[22] One DVD reviewer, Britt Gillette, wrote that "this initial episode exhibits the flashes of brilliance that made Seinfeld a cultural phenomenon.

Paula Marshall, who played Christina Riley on the Superboy TV series, portrays the journalist Sharon, who Jerry says reminds him of Lois Lane.

The show was written by David and Seinfeld, along with writers who included Larry Charles, Peter Mehlman, Gregg Kavet, Carol Leifer, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Dan O'Keefe, Charlie Rubin, Marjorie Gross, Alec Berg, Elaine Pope, and Spike Feresten.

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

"I knew I wanted Kramer to think of watching the operation like going to see a movie," explained Seinfeld writer/producer Andy Robin in an interview published in The Hollywood Reporter.

American Express created a webisode where Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman (voiced by Patrick Warburton, who played the role of Puddy) starred in its commercial.

Similarly, Michael Richards was the focus of a series of advertisements for Vodafone, which ran in Australia, where he dressed and acted precisely like Kramer, including the trademark bumbling pratfalls.

Composed by Jonathan Wolff, it consists of distinct solo sampled electric bass riffs that open the show and connect the scenes, often accompanied by beatboxing.

They vary throughout each episode and are played in an improvised funk style, matching the timing of Seinfeld's stand-up comedy delivery or transitions in the editing.

In "The Note," the first episode of Season 3, the bumper music featured a scatting female jazz singer who sang a phrase that sounded like the tune Easy to Beat.

Larry David, the head writer and executive producer for the first seven seasons, was praised for keeping a close eye on minor details and ensuring the main characters' lives remained consistent and believable.

"[75] Entertainment Weekly's TV critic Ken Tucker has described them as "a group dynamic rooted in jealousy, rage, insecurity, despair, hopelessness, and a touching lack of faith in one's fellow human beings.

It settled into a regular time slot on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. and eventually flipped with veteran series Night Court to 9 p.m.[80] TV critics championed Seinfeld in its early seasons, even as it was slow to cultivate a substantial audience.

[89] 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.

[90] 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 5 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,[91] "The Non-Fat Yogurt" featuring Rudy Giuliani, the Republican then-mayor-elect of New York,[92] 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 led to its demise.

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;[94] "The Switch", in which Kramer's mom, Babs, reveals that his first name is Cosmo;[95] and "The Understudy", in which Elaine meets J. Peterman for the first time.

[96] 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.

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.

[105] 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,[106] "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.

The press and public were shut out of the taping to keep its plot secret; those who attended the shoot of the final episode were required to sign written "vows of silence".

The episode's producers gave false information to the media, spreading a rumor about Newman ending up in the hospital and Jerry and Elaine sitting in a chapel, presumably to marry.

The finale poked fun at the many rumors that were circulating, seeming to move into multiple supposed plots before settling on its actual storyline—a lengthy trial where the gang is prosecuted for violating a "Duty to Rescue" law and sentenced to prison terms.

[192] In September 2019, it was announced that Viacom (now Paramount Global) had acquired cable syndication rights to the series from TBS, with it airing on Comedy Central beginning in October 2021, Nick at Nite from May 31, 2022, until November 12, 2022, and TV Land since February 11, 2023.

[196] 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.

[197] In a 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" about the foursome's stint in prison.

The sketch continues and mixes in different storylines from both Oz and Seinfeld and has Jerry interacting with various characters from the show in his typical quick-witted, sarcastic way.

"[201][202] 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.

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.

[208] While Seinfeld indicated that the webisode would probably be the last cast reunion, saying, "I have a feeling you've seen the final coda on that very unique experience," [209] since then, Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have also appeared in episodes.