Seinfeld

  = Main cast (credited)

  = Recurring cast (4+)

  = Guest cast (1–3)

Main

Jerry Seinfeld (upper left); Jason Alexander (upper right); Michael Richards (lower right); Julia Louis-Dreyfus (lower left)

• Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) – Jerry is a "minor celeb" stand-up comedian who is often depicted as "the voice of reason" amid the general insanity generated by the people in his world. The in-show character is a mild germophobe and neat freak, as well as an avid Superman, New York Mets and breakfast cereal fan. Jerry's apartment is the center of a world visited by his eccentric friends and a focus of the show.[12]
• Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) – Elaine is Jerry's ex-girlfriend and later friend. She is friendly, while also being sarcastic, selfish and unorganized. She sometimes has a tendency to be too honest with people (usually by losing her temper), which often gets her into trouble.[13] She usually gets caught up in her boyfriends' quirks, eccentric employers' unusual behaviors and idiosyncrasies, and the maladjustment of total strangers. She tends to make poor choices in men she chooses to date and is often overly reactive. First she works at Pendant Publishing with Mr. Lippman, is later hired as a personal assistant for Mr. Pitt, and later works for the J. Peterman catalog as a glorified assistant. Elaine is popularly described as an amalgamation of David's and Seinfeld's girlfriends during their early days in New York as struggling comedians.
• Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) – Kramer is Jerry's slacker neighbor. His trademarks include his humorous upright pompadour hairstyle, vintage clothes, and energetic sliding bursts through Jerry's apartment door. Kramer was heavily based on a neighbor of David's during his amateur comedic years in Manhattan. At times, he appears naïve, uneducated, and impulsive, and at other times, quick-witted, helpful, and empathetic; similarly, he is exaggeratedly successful, socially, with his charisma and laid-back personality. This is seen in his success with women and employers. He has been described as a "hipster doofus." Although he never holds a steady job, he is rarely short of money and often invents wacky schemes that often work at first then eventually fail. Kramer is best friends with Newman, and they work well together despite their differences.[14]
• George Costanza (Jason Alexander) – George is Jerry's best friend since high school. He is stingy, conniving, pedantic and jealous of others' achievements.[15] He is depicted as a loser who is perpetually lacking confidence about his capabilities. He rants and lies easily about his profession, relationships and almost everything else, which usually creates trouble for him later. He often uses the alias Art Vandelay when lying or concocting a cover story. Despite these shortcomings, George is very reliable to his friends and has a success in dating women and eventually secures a steady career as Assistant to the Traveling Secretary for the New York Yankees.

Recurring

Many characters have made multiple appearances, like Jerry's nemesis Newman and his Uncle Leo. In addition to recurring characters, Seinfeld features numerous celebrities who appear as themselves or girlfriends, boyfriends, bosses and other acquaintances. Many actors who made guest appearances became household names later in their careers, or were already well known.

Many Seinfeld episodes are based on the writers' real-life experiences, with the experiences reinterpreted for the characters' storylines. For example, George's storyline, "The Revenge", is based on Larry David's experience at Saturday Night Live.[16] "The Contest" is also based on David's experiences. "The Smelly Car" storyline is based on Peter Mehlman's lawyer friend, who could not get a bad smell out of his car. "The Strike" is based on Dan O'Keefe's dad, who made up his own holiday—Festivus.[17] Other stories take a variety of turns. "The Chinese Restaurant" consists of George, Jerry and Elaine waiting for a table throughout the entire episode.[18] "The Boyfriend", revolving around Keith Hernandez, extends through 2 episodes. "The Betrayal" is famous for using reverse chronology, and was inspired by a similar plot device in a Harold Pinter play, Betrayal.[19] Some stories were inspired by headlines and rumors, as explained in the DVD features "Notes About Nothing", "Inside Look", and "Audio Commentary". In "The Maestro", Kramer's lawsuit is roughly similar to the McDonald's coffee case.[20] "The Outing" is based primarily on rumors that Larry Charles heard about Jerry Seinfeld's sexuality.[21]

The series was often described as "a show about nothing".[1][22] However, Seinfeld in 2014 stated "the pitch for the show, the real pitch, when Larry and I went to NBC in 1988, was we want to show how a comedian gets his material. The show about nothing was just a joke in an episode many years later, and Larry and I to this day are surprised that it caught on as a way that people describe the show, because to us it's the opposite of that."[23] Much of the show's humor is based upon repeated use of irony, incongruity, and (oftentimes unfortunate) coincidence(s) as plot devices for many of the individual episodes' plots and humorous moments.

