July 5, 1989: "Seinfeld" Premieres

Still photo from The Seinfeld Chronicles

July 5, 1989: The Seinfeld Chronicles premieres on NBC. New York-based comedian Jerry Seinfeld plays New York-based comedian Jerry Seinfeld -- essentially, a version of himself that hasn't yet made it big.

Jerry created the series with his friend Larry David, a former writer for Saturday Night Live. The character of George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander, is based on David. Seinfeld and David co-wrote the pilot episode, which was directed by Art Wolff.

The episode begins with Jerry and George having lunch at Pete's Luncheonette. One of the waitresses, Claire (Lee Garlington), is a friend of theirs. Jerry tells George about a woman named Laura (Pamela Brull), whom he met doing a comedy show in Lansing, Michigan. She had called him, and told him she was coming to New York, and asked if she could stay overnight at his apartment. But Jerry still isn't sure whether she has sex in mind. It turns out, she's engaged, and just wants the apartment to stay in.

It's not a good episode. By itself, it shouldn't have led to a regular series. Neither Jerry nor George nor Claire is especially interesting, or even all that funny. Nor is Jerry's across-the-hall neighbor, Kessler (Michael Richards), whose first name is not revealed.

And yet, the pilot got better reviews than I just gave it. NBC still believed in Seinfeld and David. So some retooling was in order. When the show next aired, with "The Stake Out," nearly 11 months later, on May 31, 1990, the name of the show was simply Seinfeld; the female lead was now Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, an ex-girlfriend of Jerry who stayed friends with him; Richards' character became Kramer, with a different personality; and the lunch spot became Monk's Cafe, with a different set.

The show still took until a 2nd season, in 1991, to catch on with the public. But by the end of that calendar year, the middle of the show's 3rd season, it became the most popular show on TV and a cultural phenomenon. It lasted 9 seasons, until May 14, 1998 -- although it probably should have wrapped up at least 2 seasons sooner.

Garlington and Brull are both still alive, but neither ever appeared on Seinfeld again. Garlington is still acting, while Brull's last credit was in 1996.

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July 5, 1989 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played on that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-0 at Yankee Stadium. Andy Hawkins pitched a 5-hit shutout. He had more run support than he would have in his "no-hitter" a year to the week later: Luis Polonia hit a home run, and both he and Steve Sax went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4, although he did draw a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston. Keith Hernandez did not appear in this game.

Early on in the show, it seemed like both Jerry and George were Met fans. In a 1992 episode in which Hernandez guest-starred as himself, it also seemed like Kramer and Newman were Met fans. (In the real June 14, 1987 game, the Mets were in Pittsburgh, they beat the Pirates, and Hernandez was more hero than goat.) Later episodes definitively showed that George and Kramer were Yankee Fans. Newman was shown having fallen asleep while watching a Yankee game, so his fandom is still not clear.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. 

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4. It was later established that Elaine was from Towson, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, and was an Orioles fan. The winning run was scored in the bottom of the 10th inning, by Steve Jeltz on a passed ball by Reds catcher Jeff Reed, on a pitch thrown by John Franco (a future Met, who would be name-dropped on a 1992 Seinfeld episode), with Von Hayes at bat.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4 with the Dodgers.

* The California Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 12-9 at the Oakland Coliseum. George Brett went 2-for-6 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Bo Jackson went 3-for-6 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base. Mark McGwire went 2-for-5 with a home run, 2 walks and 5 RBIs.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-3 at the Kingdome in Seattle.