hey everyone- after watching the pilot episode of seinfeld tonight, I am amazed at how far the show has come. the Kramer character in particular, seeing how he uncharacteristicly knocked before entering. Jerry's apartment looked very different and there was no Monk's or Elaine. I'm surprised the show caught on because the pilot had too much standup in it. but the tv gods must have smiled upon this little show called Seinfeld and turned it into the show we worship today.
However, his mooching was very characteristic! Yet, he also had straight hair, and seemed kind of spacey and dull-witted; sort of like Jim Ignatowski from "Taxi." Maybe it wasn't really Kramer, but his twin brother, Kessler.
The standup material, while derivative of George Carlin's style, was very funny, and tied in neatly with what was happening in the story.
Some other things I noticed about the pilot:
The "Seinfeld" logo is different;
The familiar theme music is not played during scene changes, and its absence is very noticable;
In the pilot, the smartest character on the show is GEORGE! In fact, throughout the episode, George acts like Jerry and Jerry acts like George! It is Jerry who is insecure and unsure of what women's "signals" mean. Savvy George fills Jerry in!
George had slightly more hair then. In later seasons, his hair fell out along with his brains.
George's advice to Jerry to "do the opposite of your instinct" is something George himself would follow in a later episode.
One more difference: I think the coffee house sounded quieter than usual. Doesn't it usually have some faint background noise or something? Sounds like a minor detail, but it does contribute toward the pilot's overall looking so different from the later episodes.
It is especially interesting when George says "I wish," I wonder if the writers used this episode as the basis for "The Opposite"???
Another thing--was the waitress in the pilot supposed to be a main character? Unlike later shows, she knew both Jerry and George, and even got to do some jokes. Perhaps she was supposed to be the female element in the show, a la Elaine. I _think_ her name was in the opening credits (they did Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Richards, then the name Lee Garington, and finally Jason Alexander (as George, is always says)--was Garington the waitress? ('Laura,' Jerry's engaged friend, was given credit in the closing credits)). Does anyone know?
Yes, Lee Garlington was Claire, the waitress. When they re-tooled the show, they got rid of her. They thought it would be better to have JL-D as Elaine who would always be there, not just a waitress to make for one-liners whenever they went to the coffee shop.
I really enjoyed the first half of the show with the conversation on what the woman's phone call meant. I would have liked to see the waitress stick around in more episodes.