Seinfeld broke several conventions of mainstream television. Larry David is credited with refusing to follow the predictable sitcom formula that would have a blossoming romantic relationship develop between Jerry and Elaine.[24] The show offers no growth or reconciliation to its characters, and eschews sentimentality.[25] An episode is typically driven by humor interspersed with the superficial conflicts of characters with peculiar dispositions. Many episodes revolve around the characters' involvement in the lives of others with typically disastrous results. On the set, the notion that the characters should not develop or improve throughout the series was expressed as the "no hugging, no learning" rule.[25] Also unlike most sitcoms, there are no moments of pathos; the audience is never made to feel sorry for any of the characters. Even Susan's death elicits no genuine emotions from anybody in the show.[26] Seinfeld does not shy away from making light of tough topics, from death to illness to handicaps.[27][28]

The characters are "thirty-something singles with vague identities, no roots, and conscious indifference to morals".[29] Usual conventions, like isolating the characters from the actors playing them and separating the characters' world from that of the actors and audience, were broken. One such example is the story arc where the characters promote a TV sitcom series named Jerry. The show within a show, Jerry, was much like Seinfeld in that it was "about nothing" and Seinfeld played himself. The fictional Jerry was launched in the season four finale, but unlike Seinfeld, it wasn't picked up as a series. Jerry is one of many examples of metafiction in the show. There are no fewer than twenty-two fictional movies featured, like Rochelle, Rochelle.[30] Because of these several elements, Seinfeld became the first TV series since Monty Python's Flying Circus to be widely described as postmodern.[31]

Jerry Seinfeld is an avid Abbott and Costello fan, and has cited The Abbott and Costello Show as an influence on Seinfeld. "Everybody on the show knows I'm a fan. We're always joking about how we do stuff from their show. George and I will often get into a riff that has the rhythm from the old Abbott and Costello shows. And sometimes I'll hit George in the chest the way Abbott would hit Costello." The series includes numerous references to the team. George Costanza's middle name is "Louis," after Costello.[32] "The Old Man" episode features a cantankerous character named "Sid Fields" as a tribute to the landlord on the team's TV show. Kramer's friend is named Mickey Abbott. A copywriter for the J. Peterman catalog is named Eddie Sherman, after the team's longtime agent. In Episode 30, Kramer hears the famous Abbott and Costello line, "His father was a mudder. His mother was a mudder."

Many terms were coined, popularized, or re-popularized in the series' run and have become part of popular culture,[33] such as "Yada, yada, yada",[34] "No soup for you!" and "not that there's anything wrong with that".

The lexicon of Seinfeldian code words and recurring phrases that evolved around particular episodes is referred to as Seinlanguage, the title of Jerry Seinfeld's best-selling book on humor.[31]

A signature of Seinfeld is its theme music. Composed by Jonathan Wolff, it consists of distinct solo sampled bass riffs which open the show and connect the scenes, often accompanied by beatboxing.[35] The bass music eventually replaced the original piano/synth music by Jep Epstein when it was played again after the first broadcast of the pilot episode. The show lacked a traditional title track and the riffs were played over the first moments of dialogue or action. They vary throughout each episode and are played in an improvised funk style. An additional musical theme with an ensemble, led by a synthesized mid-range brass instrument, ends each episode.

In "The Note", the first episode of season three, the bumper music featured a scatting female jazz singer who sang a phrase that sounded like "easy to beat". Jerry Seinfeld and executive producer Larry David both liked Wolff's additions, and three episodes were produced with this new style music. However, they had neglected to inform NBC and Castle Rock executives of the change, and when the season premiere aired, the executives were surprised and unimpressed, and requested that they return to the original style. The subsequent two episodes were redone, leaving this episode as the only one with additional music elements.[36] In the commentary of "The Note", Louis-Dreyfus facetiously suggests it was removed because the perceived lyric related closely to the low ratings at the time.[37]

In the final three seasons, the bits were tweaked slightly with more frantic rhythms; a bass guitar was added in addition to the sampled bass from earlier seasons. Throughout the show, the main theme could be restyled in different ways depending on the episode. For instance, in "The Betrayal", part of which takes place in India, the theme is heard played on a sitar.

