Hi Jerry, how is it going?

 

You probably know this already, but let’s review shall we.  Your legendary television show, Seinfeld, began in 1989 by airing its pilot episode that summer on Wednesday, July 5^th, 1989.  Just one little old episode, aired during the summer months.  I don’t believe I watched that first airing of your episode.  The ratings were okay, but not that great.  The ratings are massive in comparison to today’s numbers, as viewership habits have been so fragmented since then, but for the time they were only okay.  The pilot episode would be repeated in August 1989, and a strange thing happened.  The ratings actually improved.  I don’t believe I watched that repeat airing of Seinfeld either.

 

NBC wasn’t blown away by your numbers, and it did not look like a full, or even a half-season, order was going to be in the works for your show.  But that Rick Ludwin guy really liked it.  There was something about your show, and he just believed in it.  The numbers for the repeat had unexpectedly increased, so maybe there was a case to be made for sticking with your show.  In case you don’t remember, Rick Ludwin was in charge of NBC Late Night and Specials.  You may also remember that NBC would regularly air 2-hour comedy specials made by legendary comedian Bob Hope back then.  Ludwin really liked your show, and he went out on a limb for it.  He decided to air one less Bob Hope Special that upcoming year, and budget the money which would have been dedicated to creating that special instead to creating 4 half-hour episodes of your show.  It was unheard of, a commitment of 4 episodes.  Everyone gets 13 episodes, but not your little show that could.

 

Those 4 episodes aired mostly in June 1990.  That’s where I come into the story.  I saw that show, airing among Thursday summer repeats.  I’m sure I was watching a repeat episode of The Cosby Show or Cheers, just like every good teenage pop culture enthusiast of that era, and I watched your show.  I loved your show.  I don’t even know why at that time I connected with it like I did.  I probably did not even understand half the jokes.  And looking back, maybe the episodes are not as funny as the ones that came later, when the show was more polished.  But something about it really connected with me.  I knew it was funny, and had the potential to be even funnier.  I started writing letters to NBC asking them to bring your show back.  Please renew Seinfeld!!  I love this show.

Writing letters to a network is something I did back then when I loved a show and wanted to be heard, so that the show would be saved.  Of course, this was pre-internet, it’s not like I could send an email or tweet my thoughts to NBC.  I had to find the physical address to which I should send a letter in an actual envelope.  I would go down to my local library and find the Yellow Pages for other cities and look up NBC’s address.  I had done this a few times.  As a kid, I tried to save ALF.  Later on, I tried to save Quantum Leap.  I believe Quantum Leap actually did get one more season due to fans deluging NBC with requests.  I tried to save Quantum Leap again the following year to no avail.  There were a couple of other shows, I tried to save but I think, in retrospect, I was probably the only fan of these shows.  A show called Grand that aired on NBC which featured John Randolph (you may remember him, since you hired him as the original Frank Costanza on your show).  Bonnie Hunt was on Grand too.  So was Joel Murray.  I also tried to save Good Grief, a Fox show starring Howie Mandel, that I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

But I’m getting way off track here.  Suffice it to say, your show was not cancelled by NBC.  After the 4-episode long season, Seinfeld was brought back for a half-season order.  13 episodes, airing from January to June 1991.  Now airing on Wednesday nights.  The Wednesday night timeslot may not have been the permanent timeslot for your show in the long run, but I was a big fan.  Unsolved Mysteries, Night Court, and then you.  That’s a great night of being a couch potato right there!  Again, I’m not sure why I loved your show so much.  It was different.  At least at the time.  Nowadays, I think lots of shows look and feel like yours, but back then yours felt very different.  I think I once read that Julia Louis-Dreyfus (you may remember her as your costar, Elaine Benes) said that it reminded her of an independent movie.  Your sitcom was not traditional, and in a lot of ways not that much seemed to be happening in some episodes.  Frankly, the characters were not that likable in many episodes.  I think the fact that Rick Ludwin was the network guy overseeing the show was a big blessing.  Because the normal network suits, the ones that would give too many suggestions and make your show just like everything else on TV, were not around.  The late-night guy was overseeing your quirky little show, and maybe let you get away with non-traditional things.

