Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything

by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

The New York Times bestseller about two guys who went out for coffee and dreamed up Seinfeld—“A wildly entertaining must-read not only for Seinfeld fans but for anyone who wants a better understanding of how television series are made” (Booklist, starred review).

Comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld never thought anyone would watch their sitcom about a New York comedian sitting around talking to his friends. But against all odds, viewers did watch—first a few and then many, until nine years later nearly forty million Americans were tuning in weekly. Fussy Jerry, neurotic George, eccentric Kramer, and imperious Elaine—people embraced them with love.

Seinfeldia, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s intimate history is full of gossipy details, show trivia, and insights into how famous episodes came to be. Armstrong celebrates the creators and fans of this American television phenomenon, bringing readers into the writers’ room and into a world of devotees for whom it never stopped being relevant. Seinfeld created a strange new reality, one where years after the show had ended the Soup Nazi still spends his days saying “No soup for you!”, Joe Davola gets questioned every day about his sanity, and Kenny Kramer makes his living giving tours of New York sites from the show.

Seinfeldia is an outrageous cultural history. Dwight Garner of The New York Times Book Review wrote: “Armstrong has an eye for detail….Perhaps the highest praise I can give Seinfeldia is that it made me want to buy a loaf of marbled rye and start watching again, from the beginning.”

• ISBN10: 1476756112
• ISBN13: 9781476756110
• Publish Date: 6 June 2017 (first published 5 July 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[wcs53]

This was a great read, especially for me being a huge fan of Seinfeld. Although I knew a fair bit of what was written in this book, it was great in the way that it brought all these things together with a lot more information and background. The author traces the show from its beginnings right through to the finale, then beyond, showing how it has just kept on going and become such a huge influence on the world in ways that its creators probably never imagined.

The funny thing about my love of the show is that I never watched it when it was originally on the air. It started while I was still living in Orkney and I don't remember ever seeing much about it then. We moved to Canada in 1994, which was four years before the show ended, but I don't recall ever seeing it much then, either, or perhaps I just didn't know what it was and didn't bother with it. Then in 1998 we moved to Saskatchewan, didn't subscribe to any cable TV, but made do with 'Farmervision', which was two English channels, plus on French one, that we could pick up with an antenna. Every night one of these channels showed Seinfeld reruns at 10:30pm. I started watching it one night and discovered that he humour was right up my alley and just kept on watching it each night. When it was eventually released on DVD I bought each season as they were released.

At some point I'll need to reread this book as there is just so much to remember. If you are in any way interested in or curious about the phenomenon that is Seinfeld, then this book would be a great place to start. Special thanks to my family for giving this book to me for Christmas, or maybe it was a Festivus gift! Either way, I'm glad they did.