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How to watch Seinfeld: How and where to watch the Seinfeld TV show in release or chronological order

Seinfeld: How to watch the hit NBC comedy in release and chronological order

Guides by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Mon Sep 30 2024

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During the ‘90s, Seinfeld ruled the airwaves. Each week, viewers tuned to NBC to follow the adventures of Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer. It may have seemed like a ‘show about nothing,’ but Seinfeld changed the way people think about sitcoms. There were no hugs, and the characters never learned any lessons. Instead, viewers were treated to the wacky and immoral antics of four adults navigating life through New York City.

From ‘yada yada’ to ‘no soup for you,’ Seinfeld has become a part of our cultural DNA. If you’ve ever wanted to sample the series for yourself, but weren’t sure where to start, Popverse has you covered. This guide will tell you everything you need to know about Seinfeld and how to watch it.

How to watch Seinfeld in release order

If you want to watch Seinfeld in release order, it’s fairly easy. Seinfeld isn’t a large franchise with multiple shows jumping all over the timeline. Seinfeld is a sitcom that lasted for 9 seasons, so viewing it is fairly uncomplicated. Just start with the first episode, and go from there!

How to watch Seinfeld in chronological order

If you want to watch Seinfeld in chronological order, it’s mostly the same experience as watching in release order. Remember, this is a television sitcom, not a science fiction franchise. In other words, the series doesn’t jump around the timeline with prequels and flash-forwards. However, there are some episodes where the order is swapped around. During Seinfeld’s run, NBC wouldn’t always air the episodes in production order.

Here is Seinfeld’s production order. Keep in mind, that switching from release order to production order won’t have a big impact on your viewing experience. Aside from a few running plotlines, the series isn’t heavily serialized, so you can jump in whenever you want.

Seinfeld season 1

‘The Seinfeld Chronicles’
‘Male Unbonding’
‘The Stake Out’
‘The Robbery’
‘The Stock Tip’

Seinfeld season 2

‘The Ex-Girlfriend’
‘The Pony Remark’
‘The Busboy’
‘The Baby Shower’
‘The Jacket’
‘The Chinese Restaurant’
‘The Phone Message’
‘The Apartment’
‘The Stranded’ (produced in season 2, but aired during season 3)
‘The Statue’
‘The Heart Attack’
‘The Revenge’
‘The Deal’

Seinfeld season 3

‘The Note’
‘The Truth’
‘The Dog’
‘The Library’
‘The Pen’
‘The Parking Garage’
‘The Cafe’
‘The Tape’
‘The Nose Job’
‘The Alternate Side’
‘The Red Dot’
‘The Suicide’
‘The Subway’
‘The Pez Dispenser’
‘The Boyfriend’
‘The New Friend’
‘The Fix-Up’
‘The Limo’
‘The Good Samaritan’
‘The Letter’
‘The Keys’
’The Parking Space’

Seinfeld season 4

‘The Trip Part 1’
‘The Trip Part 2’
‘The Pitch’
‘The Ticket’
‘The Wallet’
‘The Watch’
‘The Bubble Boy’
‘The Cheever Letters’
‘The Opera’
‘The Virgin’
‘The Contest’
‘The Airport’
‘The Pick’
‘The Visa’
‘The Movie’
‘The Outing’
‘The Shoes’
‘The Old Man’
‘The Implant’
‘The Handicap Spot’
‘The Junior Mint’
‘The Smelly Car’
‘The Pilot Part 1’
‘The Pilot Part 2’

Seinfeld season 5

‘The Mango’
‘The Glasses’
‘The Puffy Shirt’
‘The Sniffing Accountant’
‘The Bris’
‘The Lip Reader’
‘The Non-Fat Yogurt’
‘The Barber’
‘The Masseuse’
‘The Cigar Store Indian’
‘The Conversion’
‘The Stall’
‘The Marine Biologist’
‘The Dinner Party’
‘The Pie’
‘The Stand-In’
‘The Wife’
‘The Fire’
‘The Raincoats Part 1’
‘The Raincoats Part 2’
‘The Opposite’
‘The Hamptons’

Seinfeld season 6

‘The Chaperone’
‘The Big Salad’
‘The Pledge Drive’
‘The Chinese Woman’
‘The Couch’
‘The Gymnast’
‘The Mom & Pop Store’
‘The Soup’
‘The Secretary’
‘The Switch’
‘The Label Maker’
‘The Race’
‘The Scofflaw’
‘The Kiss Hello’
‘The Beard’
‘The Doorman’
‘The Jimmy’
‘The Doodle’
‘The Fusilli Jerry’
‘The Diplomat’s Club’
‘The Understudy’
‘The Face Painter’
‘The Highlights of 100 Part 1’
‘The Highlights of 100 Part 2’

Seinfeld season 7

Same as release order. However, additional scenes for ‘The Cadillac Part 1’ and ‘The Cadillac Part 2’ were filmed later in the season. However, this doesn’t affect the chronology of the season, as the timeline still follows the release order.

