Seinfeld

We have managed to reanimate the old Seinfeld website, for those who like the old version better. We did this because of  so many requests in this issue.
This version (even if the quality of the videos is not so great) is pretty good for mobile devices like mobile phones, Ipods, etc. as the videos are loading very fast.
Anyway, back to the show! I want to point out some things that only a few people know about the Seinfeld show:

• The series began and ended with a conversation about a shirt button

When the end inevitably came for Seinfeld, the shows' many fans began speculating how the series might end. Would Jerry and Elaine finally acknowledge their feelings for each other and get married? Would George find a job he could actually hold onto? Would Kramer stop bursting into Jerry’s apartment unannounced? As it turned out, the series finale -- penned by co-creator Larry David -- ultimately sent the cynical foursome to prison for their lack of compassion toward others and the show concluded with the gang settling not-so-comfortably into their new lives as inmates.
Prior to the final scene in which Jerry can be seen performing a stand-up routine for his fellow prisoners, Jerry and George participate in a discussion revolving around the placement of a button on George’s shirt. This conversation is almost a word-for-word reproduction of the dialogue that opened the series way back in July 1989, as the two friends sat in Pete’s Luncheonette and debated the merits of George’s button placement.

• Other actors originally played Newman, Morty Seinfeld and Frank Costanza

Though Jerry Stiller has become inexorably connected with his Seinfeld alter ego, Frank Costanza, it’s interesting to note that he wasn’t the first actor to play the character. George’s cranky father was introduced during season four in the episode “The Handicap Spot,” which follows the younger Costanza as he publicly embarrasses his dad after parking in a handicap spot. The original episode starred veteran actor John Randolph as Frank, but judging from the palpable chemistry between Stiller and television son Jason Alexander it’s not surprising that Randolph was let go and Stiller was hired. In an effort to maintain continuity within the series, Seinfeld’s producers reshow all of Frank’s scenes in “The Handicap Spot” with Stiller

• Elaine Benes was not an original part of the cast

When Seinfeld premiered on July 5, 1989, it actually aired under the name The Seinfeld Chronicles. The layout and pacing of the show were essentially the same, with one notable (and unmistakable) difference: the absence of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Elaine Benes. Character actress Lee Garlington was originally cast as a sassy waitress named Claire, and -- given that she was credited as a series regular in that pilot episode -- there’s little doubt that her character was meant to fill the void that Elaine eventually came to fill.

• Festivus was created in 1966 by a Reader's Digest editor

It’s clear that Seinfeld has been responsible for several indelible additions to the pop-culture pantheon, yet there’s little doubt that the phony holiday of Festivus stands above the rest. In the ninth-season episode “The Strike,” Frank Costanza boasts about creating Festivus during George’s childhood out of frustration with the various rituals associated with Christmas. Rather than emphasize good will and togetherness, Festivus asks those who partake in its festivities to participate in confrontational exercises, such as the “Feats of Strength” and the “Airing of Grievances.”
Yet, what most Seinfeld fans don’t realize is that Festivus was actually created before Jerry Seinfeld even hit his teen years. Back in 1966, Reader’s Digest editor Dan O’Keefe invented Festivus as a means of celebrating the first date he ever had with his wife. Though the first Festivus transpired during the month of February, the faux holiday was eventually moved to December. Festivus came to Seinfeld in the form of O’Keefe’s son Daniel, who was working for the show as a writer and decided to include the holiday in the aforementioned episode “The Strike”