The Los Angeles building used to depict the exterior of Jerry's apartment building at 129 West 81st Street, Manhattan

The show premiered as The Seinfeld Chronicles on July 5, 1989. After it aired, a pickup by NBC seemed unlikely and the show was offered to Fox, which declined to pick it up. Rick Ludwin, head of late night and special events for NBC, however, diverted money from his budget by canceling a Bob Hope television special, and the next 4 episodes were filmed.[52][53] These episodes were highly rated as they followed summer re-runs of Cheers on Thursdays at 9:30 p.m., and the series was finally picked up. At one point NBC considered airing these episodes on Saturdays at 10:30 p.m., but gave that slot to a short-lived sitcom called FM. The series was renamed simply Seinfeld after the failure of short-lived 1990 ABC series The Marshall Chronicles.[54] After airing the remaining four episodes of its first season the summer of 1990, NBC ordered thirteen more episodes. Larry David believed that he and Jerry Seinfeld had no more stories to tell, and advised Seinfeld to turn down the order, but Seinfeld agreed to the additional episodes.[53] Season two was bumped off its scheduled premiere of January 16, 1991, due to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War. It settled into a regular time slot on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. and eventually flipped with veteran series Night Court to 9:00.[55]

TV critics championed Seinfeld in its early seasons, even as it was slow to cultivate a substantial audience. For the first three seasons, Jerry's stand-up comedy act would bookend an episode, even functioning as cut scenes during the show. A few episodes set a benchmark for later seasons. "The Deal" establishes Jerry and Elaine's relationship by setting rules about sleeping together and remaining friends.[56] "The Parking Garage" was the first episode shot with no audience for the episode and, after "The Chinese Restaurant", with not showing Jerry's apartment.[57] "The Keys" contains a crossover to CBS show Murphy Brown, marking the first such cooperation between rival networks.[58] "The Busboy" introduces George, Kramer and Elaine as having their own storylines for the first time. Although Castle Rock Entertainment's Glenn Padnick thought Jerry Seinfeld was too generous, showcasing his co-stars' comedic talent became a trademark throughout the series.[59]

Larry Charles wrote an episode for season two, "The Bet", in which Elaine buys a gun from Kramer's friend. This episode wasn't filmed because the content was deemed unacceptable, and was replaced by the episode "The Phone Message".[60] "The Stranded", aired in season three, was intended for season two. In the beginning of this episode, Jerry clears up the continuity error over George's real estate job.[61]

Season four marked the sitcom's entry into the Nielsen ratings Top 30, coinciding with several popular episodes, such as "The Bubble Boy" in which George and the bubble boy argue over Trivial Pursuit,[62] and "The Junior Mint" in which Jerry and Kramer accidentally fumble a mint in the operating room.[63] This was the first season to use a story arc of Jerry and George creating their own sitcom, Jerry. Also at this time, the use of Jerry's stand-up act slowly declined, and the stand-up segment in the middle of Seinfeld episodes was cut.

Much publicity followed the controversial episode, "The Contest", an Emmy Award-winning episode written by co-creator Larry David, whose subject matter was considered inappropriate for prime time network TV. To circumvent this taboo, the word "masturbation" was never used in the script, instead substituted for by a variety of oblique references.[64] Midway through that season, Seinfeld was moved from its original 9:00 p.m. time slot on Wednesdays to 9:30 p.m. on Thursdays, following Cheers again, which gave the show even more popularity. Ratings also sparked the move, as Tim Allen's sitcom Home Improvement on ABC had aired at the same time and Improvement kept beating Seinfeld in the ratings. NBC moved the series after Ted Danson announced the end of Cheers and Seinfeld quickly surpassed the ratings of the 9:00 p.m. Cheers reruns that spring.[65] The show won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993, beating out its family-oriented, time-slot competitor Home Improvement, which was only in its second season on rival network ABC.

Season five was an even bigger ratings-hit, consisting of popular episodes, such as "The Puffy Shirt" in which Jerry feels embarrassed wearing a "pirate" shirt on The Today Show,[66] "The Non-Fat Yogurt" featuring Rudy Giuliani, the Republican then-mayor-elect of New York,[67] and "The Opposite" in which George, doing the opposite of what his instincts tell him he should do, lands a job with the New York Yankees and Elaine leaves "Pendant Publishing" because of a comedy of errors that lead to its demise. Another story arc has George returning to live with his parents. In the midst of the story arc, Kramer creates and promotes his coffee table book.[68] The show was again nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost to the Cheers spin-off Frasier, then in its first season. Seinfeld was nominated for the same award every year for its entire run but, after its win at the 45th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1994, always lost to Frasier, which went on to win a record thirty-nine Emmy Awards in its eleven-season run.

