Seinfeld (season 1)

Season one of Seinfeld, an American television series created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, began airing on July 5, 1989 on NBC.^[1] Originally called The Seinfeld Chronicles, the series' name was shortened to Seinfeld to avoid confusion with another sitcom called The Marshall Chronicles.^[2] The season finale aired on June 21, 1990.^[3]

Seasons 1 & 2 DVD box set was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment in the United States and Canada on November 23, 2004, thirteen years after it had completed broadcast on television.^[4] In addition to every episode from the two seasons, the DVD release features bonus material, including deleted scenes, animatics, exclusive stand-up material, and commentaries.^[5] With only four episodes after the pilot, season one of Seinfeld is one of the smallest sitcom orders in television history.

Production

Castle Rock Entertainment produced Seinfeld and Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television distributed the series. Seinfeld was aired on NBC in the US.^[6] Larry David was the main show runner, the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operations, for this season, and one of the producers.^[6] Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld wrote most of the season, with Matt Goldman writing episode three, "The Robbery".^[7] The season was directed by Art Wolff and Tom Cherones.

The show features Jerry Seinfeld as himself, Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, and Michael Richards as Kramer.^[8] In the pilot, Lee Garlington appears as Claire, the waitress at Pete's Luncheonette, but after the pilot the "gang" started eating at Monk's Cafe. Garlington was set to appear as one of the main supporting characters. Her role was dropped when it was decided that there was no need for a regular female waitress.^[1] Jerry refers to Kramer as Kessler; however, his name was changed to Kramer for the rest of the series.^[1] Kramer was named after a real person; he was called "Kessler" in the pilot episode because of the worries about the rights to use the name.^[2]

Reception

The pilot was met with poor reviews, and NBC decided not to pick up the show.^[2] Believing the series had potential, NBC executive Rick Ludwin ordered four episodes about a year after NBC's rejection. The first of these aired on May 31, 1990.^[2][3] When the pilot was first repeated on July 5, 1990, it received a rating of 13.9/26, which means 13.9 percent of households were tuned in at any given moment; additionally, 26 percent of all televisions in use at the time were tuned into this program.^[2] These ratings were high enough to secure a second season.^[2] NBC research showed that the show was popular with young male adults, a demographic sought after by advertisers. This gave NBC an incentive to keep broadcasting the show.^[9] "The Stake Out" was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award.^[10]

In retrospect, however, reception of the season has been more positive. On Metacritic, it received a weighted mean score of 78/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews."^[11] TV Guide ranked it the twenty second greatest television season of all time, being one of four of the series's entries on the list.

Episodes

References

General sources

• "Seinfeld Official Site". Sony Pictures. Retrieved 2009-01-30. 
• "The Seinfeld episode search at Seinfeld Official Site". Sony Pictures. Retrieved 2009-01-30. 
• "The Seinfeld Season 1 on TBS". TBS. Retrieved 2009-01-30. 

Specific sources and notes

External links

• Official website
• List of Seinfeld episodes at the Internet Movie Database
• List of Seinfeld season 1 episodes at TV.com
• Seinfeld: Season 1 at Rotten Tomatoes

Seinfeld episodes
Season 1	"The Seinfeld Chronicles" "The Stake Out" "The Robbery" "Male Unbonding" "The Stock Tip"
Season 2	"The Ex-Girlfriend" "The Pony Remark" "The Jacket" "The Phone Message" "The Apartment" "The Statue" "The Revenge" "The Heart Attack" "The Deal" "The Baby Shower" "The Chinese Restaurant" "The Busboy"
Season 3	"The Note" "The Truth" "The Pen" "The Dog" "The Library" "The Parking Garage" "The Cafe" "The Tape" "The Nose Job" "The Stranded" "The Alternate Side" "The Red Dot" "The Subway" "The Pez Dispenser" "The Suicide" "The Fix-Up" "The Boyfriend" "The Limo" "The Good Samaritan" "The Letter" "The Parking Space" "The Keys"
Season 4	"The Trip" "The Pitch" "The Ticket" "The Wallet" "The Watch" "The Bubble Boy" "The Cheever Letters" "The Opera" "The Virgin" "The Contest" "The Airport" "The Pick" "The Movie" "The Visa" "The Shoes" "The Outing" "The Old Man" "The Implant" "The Junior Mint" "The Smelly Car" "The Handicap Spot" "The Pilot"
Season 5	"The Mango" "The Puffy Shirt" "The Glasses" "The Sniffing Accountant" "The Bris" "The Lip Reader" "The Non-Fat Yogurt" "The Barber" "The Masseuse" "The Cigar Store Indian" "The Conversion" "The Stall" "The Dinner Party" "The Marine Biologist" "The Pie" "The Stand In" "The Wife" "The Raincoats" "The Fire" "The Hamptons" "The Opposite"
Season 6	"The Chaperone" "The Big Salad" "The Pledge Drive" "The Chinese Woman" "The Couch" "The Gymnast" "The Soup" "The Mom & Pop Store" "The Secretary" "The Race" "The Switch" "The Label Maker" "The Scofflaw" "The Highlights of 100" "The Beard" "The Kiss Hello" "The Doorman" "The Jimmy" "The Doodle" "The Fusilli Jerry" "The Diplomat's Club" "The Face Painter" "The Understudy"
Season 7	"The Engagement" "The Postponement" "The Maestro" "The Wink" "The Hot Tub" "The Soup Nazi" "The Secret Code" "The Pool Guy" "The Sponge" "The Gum" "The Rye" "The Caddy" "The Seven" "The Cadillac" "The Shower Head" "The Doll" "The Friar's Club" "The Wig Master" "The Calzone" "The Bottle Deposit" "The Wait Out" "The Invitations"
Season 8	"The Foundation" "The Soul Mate" "The Bizarro Jerry" "The Little Kicks" "The Package" "The Fatigues" "The Checks" "The Chicken Roaster" "The Abstinence" "The Andrea Doria" "The Little Jerry" "The Money" "The Comeback" "The Van Buren Boys" "The Susie" "The Pothole" "The English Patient" "The Nap" "The Yada Yada" "The Millennium" "The Muffin Tops" "The Summer of George"
Season 9	"The Butter Shave" "The Voice" "The Serenity Now" "The Blood" "The Junk Mail" "The Merv Griffin Show" "The Slicer" "The Betrayal" "The Apology" "The Strike" "The Dealership" "The Reverse Peephole" "The Cartoon" "The Strongbox" "The Wizard" "The Burning" "The Bookstore" "The Frogger" "The Maid" "The Puerto Rican Day" "The Chronicle" "The Finale"
Indicates two-part episode