24 Seinfeld Facts You Probably Didn't Know
1.
Seinfeld was nominated for 68 Emmy Awards altogether, and won 10. Although, neither Jerry Seinfeld nor Jason Alexander ever won an individual Emmy.
2.
The contest episode is based on a real contest that Larry David and Kenny Kramer had. It went on for months, and Larry won.
3.
Rosie O'Donnell read for the part of Elaine and was considered. So was Patricia Heaton, the wife from Everybody Loves Raymond.
4.
Georges father didn't invent Festivus. The real credit goes to Dan O'Keefe who created it in 1966 to celebrate the anniversary of his first date with his wife. The O'Keefes son was a writer on the show and presented the idea. The Festivus pole was a gag added by the writers.
5.
The diner where the group is seen eating most every episode is called name Monks. It modeled after New York's Upper West Side cafe Toms Restaurant, which is still in operation today
6.
By the end of the series, the show was bringing in about 200 million a year in pure profit for NBC.
7.
Seinfeld couldnt exist in any other city but New York, but it was mostly shot at the CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA
8.
Jason Alexander a.k.a. George Costanza is the only cast member who ever directed an episode.
9.
Jerry Seinfeld is ranked 12 out of the top 100 comedians of all time on Comedy Centrals list
10.
Before making Kramer the iconic role he is, Michael Richards auditioned for the role of Al Bundy in Married With Children but was beat out by Ed ONeill.
11.
Jerry is banned from the real life Soup Nazi's restaurant. Al Yaganeh, the inspiration for the Soup Nazi, claims that the episode ruined his life and business, even though it has given him fame and recognition to this day.
12.
When Julia Louis-Dreyfus became pregnant with her second child, Jerry suggested that they incorporate her size into the story and work in a plot-line about Elaine getting fat. When she heard the idea, Julia just burst into tears, and the idea was immediately scrapped in favor of just hiding her belly under baggy clothes and well-placed props.
13.
The last gag in The Parking Garage, in which Kramer's car wont start after they finally find his parking space, was completely unintentional.
14.
Seinfeld held the mantra of No Hugs, No Lessons throughout the entire series. They chose not to have any sentimental moments on the show.
15.
The first reference to Newman was made in the second season's 7th episode, but the role was voice only, and was portrayed by Larry David.
16.
Larry David originally wanted to name Kramer Kessler. David based the character on his neighbor, also named Kramer, and feared that his neighbor would make a big fuss about it. In the end, Kramer was the perfect name for the character. Kramers first name, Cosmo, wasnt revealed until season 6
17.
Larry's neighbor did profit from the association of the names. He even does a Kramer Reality Tour, which was later mimicked in the show when Kramer does a reality tour of Mr. Peterman because he used Kramer's stories for his book.
18.
After being featured on the Tonight Show for over a decade, Jerry was 36 years old when the series first began.
19.
Before Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on Seinfeld, she was first a cast member on SNL from 1982-1985. Before that she was performing with The Second City in Chicago, the popular theater troupe. Larry David and Julia met on SNL because Larry was a writer there for a year.
20.
Seinfeld's series finale ranks as the 3rd most watched series finale behind M.A.S.H. and Cheers. 76 million viewers tuned in to watch the four friends end up in jail.
21.
Elaine wasn't originally in the cast. After the pilot episode, Larry and Jerry started looking for a good fit in a female character. They found Julia Louis-Dreyfus who couldn't have been a better choice.
23.
Steven Spielberg has said that while filming Schindlers List, he would get depressed at times and would watch tapes of Seinfeld episodes to cheer himself up.
24.
Seinfeld is one of only three series in American history to stay ranked at 1 in the ratings for its entire final network season. The other two were I Love Lucy in 1956-1957 and The Andy Griffith Show in 1967-1968.
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