Seinfeld season 8

Same as release order, except ‘The Money’ and ‘The Comeback’ swap places.

Seinfeld season 9

Same as release order.

Should I skip Seinfeld season 1?

Is the first season of Seinfeld sponge-worthy? Like most long-running television shows, the early episodes of Seinfeld can feel like a completely different show. The series is still trying to find its voice, the tone can feel inconsistent, and The characters are more subdued, particularly Kramer.

As such, Seinfeld season 1 can feel a little rough. However, it’s still worth watching. It gives you a greater understanding and appreciation of how the show evolved. Plus, it’s only 5 half-hour episodes, so it’s not like you need to put a lot of time in.

However, you won’t lose anything by skipping. Seinfeld doesn’t begin with any origin story for the characters and their relationships. For example, the core four are already friends when the show begins, so it's not like you’re missing their first meeting. The early seasons didn’t have many running subplots, and it’s not like Seinfeld is a heavily serialized show in the first place. Feel free to skip the first season if you want, but I recommend watching it.

Why wasn’t Elaine in the first Seinfeld episode?

If you watch the Seinfeld pilot (titled ‘The Seinfeld Chronicles’) then you might be wondering where Elaine is. At the time the pilot was filmed, Elaine hadn’t been created. The female lead of the show was supposed to be Claire, a waitress played by Lee Garlington. Claire can be seen in the pilot episode interacting with Jerry and George as they visit Pete’s Luncheonette.

NBC felt that the pilot was too male-centric, and wanted a dynamic female to round out the cast. The character Claire was dropped and Elaine Benes was created. Multiple reasons have been given for shelving Claire, but one interview stated that NBC felt that as a waitress she would never truly be part of the gang.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus was cast as Elaine, and the rest is history. Interestingly, Louis-Dreyfus wasn’t aware of the pilot when she was cast. To this day she has never seen the first episode, and is reluctant to watch it due to superstition. That means if you’ve binged the whole show, then you’ve seen more of it than Julia Louis-Dreyfus has!

Which Seinfeld characters never appeared on screen?

Some of Seinfeld’s most memorable characters were never fully seen on screen. Here is a brief rundown of Seinfeld’s unseen players.

Bob Sacamano - One of Kramer’s friends. Kramer is constantly telling stories about Bob, and if those stories are to be believed, then he is even wackier than Kramer.
Lomez - Another one of Kramer’s friends. While Lomez isn’t as wacky as Sacamano, Kramer has told some whoppers about him. For example, Lomez once blew his neighbor’s circuit when their alarm wouldn’t stop going off.
Jeffrey - Jerry’s cousin, who works for the Parks and Recreation Department. Uncle Leo regularly boasts about Jeffrey.
George Steinbrenner - An eccentric caricature of the real life New York Yankees owner. We hear Steinbrenner’s voice and see the back of his head, but we never get a complete look at the character.
Bubble Boy - A memorable one-off character. His real name is Donald, but he is often referred to by his nickname, the Bubble Boy. Donald is an anemic who lives in a quarantined plastic bubble. His hand and arms are the only thing the viewers see. While he’s called ‘The Bubble Boy,’ his voice and the size of his hands imply that he’s an adult.

What episode of Seinfeld was banned and why?

Seinfeld has always pushed the envelope, but the season 9 episode ‘The Puerto Rican Day’ took things a bit further. The episode follows the gang as they struggle with a traffic jam caused by a Puerto Rican Day parade. Due to a series of bad luck and clumsiness, Kramer accidentally sets fire to a Puerto Rican flag. He then attempts to put the fire out by stomping on the flag. This causes an angry mob to chase him, as he remarks, “It’s like this every day in Puerto Rico.”

