"Castle Rock publicity materials described The Seinfeld Chronicles as follows: " An innovative comedy which explores the question 'where do comedians get their material?" "'" "The show blends Jerry Seinfeld's daily experiences with his evening standup routines."" "This opening exchange about the placement of George's shirt button is repeated almost word for word in the final scene in the final episode of Seinfeld nine years later." "The Seinfeld show began life in a meeting held at NBC on Wednesday, November 2, 1988." "George Shapiro and Jerry Seinfeld sat with NBC executive Rick Ludwin to discuss the possibility of Jerry doing a project with the network." "Jerry was uncertain of what direction any project would take but was happy to explore the possibilities." "During a subsequent get-together with Larry David the two comedians decided to make the show about where comics get their material when they aren't performing." "The Seinfeld Chronicles pilot premiered on NBC on July 5, 1989 just over nine months after that first meeting." "Coincidentally, it also takes nine months for a baby to be born after conception." "Jerry Seinfeld was born April 29, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York." "In the show's original format, both Jerry and George were comedians." "This idea was quickly abandoned and George became a real estate broker instead." "Early versions of this episode's script had George discussing his standup act." "In one draft, the character's name isn't even George." "It's Bennett." "Bennett reverted to George very soon afterwards and the name never changed again." "The original draft delivered to NBC said that the show was titled Stand Up." "But the pre-NBC title used was simply The Jerry Seinfeld Show." "Though it contained three interstitials of Jerry performing standup the first draft began with this scene in the luncheonette." "NBC executive Rick Ludwin suggested that the show open with Jerry's standup." "This became the standard opening for the show for its first seven seasons." "Though originally cast as a potential series regular Lee Garlington played Claire the waitress in only this first scene in the pilot episode." "The character's name was Meg in the first draft." "The establishing shot at the top of this scene shows the name of this diner as Pete's Luncheonette." "Starting in the second episode, and for the remainder of the series Jerry and the gang congregated at Monk's coffee shop." "This may help explain why Claire never appeared on the show again." "Lee Garlington (Claire) has appeared in many movies and TV shows including The Hot Chick, American Pie 2  Sledge Hammer!" "CSI and Coach." "Note Jerry's genuine laughter at George's antics at the end of the scene." "Jerry Seinfeld grew up in Massapequa, Long Island." "He graduated from Queens College in New York in 197 6." "His love of laughter led him to pursue a career as a standup comedian." "He performed his first club gig at Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York the same day that he graduated from college." "That soon led to an emceeing gig at the Comic Strip comedy club earning $70 a week." "In 1980, Jerry moved to Los Angeles." "He made his first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson on May 7, 1981." "In 1987, he starred in his own HBO Special  Jerry Seinfeld's Stand-Up Confidential." "A year later, Jerry earned the American Comedy Award as Funniest Male Stand-Up Comic." "Around that time, NBC arranged a meeting with Jerry to discuss starring in a project for the network." "The character of George is largely based upon series cocreator Larry David." "The original character breakdown for casting the part described George as "intelligent more ill at ease with himself than Jerry and unhappy with his current career of real estate sales."" "Jason Alexander originally auditioned for George in New York on April 3, 1989." "A second audition was held in Los Angeles at 9:00 a.m. on April 10, 1989." "Jason Alexander was one of dozens of actors considered for the part." "Others included Nathan Lane, Steve Buscemi, David Alan Grier Larry Miller, and Brad Hall, who is married to Julia Louis-Dreyfus." "There are four comedy club scenes in the pilot episode." "As the show's storytelling grew more complex the standup material was slowly squeezed out." "By the show's final two seasons the comedy club scenes were dropped completely." "The standup segments on this pilot and all subsequent episodes were recorded on a Hollywood soundstage in a set built to look like a New York comedy club." "The audience in the earliest episode was partially made up of paid extras." "Their laughter, however, is genuine." "Note:" "Jerry is enjoying a bowl of cereal at 1:00 in the morning." "This is the first mention of Jerry's love of the Mets." "Note:" "Kramer's knock before entering, something the character almost never did again." "KRAMER ENTRANCE COUNTER: #1" "If you listen closely you can hear Jerry call his neighbor "Kessler" in this scene." "In the draft sent to NBC titled "Stand Up," dated March 24, 1989 Jerry's neighbor was called Kramer." "The name and character was based on Kenny Kramer Larry David's neighbor in New York." "Concerns over rights of the name caused the character to be changed to Hoffman for the cast read through." "Hoffman was then changed to Kessler prior to the shooting of the pilot." "By the time the series began shooting its second episode the rights concerns were cleared up and the character was Kramer once more." "Kramer clears up the name inconsistency himself in the ninth season episode, "The Betrayal" when he says that "Kessler" is just the name on his apartment buzzer." "The character breakdown for casting the part of Kramer said:" ""Kramer is Jerry's blunt, tactless neighbor whom Jerry describes as either a valueless lump of refuse or an incredible Zen master." "Usually seen in his bathrobe no matter what time of day and it's impossible to tell what he does for a living