 

Everyone likes to say Seinfeld is a “show about nothing”, but I have never liked this description.  It is the one show about everything.  Every little piece of minutiae that most people deal with and completely overlook.  The things everyone can relate to, but don’t even consider focusing on because it seems so ordinary and plain.  But you twist it around and turn it on its head.  And what a cast you assembled!  Of course, you are the man.  I always thought that Jason Alexander was the unsung hero of the cast.  To put it into Freudian terms, the character of George Costanza was the “id”.  At times inhabiting the basest instincts of selfishness, doing things that most people maybe secretly think of doing or wanting to do, but never actually go through with.  Later on, I would learn he was based on the show’s co-creator, your friend and fellow comic Larry David.  You were the star, but George may have been the jaded heart and soul of the cast of misfits.  The character of Kramer was the breakout star at first, but in a lot of ways, I am not sure if he is appreciated as much as he should be these days.  I do not believe that physical comedy gets the respect it deserves compared to standup comedians.  The end result is the same whether comics are verbal or physical, the people are laughing.  But for some reason, physical comedians are overlooked when it comes to appreciation.  Perhaps others are simply jealous of their abilities, as physical comedy is not easy to do well.  Michael Richards as Kramer, deserves recognition much like Dick Van Dyke in the 1960’s or John Ritter in the 1970’s.  Of course, Julia Louis-Dreyfus rounded out the cast as the girl that was just one of the guys.  The comedy Fab Four.

 

I went to see you perform at Meadowbrook Amphitheater in Rochester Hills, Michigan in the summer of 1992.  By 1992, your show was fairly safe and secure, likely to be renewed, but the ratings still weren’t stellar.  A renewal was probably likely, but not guaranteed.  I’m sure I wrote a letter or two to NBC encouraging them to renew the show once again.  Before too long, NBC listened to my guidance and announced your return.  Your appearance at Meadowbrook was the first time you came through town in that early 90’s era, at least that I can remember.  I was so excited.  I had to find someone that would drive me there, as I was not 16 years old yet.  The crowd was great.  Your show was not a juggernaut yet, but it had its extremely loyal fan base.  It felt almost like a Seinfeld convention, a convention of these fanatical nerds that adored this strange show.  It was a perfect summer night, warm with a cool breeze.  You performed for, it was probably 60-90 minutes, but for some reason, in my memory it feels like you performed all night long.  It was awesome.

 

Seinfeld moved from Wednesday nights at 9:30 to Wednesday nights at 9:00.  And season 4 would bring an epic battle between you and the highly-popular Home Improvement sitcom, both airing at the same time.  You were on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, looking like a cowboy riding into your showdown with Tim Allen.  I saved that magazine back then.  I was a total dork and nerd for all things Seinfeld.  I would wear Seinfeld and Kramer t-shirts in junior high and high school.  I bought a bunch of Kellogg’s cereal to send away for a free Seinfeld breakfast bowl.  Don’t be too flattered, as I was a dork for other things as well.  It’s not just your show for which I embraced being a full-fledged nerd.  Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Star Trek, Weird Al, I had multiple pursuits of fanaticism.  I was a huge fan of The Ben Stiller Show, airing on Fox.  I wrote letters trying to save that one too, but was not successful.  I think all people nerd out for something, especially in their youth. 

 

Back to your ratings battle with Home Improvement.  I knew where my loyalties stood.  I enjoyed Home Improvement, but I was a Seinfeld fanatic.  But I also knew it probably would not be a contest.  Home Improvement was a much more popular show at that moment in time, and sure enough, it would stay in the lead in ratings.

