Seinfeld – The Greatest Sitcom of All Time – Part I

The Greatest Show of Them All – Seinfeld. An Analysis – Pt. I

Seinfeld – A show about NOTHING!

Whenever there is a debate about the best sitcom ever created in the history of television, I’m quick to point out my favourite show of all time – F.R.I.E.N.D.S. And why not, FRIENDS is one of the most popular shows in TV history and is still hilarious even after repeated re-runs. The weekly antics of the six friends never grow old; David Crane and Martha Kauffman made sure of that. But, let me swallow my pride and the love I have for FRIENDS and say this – there is one other show which deserves to be the Greatest of All Time, not just one of the greatest.

Yes, you guessed it right! It’s Seinfeld, the brainchild of Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld. Based out of Manhattan New York, Seinfeld is a show based on nothing. No seriously, that’s the concept, nothing. It’s about the daily lives of four friends, Jerry, George, Kramer, Elaine and the ridiculous scenarios that they constantly find themselves in.

The genius of Seinfeld was that Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David took real-life incidents from their day-to-day lives and presented them on screen. A lot of the supporting cast members and gags are loosely based off of Jerry and Larry’s real-life friends.

The Pioneers of Television – Seinfeld and David – their first meeting

A sitcom so funny that even the great director Steven Spielberg said that while filming Schindler’s List (1993), he got so depressed that he would watch tapes of Seinfeld episodes to cheer himself up. 28 years after the show originally aired, it is still a hit with the current generation. Seinfeld is a billion-dollar media empire and has made Jerry Seinfeld the wealthiest man in show business. They did something that no one else had done before or has ever done before. Who could have thought that a show about nothing would mean everything to the viewers?

Running from 1989 to 1998 whole point of the show was to be pointless, and maybe that is why it is so difficult for fans to describe why this show is the greatest ever as many of its episodes are about the minutiae of daily life. There have been tons of shows before and after Seinfeld that have had the same formula but never the same level of success.

• How It All Began – Seinfeld

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld was initially approached by NBC to make a show which was supposed to be a 90-minute special. So, Jerry approached his old friend Larry David, who he had met at a party, and asked him to co-write the show with him. Larry agreed and they started working on the special. The plan was to follow Jerry around throughout his day or week, and whatever he experienced in the episode, he would do a stand-up routine about it at the end.

But, the duo quickly realised that the show couldn’t be made as a 90-minute special as the viewers would soon be bored and would switch channels. So, they asked NBC to change the 90-minute special into a 30-minute sitcom. One day, Jerry and Larry were in a grocery store talking about the different products on the shelves and were making each other laugh. It was then that they both realised that this was the kind of dialogue they never really heard on television, or even movies, for that matter. They decided right then and there that’s what the show would be about – nothing.

The biggest hurdle was getting NBC to green-light the idea. What transpired in that fateful meeting was used as source material for the double-episode “The Pilot” for the season 4 finale. Larry David, much like George Costanza (the character was actually based on David), was livid when NBC wanted to change the model of the show. Though not exactly the same, but he did have his moments in that meeting. He did stand up and say, “No, no, no. This is not the show.” (George does this too); much to the horror of the producers at Castle Rock. Jerry was the mediator between his hot-tempered partner and the network executives, finally managing to get the executives to give the go-ahead.

Initially, the pilot had a cast of three and the show was simply called Stand-Up. NBC executives felt the show was too male-centric and demanded that Seinfeld and David add a woman to the cast as a condition for commissioning the show. There was going to be a cast of four and the woman was going to be a waitress, but, after the show was picked up, they changed the character of the waitress to Elaine Benes portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

When they went to the network executives at NBC with the script of the pilot, mayhem ensued as no one really understood the script or the premise of the show, calling it “Too New York, too Jewish”. Even the test audience failed to find any promising features that could make it a profitable venture. After a mini-battle with the producers, the show finally premiered as The Seinfeld Chronicles on July 5, 1989.

After it aired, a pickup by NBC seemed unlikely and the show was offered to Fox, who declined the offer. Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, however, saw the immense potential and decided to champion the show and the series was renamed, Seinfeld. When NBC announced its 1989–90 primetime schedule, The Seinfeld Chronicles was not included, but Ludwin and other supporters of the show didn’t give up on it. Research showed that the show was popular with young male adults, a demographic sought after by advertisers. And so, it was finally telecast on television.

After the first four episodes were aired, NBC ordered thirteen more episodes for its second season. David thought he had no more stories to tell and begged Jerry to turn down the offer, but Seinfeld agreed to the additional episodes.

Every season had countless times where Larry David would just up and quit because NBC kept undermining him, bullying the duo to change things that the network did not understand or thought too crude to be aired on TV. Despite Larry’s inarguable comedic genius, the show wouldn’t have worked without Jerry Seinfeld pulling Larry kicking and screaming into unparalleled success. He talked Larry down from the ledge so many times; it could be argued that the tension and threats from David afforded the pair more creative control over the show allowing it to be a unique voice.

Thanks to Larry’s antics, Jerry’s diplomacy and Rick Ludwin’s don’t-give-up attitude, Seinfeld was made possible.

• The Characters – Seinfeld

Even before the idea of Seinfeld had been developed, Jerry Seinfeld had already decided that he wanted to star as a fictionalised version of himself. All that remained was to develop the other main characters.