or how he gets by."" "Michael Richards first auditioned for the part of Kramer at 1:30 p.m. on April 6, 1989." "A second audition was held on April 14, 1989 at 10:00 a.m." "A final audition for network president Brandon Tartikoff took place at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City where Tartikoff was attending a meeting." "After this audition, at 10:30 on Tuesday, April 18 Richards was informed that he had won the part of Kramer." "Other actors considered for the part of Kramer were Steve Vinovich Tony Shalhoub and Larry Hankin who ended up playing the part of a fictional, fictional Kramer in the fourth season finale, "The Pilot."" "Curiously, the character of Kramer was not in the very earliest drafts of this pilot's scripts." "A second draft incorporated him into the script though he never really affects the story line in The Seinfeld Chronicles pilot." "The pilot episode of The Seinfeld Chronicles was first read by its cast on Thursday, April 20, 1989 at 10:00 a.m. PST." "It was filmed in front of an audience one week later on Thursday, April 27, 1989 at 7: 10 p.m. PST on stage 9 at the Ren-Mar Studios in Hollywood, California." "Prior to filming, a dress rehearsal was held for an audience of Castle Rock executives and their guests." "Jason Alexander recalls performing this scene during his original audition for the character of George." "KRAMER ENTRANCE COUNTER: #2" "According to the script, the dog's name is Ralph." "Ralph was included in the script to help transition into Jerry's standup routine on the boundless enthusiasm of dogs." "The standup was replaced with one about the nature of women that was more closely linked to the main story line of the episode." "Ralph did not appear in the series again." "The pilot was poorly received by audience testing groups." "Some audience comments include:" ""You can't get too excited about two guys going to the laundromat." "Jerry's loser friend George is not a forceful character." "Jerry needs a stronger supporting cast." "Why are they interrupting the standup for these stupid stories?"" "They saw Jerry as powerless, dense and naive." "As a result of the negative testing, NBC passed on the show and it appeared to be dead." "In the original script George's concern over double-parking led to a discussion over whether car flashers can ever act as a ticket deterrent." "George's philosophy of doing the opposite resurfaced in the fifth season episode, "The Opposite."" "Airing unsold series pilots in the summertime was common practice at the time." "NBC executives referred to it as "Garbage Dump Theater."" "The Seinfeld Chronicles pilot originally aired on NBC on July 5, 1989 at 9:30 p.m." "At this point, the original script included a scene with Jerry and George talking over stock footage of cars on a highway at night on their way to the airport." "The cut scene featured a discussion about changing lanes and giving thank-you waves, a subject which would resurface in the third season episode, "The Good Samaritan."" "Portions of this material were filmed for use in the second season episode:" ""The Ex-Girlfriend," but they were cut before the episode aired." "Tapes of The Seinfeld Chronicles pilot were sent to critics prior to its airing on July 5th." "Note that Jerry is wearing the same shirt he wore in the comedy club in the prior scene." "Emboldened by support from other NBC executives that the series had potential Rick Ludwin requested a chance to resurrect the series in some way." "Ludwin intended to use money originally allocated for two one-hour variety specials to pay for additional Seinfeld episodes." "Though concerned that the show was "too New York" and "too Jewish" NBC president Brandon Tartikoff agreed to the request." "As a result of Ludwin's budget-shuffling the first season order for The Seinfeld Chronicles consisted of just four episodes." "This is the smallest sitcom order in television history." "The set for Jerry's apartment remained largely unchanged throughout its run." "The large windows along the far wall seen here are the exception." "There is also no bedroom in the apartment in the first five episodes." "A bedroom was added beside the bathroom beginning in season two." "Pamela Brull (Laura) has also appeared in:" "Matlock, Growing Pains and Three's Company." "This pilot was given the title "Good News, Bad News" for syndication though it was never referred to as such by the production staff or the writers." "This was likely done to avoid confusion with the fourth season finale titled "The Pilot."" "Several titles were considered for the pilot episode including:" ""Signals" and "The Airport Pick-Up."" "The original press release for the broadcast of The Seinfeld Chronicles pilot in 1989 included a show summary that was distributed to all media outlets for use in promoting the show." "This summary totally gives away the surprise ending to the episode that Laura is actually engaged to be married." "Such disregard for keeping important surprises secret would eventually lead Larry David to insist that NBC promote all new Seinfeld episodes with just two words: "New Episode."" "JERRY GIRLFRIEND COUNTER:" "#1 – Laura, the engaged woman" "In 1993, much of Jerry's standup material from the first four years of the series was collected into a book called Seinlanguage." "The collection stayed on the New York Times Best-Seller List for 33 weeks." "On its original broadcast, this pilot episode received a Nielsen rating of 10.9." "Nielsen ratings represent the proportion of the homes that own televisions that are watching a particular show." "The Seinfeld Chronicles premiere earned an audience share of 19." "The audience share number represents the proportion of homes watching television that are watching a particular show." "This was the first episode of Seinfeld to be repeated." "NBC re-aired it on July 5, 1990." "It received a 13.9 rating, 26 share." "These excellent numbers for a rerun helped secure the show a second season."