Florio race in Italy, is visible on a wall in his apartment, as well as a Porsche racing poster featuring a 550 Spyder depicting the 1958 Targa Florio. In another episode, he is seen hiding behind a red Porsche 911RS parked on the street. In addition, an issue of ''Excellence'', a Porsche-centered publication, is featured prominently on an outdoor magazine rack in one episode and on at least one occasion he is seen reading an issue of ''Road and Track'' magazine from circa 1990 with a cover article on the Porsche 964. He also wrote an article for the February 2004 issue of ''Automobile'', reviewing the Porsche Carrera GT. For the story he was awarded Road Pest — Silver at the 2004 International Automotive Media Awards.

Credits

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
	''The Ratings Game''	Network Rep
	''Pros & Cons''	Prison Man #2
		Himself
rowspan="2"	''A Uniform Used to Mean Something''	Himself
''Hindsight Is 20/20''	Himself
	''Bee Movie''	Barry B. Benson

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980		Frankie
1989–1998	''Seinfeld''		American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (1992, 1993)Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (1993)Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1995, 1997, 1998)Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (1996, 1999)Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1996)
1993, 1998	''The Larry Sanders Show''	Himself
1997	''NewsRadio''	Himself
2000		Comp-U-Comp
2004	''Curb Your Enthusiasm''	Himself	(cameo)
2007	''30 Rock''	Himself	("SeinfeldVision")
2009	''Curb Your Enthusiasm''	Himself
2010	''The Marriage Ref''	Executive Producer
2011	''Talking Funny''	Himself
2011	''The Daily Show With Jon Stewart''	Himself

Writing credits for ''Seinfeld''

The list below only includes episodes mainly written by Seinfeld, as he and Larry David rewrote the drafts for each episode.

Season 1

The Seinfeld Chronicles (with Larry David)

Male Unbonding (with Larry David)

The Stake Out (with Larry David)

The Stock Tip (with Larry David)

Season 2

The Ex-Girlfriend (with Larry David)

The Pony Remark (with Larry David)

* Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series (1991 - Episode "The Pony Remark")

The Busboy (with Larry David)

The Jacket (with Larry David)

The Chinese Restaurant (with Larry David)

The Phone Message (with Larry David)

Season 3

The Stranded (with Larry David and Matt Goldman)

Season 4

The Shoes (with Larry David)

Season 5

The Sniffing Accountant (with Larry David)

The Raincoats (with Larry David, Tom Gammill, and Max Pross)

The Opposite (with Larry David and Andy Cowan)

Season 6

The Kiss Hello (with Larry David)

Season 7

The Cadillac part 1 and 2 (with Larry David)

References

External links

Jerry Seinfeld's Personal Archives

in 1987 in 2002 in 2007

Jerry Seinfeld Goes Back to Work on Time.com (a division of Time Magazine published 26SEPT 07)

How Automobile got Jerry to write the Porsche GT Review

Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American Jews Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Car collectors Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Jewish comedians Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:Queens College, City University of New York alumni Category:People from East Hampton (town), New York Category:State University of New York at Oswego alumni Category:Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:1954 births Category:American memoirists

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