In season six, Andy Ackerman replaced Tom Cherones as director of the show. The series remained well-regarded and produced some of its most famous episodes, such as "The Beard" in which Jerry is put through a lie detector test to make him admit that he watched Melrose Place,[69] "The Switch" in which Kramer's mom, Babs, reveals that his first name is Cosmo,[70] and "The Understudy" in which Elaine meets J. Peterman for the first time.[71] Story arcs used in this season were Elaine working as a personal assistant to her eccentric boss Justin Pitt and George's parents' temporary separation. This was the first season in which Seinfeld reached No. 1 in the Nielsen Ratings. The use of Jerry's stand-up act declined with the end stand-up segment no longer appearing, as the storylines for all four characters grew denser.

In season seven, a story arc involved George getting engaged to his ex-girlfriend, Susan Ross, after the pilot Jerry proved unsuccessful. In it, George spends most of the season regretting and trying to get out of the engagement. Along with the regular half-hour episodes, two notable one-hour episodes were "The Cadillac" in which George plans to date award-winning actor Marisa Tomei[72] and "The Bottle Deposit" with Elaine and Sue Ellen participating in a bidding war to buy JFK's golf clubs in an auction.[73]

The show's ratings were still going strong in its final two seasons. Larry David left at the end of season seven, although he continued to voice Steinbrenner, so Seinfeld assumed David's duties as showrunner, and, under the direction of a new writing staff, Seinfeld became a faster-paced show. The show no longer contained extracts of Jerry performing stand-up comedy—Jerry had no time or energy for this with his new responsibilities—and storylines occasionally delved into fantasy and broad humor. For example, in "The Bizarro Jerry", Elaine is torn between exact opposites of her friends and Jerry dates a woman who has the now-famous "man hands".[74] Some notable episodes from season eight include "The Little Kicks" showing Elaine's horrible dancing,[75] and "The Chicken Roaster" which portrays the Kenny Rogers Roasters chicken restaurant which opened during that time.[76] A story arc in this season involves Peterman going to Burma in "The Foundation"[77] until he recovered from a nervous breakdown in "The Money",[78] followed by Elaine writing Peterman's biography in "The Van Buren Boys",[79] which leads to Kramer's parody of Kenny Kramer's Reality Tour seen in "The Muffin Tops".[80]

The final season included episodes like "The Merv Griffin Show" in which Kramer converts his apartment into a talk-show studio and plays the character of talk-show host,[81] "The Betrayal" that presents in reverse chronological order what happened to Sue Ellen's wedding in India, and "The Frogger" in which George pushes a Frogger machine across the street, mimicking the action of the game itself.[82] The last season included a story arc in which Elaine has an on/off relationship with Puddy. Despite the enormous popularity and willingness of the cast to return for a tenth season, Seinfeld decided to end the show after season nine, believing he would thereby be able to ensure the show would maintain its quality and go out on top.[83] NBC offered him over $100 million for a tenth season, but Seinfeld declined.[84]

A major controversy caused in this final season was the accidental burning of a Puerto Rican flag by Kramer in "The Puerto Rican Day". This scene caused a furor among Puerto Ricans, and as a result, NBC showed this episode only once. Jerry Seinfeld defused the protestors by not letting this episode continue in syndication, as revealed in "Inside Look" on DVD.[85] However, the episode would be added to the syndicated rerun package several years later uncut.[86]

After nine years on the air, NBC and Jerry Seinfeld announced on December 25, 1997, that the series would end production the following spring in 1998. The announcement made the front page of the major New York newspapers, including the New York Times.[87] Jerry Seinfeld was featured on the cover of Time magazine's first issue of 1998.[88] The series ended with a seventy-five-minute episode (cut to 60 minutes in syndication, in two parts) written by co-creator and ex-executive producer Larry David, which aired on May 14, 1998. Before the finale, a forty-five-minute retrospective clip show, "The Chronicle", was aired. The retrospective was expanded to an hour after the original airing and aired again on NBC as an hour-long episode, and has since aired in syndication.

