The Seinfeld Chronicles
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I was a late arrival to Seinfeld fandom.
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Though the first episode was aired in the US in 1989, there would be a four-year delay until<br>it was broadcast in the UK. As a teenager, and with the show lurking in the shadows of BBC's<br>late-night schedules, it passed me by.
It wasn't until the 2010s when Seinfeld reappeared on UK TV in a prime-time slot. Fully<br>aware of the show's standing in the canon of popular culture, this was my opportunity to<br>tune in.
During the 2010s Seinfeld was also shown on cable networks, like Comedy Central, and then<br>from 2015 became available on-demand in the USA on Hulu.
In 2019, Netflix spent over $500 million for the global streaming rights to broadcast<br>Seinfeld from 2021 through to 2026. This propelled the show to a whole new generation of<br>audiences.
1989
Seinfeld first aired on NBC in the USA
1993
Seinfeld first aired on BBC2 in the UK
2012
Seinfeld returns to UK prime-time on Sky TV
2015
Seinfeld available on-demand on Hulu in the USA
2021
Seinfeld launches on Netflix with worldwide streaming
If you’ve still never seen the show, let me bring you up to speed with a quick intro and<br>explain why I became hooked after only a handful of episodes.
There's a good chance you've seen this popular gif. It<br>shows a clip taken from the fourth episode of season four, titled 'The Wallet'.
Here we see the four lead characters: Jerry - the show's eponymous character - his friends George and Elaine, plus next-door neighbour, Kramer. They are in Jerry's apartment, set in New York City,<br>which acts as the main location base for lots of the show's stories.
Jerry
George
Elaine
Kramer
Jerry's home
We'll learn a lot more about all the characters and locations later.
S4E3 - The Pitch
Jerry
George
Diner
S8E3 - The Bizzaro Jerry
Jerry
Elaine
Jerry's home
S7E3 - The Wait Out
Jerry
Kramer
Jerry's home
S5E4 - The Sniffing Accountant
Kramer
Colleague
Place of leisure
S8E4 - The Little Kicks
Elaine
George
Other person
Other location
S4E3 - The Pitch
Jerry
George
Diner
S8E3 - The Bizzaro Jerry
Jerry
Elaine
Jerry's home
S7E3 - The Wait Out
Jerry
Kramer
Jerry's home
S5E4 - The Sniffing Accountant
Kramer
Colleague
Place of leisure
S8E4 - The Little Kicks
Elaine
George
Other person
Other location
NothingFlawedIrreverentMusicalitySit-com<br>Seinfeld is considered a unique sitcom in how it deviated from the traditional rules of<br>the time, rejecting the classic three-act story in favour of a faster-paced multi-story<br>structure. It was essentially written in a different key,<br>focusing on - and amplifying - the minutiae of daily life, and earning its reputation as the show about nothing.
Seinfeld sidestepped sentimentality as well as the pursuit of resolution. With its mantra<br>of no hugging*, no learning the lead characters were insecure and entertainingly flawed, lacking any desire or capability for<br>personal growth when faced with the slightest adversity or annoyance, and especially in<br>their romantic encounters.<br>*the first clip notwithstanding!
Despite their flaws, I loved the irreverent characters,<br>with their absurd obsessions and neurotic tendencies, and the hilariously avoidable<br>situations they found themselves in.
As I read more about the show, my fascination with the creative process behind it grew. It was the musicality of the show I found particularly intriguing, orchestrated<br>by the comedic talents of co-creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
Like music, situation comedy has rhythm and it has texture: rhythm is shaped by a show's timing, its scene-structures, and its pacing; textures are created by the 'instruments' of characters and their<br>locations, which amalgamate to create the situations from which the comedy manifests.
I was intrigued by the possibilities of mixing work with pleasure: visually exploring a sitcom through its data.<br>Intrigued became compelled. I wanted to explore how Seinfeld and David, with the support of<br>their evolving pool of talented writers, managed to achieve such sustained sitcom<br>brilliance. Much like a sports coach seeks to assemble the right players in the right<br>combinations, to win a game, how did the Seinfeld ‘coaching team’ use their resources to<br>assemble the right characters in the right scenes, in order to score the laughs and create<br>TV gold?
And so began a self-motivated, long-running, entirely unnecessary, data-driven exploration of every episode of Seinfeld.<br>The first product of this work was my 2020 publishing of The Seinfeld Chronicles, a limited-edition printed book presenting all my extensive analysis. With 176 copies<br>released, matching the number of written episodes, this reached a small but exclusive,<br>passionate, and generous audience.
My curiosity transcended just reading more about the show, it was now time to go deep. I decided to immerse myself in an entirely unnecessary,<br>self-motivated, long-running, data-driven...