The episode was denounced by Puerto Rican activists. Protesters picketed NBC’s Rockefeller Center in New York and sent angry laters. NBC issued an apology and pulled the episode from rerun and syndication packages. The ban was eventually lifted, and the episode can now be seen in syndication, home video releases, and streaming.

Will there be a Seinfeld sequel?

There was a Seinfeld sequel….sort of. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a comedy series starring Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who plays an exaggerated version of himself. Curb Your Enthusiasm season 7 has a running plotline where David tries to put together a Seinfeld reunion. In reality, the reunion is part of a ruse to win back his ex-wife.

Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus all appear throughout the season, playing themselves. In addition, notable Seinfeld alumni like Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, and Steve Hytner appear.

The sets for Jerry’s apartment and Monk’s Cafe were rebuilt for the storyline. Although the full reunion episode is never shown, we see glimpses of it throughout production. The premise is that Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer seemingly returned to their normal lives after their prison stint. Since their release, George has married a woman named Amanda, and Jerry donated his sperm so Elaine can have a child.

In short, the Seinfeld reunion is basically a show within a show on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Considering the involvement of the original cast and creators, I think it’s safe to classify it as canon.

There was another Seinfeld reunion on Jerry Seinfeld’s talk show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The episode ‘The Over-Cheer’ features Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, and Wayne Knight reprising their Seinfeld roles. Jerry and George have a brief conversation about Super Bowl party etiquette before running into Newman. The webisode was directed and co-written by Larry David, giving it some legitimacy. Given David’s involvement, it’s probably safe to consider this canon.

Currently, no other Seinfeld reunions are planned, but never say never.

What is the Seinfeld curse?

After Seinfeld concluded, the cast members tried to launch their own sitcoms. However, they soon found that it’s hard to launch a successful show. Julia Louis-Dreyfus starred in Watching Ellie, Jason Alexander starred in Bob Patterson, and Michael Richards starred in The Michael Richards Show. Each sitcom was critically panned and quickly canceled.

Subsequent attempts like Jason Alexander’s Listen Up created a narrative, which people soon called the Seinfeld curse. The Seinfeld curse is the idea that if a Seinfeld cast member stars in a new sitcom, the series will quickly be canceled. Seinfeld co-creator Larry David has called the idea of the curse “idiotic,” noting that making a successful sitcom isn’t easy.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus found great success with The New Adventures of Old Christine, a sitcom that ran for 5 seasons and earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. During her 2006 acceptance speech, Dreyfus playfully referenced the infamous Seinfeld curse. “I’m not somebody who really believes in curses, but cruise this, baby!”

Since then, Louis-Dreyfus has also starred in Veep, a 7 season comedy that earned her multiple Emmys. This should dispel any idea of a Seinfeld curse.

Does Seinfeld share a universe with any other show?

Seinfeld might be part of a larger television universe. During the Mad About You episode ‘The Apartment,’ we learn that Paul Buchman has been subletting his old apartment to Kramer. That means that the apartment we’ve been seeing throughout Seinfeld is actually Paul’s apartment. Michael Richards makes a cameo as Kramer at the end of the episode.

This puts Seinfeld in the same universe as Mad About You. In addition, it means that Seinfeld is connected to Friends, another New York City sitcom that shares a universe with Mad About You. However, don’t take this theory too seriously, because it falls apart when you look too closely at it.

For example, The Seinfeld episode ‘The Engagement’ ends with George and Susan watching Mad About You, which means it’s a fictional television show in their universe. That raises some questions about who Kramer is subletting his apartment from. Jerry Seinfeld made a cameo on the Mad About You episode ‘Season Opener.’ There is some debate over if he’s playing Jerry Seinfeld mega-celebrity, or Jerry Seinfeld, the sitcom character. Paul’s reaction seems to indicate that he’s mega-celebrity Jerry Seinfeld. Plus, the episode aired during what would’ve been sitcom Jerry’s prison sentence.

So, is Seinfeld connected to Friends and Mad About You? It really depends on the episode, and how willing you are to ignore the contradictions.

Where can I watch Seinfeld?

If you want to hang out with Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George, then Netflix is your best bet. Netflix is currently the streaming home to Seinfeld. Every season is available on the platform, making for an easy and convenient binging experience. Keep in mind, the availability of Seinfeld might change as streaming licenses expire and new deals are made.

Now you know everything you need to begin watching Seinfeld! Get ready for a Festivus of fun!

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.