It was the first episode since the finale of season seven, "The Invitations", to feature opening and closing stand-up comedy acts by Jerry Seinfeld. The finale was filmed before an audience of NBC executives and friends of the show. The press and public were shut out of the taping in order to keep its plot secret; those who attended the shoot of the final episode were required to sign written "vows of silence".[89] The secrecy only seemed to increase speculation about how the series would end. The producers of the show tweaked the media about the hype, spreading a false rumor about Newman ending up in the hospital and Jerry and Elaine sitting in a chapel, presumably to marry.[90]

The final episode enjoyed a historic[91] audience, estimated at 76.3 million viewers (58% of all viewers that night) making it the fourth most watched regular series finale in U.S. TV history, behind M*A*S*H, Cheers and The Fugitive. However, the finale received mixed reviews from critics and fans of the show. The finale poked fun at the many rumors that were circulating, seeming to move into multiple supposed plots before settling on its true storyline—a lengthy trial where the gang is prosecuted for violating a "Duty to Rescue" law and sentenced to prison terms.

According to Forbes magazine, Jerry Seinfeld's earnings from the show in 1998 came to US$267 million, including syndication earnings.[92] He refused NBC's offer of $5 million per episode, or over $100 million total, to continue the show into a tenth season. The offer NBC made to Seinfeld was over three times higher per episode than anyone on TV had ever been offered before.[93] Seinfeld told the network that he was not married nor had children, and wished to focus on his personal life.[94][53] As reported in July 2007, he was the second-highest earner in the TV industry, earning at the time $60 million a year.[95] The show became the first TV series to command over $1 million a minute for advertising–a mark previously attained only by the Super Bowl.[96]

According to Barry Meyer, chairman of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Seinfeld made $2.7 billion through June 2010.[97] As of February 2017 the show has made an estimated $4.06 billion in syndication. Steve Bannon, who invested in the show, later said, "We calculated what it would get us if it made it to syndication. We were wrong by a factor of five".[98] In September 2019, it was announced Viacom had acquired cable syndication rights to the series from TBS, with it airing on Paramount Network, Comedy Central and TV Land beginning in October 2021.[99]

Seinfeld has received awards and nominations in various categories throughout the mid-1990s. It was awarded the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993, Golden Globe Award for Best TV-Series (Comedy) in 1994 and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1995, 1997 and 1998.[132][133][134][135] Apart from these, the show was also nominated for an Emmy award from 1992 to 1998 for Outstanding Comedy series, Golden Globe award from 1994 to 1998 for Best TV-Series (Comedy), and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series from 1995 to 1998.[136]

TV Guide named it the greatest TV show of all time in 2002.[137] and in 2013, the magazine ranked it as the second-greatest TV show.[7] A 2015 The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2,800 actors, producers, directors, and other industry people named Seinfeld as their #5 favorite show.[138]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released all nine seasons of Seinfeld on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 between 2004 and 2007.[140] On November 6, 2007, Seinfeld: The Complete Series was released on DVD. The complete series box set includes a 2007 "roundtable" reunion of the four main cast members and Larry David; only highlights of this were also included in the Season 9 set.

In Australia (Region 4), the first complete series boxset was release on 24 October 2007. This set contained "The Coffee Table Book" and slipcase packaging and was a Limited Edition. In late 2007/2008, all the individual seasons were re-released in a single Amaray style case. The second boxset was released on 2 December 2008, and was a Collectible Fridge design packaging. On 5 August 2009[141] another Limited Edition boxset was released, similar to the first boxset but does not include the book and the packaging was slightly different. On 23 November 2011,[142] another Limited Edition boxset was release, appears to be almost identical to the 2009 version with some minor differences. On 14 November 2018,[143] a Festivus Celebration Edition was released which contained napkins and cups, playing cards and thumb wrestle gadgets. On 12 August 2020,[144] another The Complete Series boxset was released, this time the box is blue and contains 8 Amaray style cases.

