I just check into this group from time to time and thought I'd post something from an article I read in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It was written by Barbara Cloud who I think is technically a fashion writer but she writes about other stuff too. She recently toured Universal Studios and was in the audience for the show which aired on Feb 3.
She said it's amazing how SMALL Jerry's apartment is, and how much admiration she has for the camermen who stretch space which doesn't exist.
"For this episode, there was a bakery, a street newstand and a liquor store on either side of the "apartment." They stretched across a long stage area and actors move from one to the other for different scenes, repeating some of them out of context over and over, many, many times. And there is always the warm-up guy talking to the audience in between takes. At that time you can ask questions. The fellow was a comedian on his own and every so often he would call down to one of the actors (we were elevated above them) for a response. But he was careful not to intrude. No tempers flared during our visit, although Julia Louis-Dreyfus seemed to be having a serious conversation with Seinfeld between takes."
A few of her other comments:
"Kramer's hair really does stand up. It is not a hairpiece."
"The actors knew their lines. Nobody had a script. All were patient. Only Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine) seemed confused every so often about whether she was in the right spot. 'Is this my mark?' she kept asking. 'This is my mark, isn't it?'"
"Alexander cracked up once or twice, as did Richards with a missed line or an ad-lib."
At the end, she talked about a line of Seinfeld greeting cards she had seen in Pasadena. She described one which had Kramer on the front with the message, "You need a little tenderness. You need a little understanding." And inside, "You need a little Kramer."
Anna