Quick question: How long has Seinfeld been on the air?

Title says it all?

I say about 9, my friends say about 7

According to "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows (1946 - present)...

The pilot for the series was seen as a one-time special on July 5, 1989 titled "The Seinfeld Chronicles." The show "Seinfeld" was first telecast on May 31, 1990 at 9:30 p.m.

Depends on how you define it. The pilot ("The Seinfeld Chronicles") was written and produced over the winter of 1988-89 and aired on NBC in the summer of 1989. Only Jerry, Jason Alexander (as George) and Michael Richards (as a character known as Hoffman in the script and never referred to clearly by name on the air) were in the regular cast. The pilot got OK but unspectacular ratings, and pretty good but not rave reviews, and oddly enough, in research it didn't test very well. (So much for research, hmm?) At that time they had no more commitments from NBC, which did not order the series immediately either for a fall 1989 premiere or a slot on the midseason replacement list...and Jerry didn't know if there would ever be a second episode. But the network didn't kill the project outright either, leaving it in limbo, retaining the rights and keeping everyone under contract just in case, telling them they MIGHT get an ad- ditional order within the year. (This is unusual in itself, since most pilots get a firm and permanent go or no go decision rather than the "not now, maybe later" that Jerry got.) Not much happened until the winter of 1990 when they got an order for four additional episodes, produced early in the spring of 1990 and aired over the summer along with a repeat showing of the pilot. It was in that second run that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was added as the fourth regular on the show... she first appeared in episode 2 and has never missed one since. It was also in episode 2 that Michael Richards' character first became known as Kramer.

"Seinfeld" did well enough then, to be put in reserve as a mid-season replacement, 13 more shows were produced in the fall and winter of 1990-91, and the show returned to the air for good in January of 1991. It found its audience, became master of its domain, and the rest is TV history. So in a sense it will only have had a seven and a half year continuous run by the time the last original episode airs next May...but its two prior short runs give it a total of nine years of on-air history, the first two very sporadic. There will be a total of about 175 to 180 half-hours in the can by the time it's all done, or rough- ly equal to eight full seasons. Yada, yada, yada..........

Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY

I think he is on for about a half hour..weekly,,with some exceptions

Another zinger!  Damn, Lise, you are sharp today!
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