Seinfeld

Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine and Jerry Seinfeld

Seinfeld is a US television sitcom, considered to be one of the most popular and influential of the 1990s. It stars Jerry Seinfeld playing a character named after and based largely on himself, and is set in an apartment block in Manhattan, New York. It features an eclectic cast of characters, mainly Jerry's friends and acquaintances - unlike many of the sitcoms of the 1980s that based themselves around family units with quotas of cute but smart-alecky children.

The show was famously described as "the show about nothing," and such comment is largely accurate, as most of the comedy was based around the largely inconsequential minutiae of everyday life, often involving petty rivalries and elaborate schemes to gain the smallest advantage over other individuals. However, themes of illogical social graces and customs, neurotic and obsessive behavior, and the mysterious workings of relationshipss run in numerous episodes. It follows the times. The show is also unique in reflecting the activities of real people, rather than the idealized escapist characters often seen on television.

As originally conceived, the show features clips at the beginning and end of each episode, with Seinfeld himself delivering a standup routine that ties in to the events depicted in the story. It is probably worth mentioning that in this sitcom, the distinction between the actor Jerry Seinfeld and the character who is portayed by him in the eponymous sitcom is therefore blurred; the character transcends his role. In later seasons, these standup clips were given less emphasis.

After nine years on the air, the series finale of Seinfeld aired on NBC on May 14, 1998 making it 180 episodes for the series. It received a huge audience, estimated at 40 million viewers. Jerry Seinfeld holds a record for the 'most money refused' according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Tom's Restaurant, the Manhattan diner frequently pictured in 'Seinfeld' as Monk's Cafe, located at 112th Street and Broadway

''See also: Seinfeld trivia

Table of contents

1 Characters 2 References 3 External links

Characters

• Jerry Seinfeld (played by Jerry Seinfeld) - a reasonably successful standup comedian, who seeks out relationships with attractive women which rarely last more than one episode. A number of episodes involve some obsession of Jerry's that results in offending the romantic interest and breaking the relationship. Another favourite obsession of Jerry's was that of Superman and Lois Lane.
• George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) - a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man," the neurotic George is domineered by his parents, especially his father Frank. He held jobs as a real estate agent, as assistant to the traveling secretary for the New York Yankees, and at Kruger Industrial Smoothing. The character of George was largely based on the show's co-creator Larry David.
• Cosmo Kramer (played by Michael Richards) - tall, wild-haired, Kramer is the Seinfeld character with the loosest grip on reality, decorum, or concepts of property. He is based on Larry David's sometime neighbour, Kenny Kramer.
• Elaine Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) - like Seinfeld, much of Elaine's life revolves around trying to arrange relationships with attractive individuals, although some of hers last rather longer than Jerry's. She's held jobs for Pendant Publishing, The J. Peterman Catalog, and as a personal assistant to Mr. Pitt. Elaine was a composite of two girlfriends of the creators.

• Seinfeld scripts archive