Seinfeld is an American television sitcom created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. Seinfeld has been described by some as a "show about nothing",[1] similar to the self-parodying "show within a show" of fourth-season episode "The Pilot". Jerry Seinfeld is the lead character and played as a fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block on New York City's Upper West Side, the show features a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, which include George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer, who are portrayed by Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards, respectively.[2]
The series debuted on July 5, 1989, on NBC, as The Seinfeld Chronicles.[3] The pilot episode was met with poor reviews, and as a result, NBC passed on the show. However, NBC executive Rick Ludwin believed the series had potential and therefore gave Seinfeld a budget to create four more episodes, which formed the rest of season 1 and began airing on May 31, 1990.[4][5] The first season is considered the smallest sitcom order in television history.[6] During its nine-year run, 180 episodes of Seinfeld were produced. The count includes both halves of three one-hour episodes, including the finale, and two retrospective episodes, each split into two parts: "The Highlights of 100", covering the first 100 episodes; and "The Clip Show", also known as "The Chronicle", which aired before the series finale. On November 25, 2004, a special titled The Seinfeld Story was broadcast. This marked the first appearance of Seinfeld on NBC since its series finale in 1998.[7] All nine seasons are available on DVD and, as of 2024, the show is still re-run regularly in syndication.[8] The final episode aired on May 14, 1998.[5] The streaming rights for all 180 episodes of the series transferred from Hulu to Netflix in 2021.[9]