How was Seinfeld different in the first few years?

I watched the show only in the last 3 years. Can anybody describe me the first years? How was it different? Did they have the storylines coming up together? Were the characters developed the same? Which year was it when Seinfeld trully became the best comedy?

I honestly feel that other that the pilot show "Good News,Bad News" (series
called Seinfeld Chronicles) that the characters in the show did not act much
different than they did in the final year of the show. There is a big change in
Kramer's character from the pilot to the second show and of course Elaine
actually shows up in the 2nd episode. George's character changed some because
in the pilot he was more of  a clone of Woody Allen. The show format itself was
alttle different because it had a couple in stand-up sections instead of just
at the beginning orand the ends.
    Jerry's character seems to have remained the same but that's to be expected
when a characteris playing "himself".
   It seems to me that the writers made a series of changes from the pilot to
the 2nd show and just let the characters grow from there.
    Hope this answers your question.

As noted by Elaine's complaint when she read's the script of Jerry and George's "show about nothing."

George's character changed some because

The thing I noticed most, oddly enough, was that Jerry's refrigerator changes to a side by side. Kind of like, with the influx of more cash they went on a shopping spree.

I believe the definative difference between the old and new is whether he does stand up before the credits.

i've noticed so many differences in the show and how the characters act from the second show to the last one first of all i think the biggest change is with elaine she starts out very nice and by the last show she acts like she can't stand the rest of them kramer starts out as just strange and you don't really know whats going on with him he turns into a hipster dufus, the physical comedy develops a lot with him george is a lot more normal in the first episodes, still mostly a loser but in the end he is always mad and yelling and everything jerry basically stays the same wow, this is a really long post post i always think about how much the characters change later

Jerry's character DID change from the early episodes on. A couple of examples:

--His relationship with George reversed. In the first few eps, he went to George seeking advise, especially about women. George seemed older, wiser (debatable) and more experienced than Jerry. Jerry was more insecure; unsure of himself.

--His relationship with Elaine. I suppose because the series began shortly after their break-up, it's natural that the way they related to each other evolved over time. In early eps, they were very careful about not talking about their interest in other people in front of each other...it was almost as though the writers wanted to keep the possibility open for a Jerry/Elaine romance.

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In article , [email] (art vandelay) wrote:

But in the very first episode (not counting the pilot, which didn't have Elaine) they tackled this precise issue (of talking/not talking about their interest in other people) and resolved that it was OK to talk about it to each other.

Ollie

i don't think seinfeld was very good in the first seasons. i mean i don't think i laughed more than a couple of times, watching the 5 first eps. kramer's character really didn't develop before at least 20 episodes or so. at least not the kramer you know from seeing the 3 last seasons. george developed pretty fast though, and he was probably the most funny one. storylines wasn't that good either. another thing is the relationship between the characters. in the first years of the show they are unbelievable "kind" to each other. in fact, in episode one, we can actually see george holding his comforting hand on jerry's shoulder when jerry realizes that his plan about a girl is not working out. could this be happening in the later years? i think not! also, jerry is more caring to his friends and doesn't make that much fun of everything. and elaine isn't that angry and rude all the time like she later becomes. but as the judge in the final episode comments: this is the way they are, so i guess it's all a bit more funny later on, when they become a bit more "seinfeld", all of them.

i think kramer was really funny in the first episodes in the one when he's asking jerry if people can stay at his house he met them at a rock concert they're anarchists they're huge! thats one of the funniest things in the show ever!

The show and its characters grow and develop pretty naturally from Episode 2, where Elaine first appears, onward. The one really dramatic shift is from the series pilot, "Good News, Bad News," to the episode that launched the official broadcast run. "The Stakeout," 11 months later. George expands from a typical nebbish sidekick into the neurotic we all came to know and love. Kramer became both more eccentric and more fully human (or as human as a space cadet can be). And Elaine checked in for the first time, as feisty and independent in the beginning as she was right to the end. But they all grew and developed in further detail as the years went on---and did so at a natural and logical pace.

     Actually, the one character who changed the most over 9 years, and
expanded the most, is probably Jerry. He begins in the pilot as just a likable,
glib, shallow urban single. By the end, he becomes more likable still, but much
more complex, at times self-doubting---and with bigger and funnier faults as
well. (Along with amazing awareness of his own faults, and his willingness to
make himself the butt of his own humor in an unsparing way.)
     . The show probably hit its stride and became the best and funniest comedy
along about Episode #7, The Pony episode, very early in the series run. (It
ran, I think, in January of 1991 during season 2.) And in quality terms it
never looked back.

Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY