History Series / Seinfeld

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[[caption-width-right:320:[-[[CoversAlwaysLie What did we just say?]]-] ]]

Seinfeld plays a fictionalized, {{Jerkass}} version of himself as the ostensible main (though in practice [[StraightMan arguably least interesting]]) character, who works mostly as a {{foil}} for his [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] George Costanza (Creator/JasonAlexander), a similar caricature of Larry David who can make your regular UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist look like a ''winner''; his sassy ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus), who [[BrutalHonesty couldn't spell "tact" if her life depended on it]]; and his [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} eccentric]] neighbor Cosmo Kramer (Creator/MichaelRichards), who had a tendency to [[DropInCharacter burst into Jerry's apartment unannounced]]. Jerry was the technical OnlySaneMan between these colorful personalities, but a highly ineffective one because, like his friends, he is supremely indifferent towards others, opting instead for the role of DeadpanSnarker extraordinaire. This quality of Jerry's, flavored with co-creator Larry David's gift for irony, coupled with the characters' propensity for {{Snowball Lie}}s and {{Fawlty Towers Plot}}s, is what fueled most of the elaborate yet utterly mundane plots of the episodes. This also made them unusually cruel by sitcom standards, as more than once they find themselves doing unpleasant things to {{Innocent Bystander}}s because of how convoluted the story had become.

Other frequently-appearing characters include Jerry's ''other'' neighbor and SitcomArchNemesis Newman (Creator/WayneKnight), his retired parents Morty (Creator/BarneyMartin) and Helen (Creator/LizSheridan), and his crotchety uncle Leo (Creator/LenLesser); George's overbearing parents Frank (Creator/JerryStiller) and Estelle (Creator/EstelleHarris), his fiancée Susan (Creator/HeidiSwedberg) and his boss [[TheUnseen George Steinbrenner]] (voiced by series creator Larry David); and Elaine's eccentric boss [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed J. Peterman]] (Creator/JohnOHurley) and her on-again-off-again boyfriend David Puddy (Creator/PatrickWarburton). Several other characters appear in multiple episodes, including Ruthie Cohen (Ruth Cohen), the cashier at Monk's who appears (usually as a silent background character) in 101 episodes.

[-[[SeinfeldIsUnfunny No, seriously, what is it?]]-]

Okay, seriously. One of the most popular shows yet/ever made, ''Seinfeld'' mostly centered around a quartet of self-absorbed {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s obsessing over the minutiae of modern life. Initially starting life as a one-off TV special called ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' in 1989 before turning into a full series the following year, it lasted for [[LongRunners nine seasons]], only ending when Jerry Seinfeld himself refused to go on, [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules even after being offered 5 million dollars an episode for a tenth season]]. ''Seinfeld'' was named the greatest television program of all time by ''Magazine/TVGuide'' in 2002.

''Seinfeld'', a SitCom created by Creator/JerrySeinfeld and Creator/LarryDavid which ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1989 to 1998, is a show about nothing. No [[VerySpecialEpisode hugging]], no [[AnAesop learning]].

->'''George:''' It's about nothing!
->'''Jerry:''' Right...
->'''George:''' Everybody's doing something! We'll do nothing!
->'''Jerry:''' So we go into NBC; we tell them we got an idea for a show about nothing?!
->'''George:''' Exactly!
->'''Jerry:''' They say, "What's your show about?" I say, "Nothing!"
->'''George:''' There you go...
->'''Jerry:''' I think you might have something here.
-->-- '''"The Pitch"'''

Seinfeld plays a fictionalized, {{Jerkass}} version of himself as the ostensible main (though in practice [[StraightMan arguably least interesting]]) character, who works mostly as a {{foil}} for his [[{{cloudcuckoolander}} eccentric]] neighbour Cosmo Kramer (Creator/MichaelRichards), who had a tendency to [[DropInCharacter burst into Jerry's apartment unannounced]]; his [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friend]] George Costanza (Creator/JasonAlexander), a similar caricature of Larry David who can make your regular UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist look like a ''winner''; and his sassy ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes (Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus), who [[BrutalHonesty couldn't spell "tact" if her life depended on it]]. Jerry was the technical OnlySaneMan between these colorful personalities, but a highly ineffective one because, like his friends, he is supremely indifferent towards others, opting instead for the role of DeadpanSnarker extraordinaire. This quality of Jerry's, flavored with co-creator Larry David's gift for irony, coupled with the characters' propensity for {{Snowball Lie}}s and {{Fawlty Towers Plot}}s, is what fueled most of the elaborate yet utterly mundane plots of the episodes. This also made them unusually cruel by sitcom standards, as more than once they find themselves doing unpleasant things to {{Innocent Bystander}}s because of how convoluted the story had become.

Other frequently-appearing characters include Jerry's ''other'' neighbor and SitcomArchNemesis Newman (Creator/WayneKnight), his retired parents Morty (Creator/BarneyMartin) and Helen (Creator/LizSheridan), and his crotchety uncle Leo (Creator/LenLesser), George's overbearing parents Frank (Creator/JerryStiller) and Estelle (Creator/EstelleHarris), his fiancée Susan (Creator/HeidiSwedberg) and his boss [[TheUnseen George Steinbrenner]] (voiced by series creator Larry David), Elaine's eccentric boss [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed J. Peterman]] (Creator/JohnOHurley) and her on-again-off-again boyfriend David Puddy (Creator/PatrickWarburton). Several other characters appear in multiple episodes, including Ruthie Cohen (Ruth Cohen), the cashier at Monk's who appears (usually as a silent background character) in 101 episodes.