On April 29, 2015, it was officially announced, during Hulu's upfronts presentation in New York, that all nine seasons of Seinfeld would be available for online streaming, via the video service, starting in June 2015.[164][165] The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood and Variety, citing the deal at around $130 million to $180 million.[166] On May 20, 2015, Hulu announced that every episode would be available starting June 24, 2015.[167]

In January 2017, Amazon acquired the UK rights to all seasons of Seinfeld for its Prime Video streaming service.[168]

On November 8, 2016, the Australian streaming service Stan announced via Twitter that later in the week all episodes would be available to stream for the first time in Australia.[169] All episodes were available from November 11, 2016 with the remastered versions of all episodes on the service featuring HD and Widescreen enhancements.[170] The widescreen offered was cropped from the original 4:3 format negatives, thus resulting in better visual quality than the previously available DVD version, however, the top and bottom portions of the frame were cut out to achieve the widescreen aspect ratio. In April 2020, all seasons of Seinfeld were also made available on demand via pay television service Foxtel, as well as its internet-based alternative Foxtel Now.[171]

In September 2019, Netflix and Sony Pictures announced that Netflix had acquired the exclusive global streaming rights for Seinfeld, starting in 2021, superseding the above Hulu and Amazon rights. When it airs, Netflix's version of Seinfeld will be available in 4K resolution via a new scan from the original 35mm film source.[172][173]

On the November 1, 2007, episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld mentioned the possibility of shooting one last scene, after the characters leave jail. He mentioned that he was too busy to do it at the time, but didn't announce what the scene would entail, as its production isn't a certainty.[174]

In commentary from the final season DVD, Seinfeld outlines that he and Jason Alexander spoke about this scene being in Monk's Cafe, with George saying "That was brutal" in reference to the foursome's stint in prison.[175]

On an episode of Saturday Night Live that Jerry Seinfeld hosted on October 2, 1999, a sketch was produced that showed what life was like for Jerry behind bars after being transferred to the fictional prison portrayed on the HBO series Oz.[176] The roughly four-minute sketch shows the opening credits for the HBO series with clips of Jerry mixed in doing various activities around the prison. The sketch continues and mixes in different story lines from both Oz and Seinfeld and has Jerry interacting with various characters from the show in his typical quick-witted, sarcastic way.[177]

Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander, and Richards have all tried to launch new sitcoms as title-role characters. Almost every show was canceled quickly, usually within the first season. This gave rise to the term Seinfeld curse: the failure of a sitcom starring one of the three, despite the conventional wisdom that each person's Seinfeld popularity should almost guarantee a strong, built-in audience for the actor's new show. Shows specifically cited regarding the Seinfeld curse are Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Watching Ellie, Jason Alexander's Bob Patterson and Listen Up!, and Michael Richards' The Michael Richards Show.

This phenomenon was mentioned throughout the second season of Larry David's HBO program Curb Your Enthusiasm, which aired in 2001. In real life, David has repeatedly dismissed the idea of a curse, saying, "It's so completely idiotic. It's very hard to have a successful sitcom."[178][179]

The success of Louis-Dreyfus in the 2006–2010 CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which included winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2006, led many to believe that she had broken the curse.[180] In her acceptance speech, Louis-Dreyfus held up her award and exclaimed, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!"[181] The show produced enough episodes to air in reruns in syndication for several years, something the other shows did not achieve.[182] The Saturday Night Live episode guest-hosted by Louis-Dreyfus made references to the curse. Nevertheless, the series ratings declined soon after and it was cancelled after the fifth season. She went on to win six further Lead Actress in a Comedy Emmys for her acclaimed performance as Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO comedy series Veep.[183]

Early in March 2009, it was announced that the Seinfeld cast would reunite for season seven of Curb Your Enthusiasm.[184] The cast first appeared in the third episode of the season, all playing fictional versions of themselves. The season-long story is that Larry David tries to initiate a Seinfeld reunion show as a ploy to win his ex-wife, Cheryl, back. Along with the four main characters, some Seinfeld supporting actors like Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris and Steve Hytner appeared in the ninth episode at a table read for the reunion show. Though much dialogue in Curb Your Enthusiasm is improvised, the plot was scripted, and the Seinfeld special that aired within the show was scripted and directed by Seinfeld regular Andy Ackerman, making this the first time since Seinfeld went off the air that the central cast appeared together in a scripted show.

Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander and Wayne Knight, playing their respective Seinfeld characters, appeared in a spot presented during halftime of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, 2014.[185] FOX came up with the idea of doing such a spot, due in part to the Super Bowl's location being New York that year.[185] An uncut version appeared on Crackle.com immediately afterward, as an episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee titled "The Over-Cheer".[185] Although the spot was used to advertise Seinfeld's web series, it was not considered a commercial, as Sony, which produces the series, did not pay for it.[185] Seinfeld has indicated that he thinks the webisode will probably be the last cast reunion, saying, "I have a feeling you've seen the final coda on that very unique experience."[186] Since then, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have also appeared in episodes.