But then, Ted Danson picked up the phone and called NBC President Warren Littlefield and decided he no longer wanted to portray Sam Malone.  Cheers would be going off the air.  What would NBC do with their juggernaut Thursday-night lineup?  Which show would inherit the tentpole of 9pm?  NBC decided that your quirky show could possibly be more than just a quirky show.  Maybe instead of just having some quirky and loyal fans, maybe Seinfeld was ready for a great deal more of fans.  Maybe you should inherit the Cheers time slot and become the new preeminent sitcom on Thursday nights.  NBC moved Seinfeld to Thursday nights at 9:30, after Cheers.  Let those Thursday night viewers get used to seeing you on Thursday night, getting the lead in from Cheers.  NBC also heavily promoted your move from Wednesdays to Thursdays during the Super Bowl.  NBC thought that maybe, just maybe, this could work.

 

Boy, did it ever work.  Suddenly your show was outperforming its lead-in, Cheers!  The next season, you officially took over the 9pm Thursday time slot, and the rest is history.  Seinfeld became a huge hit, regularly getting over 30M viewers every week, approaching 40M.  The finale would garner 76M.  It was the biggest show on TV.  I was proud of the show.  This little show that could, the show which I had been trying to tell people to watch for nearly five years, was finally a hit.  The show which I wrote letters to NBC about as a teenage nerd in order to save.  The show, which in its first few years on TV only amassed only 17 episodes produced in total, while other shows could have easily had 60-70 episodes produced during that same time frame.  I wanted to tell everyone, “I told you so”. 

 

You came back through town a couple of year later.  This time at the Fox Theater in downtown Detroit.  I brought a copy of your book, SeinLanguage, with me in some foolish and idealistic pursuit that I might bump into you and get you to sign it.  As if you and I would be walking through a Detroit alley at the same moment. 

 

Getting a ticket to the show was very difficult, as you were now extremely popular.  It was still fun, but it felt different.  The first time I saw you, it was this convention of underground Seinfeld fans.  It was our show, you were our comedian.  The 2^nd time through, you were everyone’s comedian.  I felt that some people were there not necessarily because they wanted to see you, but because they wanted to be seen seeing the guy from the number one TV show.  They were fans, but they were late to the party.  I was at the party the whole time, setting up the hors d’oeuvres!  It’s a different feeling once something goes from being the hip, underground thing, to THE thing.  The moment almost felt a little disappointing in a strange, counterintuitive way.  Instead of feeling triumphant, suddenly I had to “share” you with everyone, losing the camaraderie of the “real” fans which had been there years earlier. 

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But overall, it was a heck of a fun ride, even just as as a fan.  I can’t even imagine what it was like from your side of things.  You were always a standup comedian first and foremost, but then this show climbs the pop culture mountain and dominates TV.  Not to mention, it allowed you to make a few bucks along the way.  (And hey, if you ever want to thank me for writing those letters to NBC and enabling your superstardom, feel free to send $10M dollars my way as a thank you.  I’m sure your fans everywhere will appreciate the gesture.) 

 

Once your show reached its conclusion, you eventually made a couple of movies (the documentary Comedian and the animated Bee Movie).  Also did a couple of TV shows (The Marriage Ref and Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee).  But I know your true love is doing standup comedy.  You are still out there doing standup comedy.  You come through town every few years, and I try to see your standup when my schedule permits.  It is starting to feel like the “real” fans once again at these shows.  The same ones that could have been at that Meadowbrook show in 1992.  Gone are the ones that showed up just to be seen.  The new standup material is great, and it’s fun to think how your new routines could have been incorporated into new episodes of the show, if it was still on the air. 

 

On a bad day, I can bust out the Seinfeld DVDs and watch one of my favorite episodes and forget about the bad day.  I quote lines from the show with my coworkers and friends that are fanatics as well.  (Around the office, we always reference and wonder who might be working on the “Penske file”.  Of course, you are aware….)  It’s like a language unto itself, speaking in Seinfeldian, getting everyone through another workday. 

 

Who would have guessed, that a show that began on a quiet July night in 1989, would become my pop culture companion for the next 30 years, and still going strong.  And so Jerry, thank you for all the laughs all these years!  I look forward to a great many more laughs and enjoyment in the years to come.

 

– MTR

You can follow MTR on Twitter and let him know what you think.

Further reading: Rest in Peace – Jerry Stiller