Now has a [[Characters/{{Seinfeld}} character sheet]] and [[Recap/{{Seinfeld}} recap]] page that could really use help. Vote for the best episode [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/Seinfeld here]].

The show's style of comedy was revolutionary for its time, as the idea of characters spending whole episodes doing and resolving basically nothing, with all humor based on SliceOfLife events and their discussions around inconsequential social protocols (eventually dubbed the SeinfeldianConversation by many), was unheard of in 1989 in America. ''Seinfeld'' was [[GenreBusting so revolutionary in America, in fact]], [[FollowTheLeader that it was mercilessly copied]]. It remains very difficult to describe to the younger generation just how ''huge'' the show was in the '90s, and how memetic its plots and sayings became. To use an analogy, ''Seinfeld'' is to TV shows what ''Film/TheGodfather'' is to movies (which makes it only fitting that the show directly spoofed ''The Godfather'' in the episode about the mohel). Part of what contributed to the authenticity of the "about nothing" theme was the fact that a great deal of the plots were [[WriteWhatYouKnow based on personal stories from the lives of Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, and various members of the writing team]].

And then there's Jerry's ''other'' neighbor. "Hello, [[SitcomArchNemesis Newman]] (Creator/WayneKnight)."

''[slap bass intensifies]''

''Seinfeld'', a SitCom which ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1989 to 1998, is a show about nothing. No [[VerySpecialEpisode hugging]], no [[AnAesop learning]].

Okay, seriously. One of the most popular shows yet made, it mostly centered around self-absorbed individuals obsessing over the minutiae of modern life, following a quartet of {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s. ''Seinfeld'' was created by Creator/JerrySeinfeld and Creator/LarryDavid. Initially starting life as a one-off TV special called ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' in 1989 before turning into a full series the following year, it lasted for [[LongRunners nine seasons]], only ending when Jerry Seinfeld himself refused to go on, [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules even after being offered 5 million dollars an episode for a tenth season]]. ''Seinfeld'' was named the greatest television program of all time by ''Magazine/TVGuide'' in 2002.

Revolutionary for its time, as the idea of characters spending whole episodes doing and resolving basically nothing, with all humor based on SliceOfLife events and their discussions around inconsequential social protocols (even called SeinfeldianConversation by many), was unheard of in 1989 in America. ''Seinfeld'' was [[GenreBusting so revolutionary in America, in fact]], [[FollowTheLeader that it was mercilessly copied]]. It remains very difficult to describe to the younger generation just how ''huge'' the show was in the '90s, and how memetic its plots and sayings became. To use an analogy, ''Seinfeld'' is to TV shows what ''Film/TheGodfather'' is to movies (which makes it only fitting that the show directly spoofed ''The Godfather'' in the episode about the mohel). Part of what contributed to the authenticity of the "about nothing" theme was the fact that a great deal of the plots were [[WriteWhatYouKnow based on personal stories from the lives of Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, and various members of the writing team]].

[[DescribeTopicHere What's the deal with]] ''Seinfeld''?

The seventh season of Larry David's successor series ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (which coincidentally also started as a one-off special before becoming a full show a year later-- and a decade after ''Seinfeld'' did, no less) revolved around Larry creating an in-universe reunion episode of ''Seinfeld'', with Seinfeld, Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus, Richards, and Knight all reprising their roles, as well as playing fictionalized versions of themselves. Later, Jerry's webseries ''WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee'' had a special mini-reunion with him, Alexander, and Knight acting in character. You can watch it [[http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/george-costanza-the-over-cheer here]].

The seventh season of Larry David's successor series ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' (which coincidentally also started as a one-off special before becoming a full show a year later-- and a decade after ''Seinfeld'' did, no less) revolved around Larry creating an in-universe reunion episode of ''Seinfeld'', with Seinfeld, Alexander, Louis-Dreyfus, Richards, and Knight all reprising their roles, as well as playing fictionalized versions of themselves. Later, Jerry's webseries ''WebVideo/ComediansInCarsGettingCoffee'' had a special mini-reunion with him, Alexander and Knight acting in character. You can watch it [[http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/george-costanza-the-over-cheer here]].

Now has a [[Characters/{{Seinfeld}} character sheet]] and [[Recap/{{Seinfeld}} recap]] page that could really use help. Vote for the best episode [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/Seinfeld here.]]

Okay, seriously. One of the most popular shows yet made, it mostly centered around self-absorbed individuals obsessing over the minutia of modern life, following a quartet of {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s. ''Seinfeld'' was created by Creator/JerrySeinfeld and Creator/LarryDavid. Initially starting life as a one-off TV special called ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' in 1989 before turning into a full series the following year, it lasted for [[LongRunners nine seasons]], only ending when Jerry Seinfeld himself refused to go on, [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules even after being offered 5 million dollars an episode for a tenth season]]. ''Seinfeld'' was named the greatest television program of all time by ''Magazine/TVGuide'' in 2002.

Okay, seriously. One of the most popular shows of all time, it mostly centered around self-absorbed individuals obsessing over the minutia of modern life, following a quartet of {{Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist}}s. ''Seinfeld'' was created by Creator/JerrySeinfeld and Creator/LarryDavid. Initially starting life as a one-off TV special called ''The Seinfeld Chronicles'' in 1989 before turning into a full series the following year, it lasted for [[LongRunners nine seasons]], only ending when Jerry Seinfeld himself refused to go on, [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules even after being offered 5 million dollars an episode for a tenth season]]. ''Seinfeld'' was named the greatest television program of all time by ''Magazine/TVGuide'' in 2002.