Jerry and Larry wanted the main characters to be more than just caricatures to further the overarching feel-good plot. The characters from Seinfeld were not made to be ‘good’ people. The characters were thirty-something singles with vague identities, no roots, and conscious indifference to morals. Usual conventions like isolating the characters from the actors playing them and separating the characters’ world from that of the actors and audience, were broken.

A major difference between Seinfeld and other sitcoms which preceded it was that the principal characters never learn from their mistakes. In effect, they are indifferent and even callous towards the outside world and sometimes one another; a group dynamic rooted in jealousy, rage, insecurity, despair, hopelessness, and a touching lack of faith in one’s fellow human beings. Jerry and Larry had a simple mantra which they followed: “No hugging, No Learning“.

• George Louis Costanza

Larry David based George Costanza largely on his own self. Since Jerry would be playing himself, it was decided that Larry would be Jerry’s friend in the show sharing the comedy. And so the character of George Louis Costanza was created to provide a counterpoint to Seinfeld’s character. In the pilot, George’s name is Bennett and he, like Jerry, is a comedian, but, the idea was quickly abandoned and his name was changed to George, the real estate broker instead.

George is described as neurotic, short, stocky, slow-witted, ugly, old, bald man with serious insecurity issues. The character had to exhibit a number of negative character traits, among them dishonesty, insecurity and neurosis, which stemmed from a dysfunctional childhood with his squabbling parents, Frank and Estelle Costanza.

Although he is often asked whether he wanted to play the character, Larry David has said that he was only interested in writing the show, that, not only did he not want to act on the show, but it had never occurred to him and, even if it had, he highly doubted that NBC would have approved of his being cast.

• Cosmo Kramer

The character of Cosmo Kramer or simply ‘Kramer’ was loosely based on comedian Kenny Kramer, Larry David’s ex-neighbour across the hall. Kramer is the friend and neighbour of main character Jerry, residing in Apartment 5B, with no visible means of support; what few jobs he holds seem to be nothing more than larks. His trademarks include his upright hairstyle and vintage wardrobe, whose combination led Elaine to characterize him as a “hipster doofus“; his taste in fresh fruit; love of occasional smoking, Cuban cigars in particular; bursts through Jerry’s apartment door; frequent pratfalls and penchant for nonsensical, percussive outbursts of noise to indicate skepticism, agreement, irritation and a variety of other feelings.

At the time of the shooting of the original Seinfeld pilot, The Seinfeld Chronicles, Kenny Kramer had not yet given consent to use his name, and so Kramer’s character was originally known as ‘Kessler’. Larry David was hesitant to use Kenny Kramer’s real name because he suspected that Kramer would take advantage of this. But, Jerry liked the name Kramer so much that he would not use any other name for the character and urged David to make a deal with the real Kramer.

David’s suspicion turned out to be correct and Kenny Kramer squeezed everything he could from the deal with his outlandish demands.

• Elaine Marie Benes

Elaine Benes is Jerry Seinfeld’s ex-girlfriend, now best friend, and she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer. Elaine is ordinarily intelligent and assertive, but also quite superficial. She’s ‘one of the boys’, and despite the troubles they go through as a group, she remains the closest female friend to the main male cast throughout the series. Her traits are usually edgy and neurotic and she has a tendency to easily get angry with almost everybody. She’s ruined her friends’ ambitions, like throwing George’s hairpiece out the window after trying to explain the irony behind it or revealing what Jerry said about the “panties her mother laid out for her“.

Unlike her three close friends, Elaine is absent from the pilot episode. Previously the female role was supposed to be Claire, the waitress at Pete’s Luncheonette, but Monk’s Cafe replaced the luncheonette and the waitress was dropped from the role. After it was discovered that Jerry Seinfeld once dated writer and comedian Carol Leifer, speculation grew that Elaine was based on Leifer, though that was later largely denied.

But, Larry David has said that the character was partially based on Monica Yates, daughter of novelist Richard Yates, whom Larry David once dated, and they remained good friends after they broke up.

Other Memorable Characters From Seinfeld

Many characters have made multiple appearances, like Jerry’s nemesis Newman and his Uncle Leo. In addition to recurring characters, Seinfeld featured numerous celebs who appeared as themselves or girlfriends, boyfriends, bosses and other acquaintances. Many actors who made guest appearances became household names later in their careers or were already well known. Over the course of nine seasons, Seinfeld introduced more than 1,200 characters with most of them appearing in only 2 or 3 episodes.

Seinfeld introduced many other characters who made a deep impact on the audience. Be it Newman – Seinfeld’s nasty neighbour, Morty and Helen Seinfeld – Jerry’s parents, Frank and Estelle Costanza – Goerge’s parents, Susan Ross – George’s fiancée, Sidra Holland – They’re real, and they’re spectacular,  Sue Ellen Mischke – the Braless Baroness, Tim Whatley – the dentist who would portray Walter White in Breaking Bad, Crazy Joe Davola – the crazy dude with a vendetta against Jerry, George Steinbrenner – owner of the New York Yankees, David Puddy – Elaine’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, Lt. Joe Bookman – the librarian or J. Peterman – Elaine’s boss – the characters and their plotlines were simply outstanding.

Many other characters were based primarily 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 catalogue (based on John Peterman), and George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees. Many characters were introduced as new writers got involved with Seinfeld. Other characters based on real people include the Soup Nazi (Ali “Al” Yeganeh) and Jackie Chiles based on Johnnie Cochran.

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Seinfeld – The Greatest Sitcom of All Time Part. II