Since ascending to the epitomization of 90s pop culture and comedy, Seinfeld has garnered a quasi-universe of its own, calcifying it in the American cultural zeitgeist. Creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld ostensibly became progenitors to the rise of “auto fiction”, their blur between character and creator massing the show to an almost cult-like following that continues to bleed into younger generations.

The original idea for what would later become the Seinfeld we know and love was initially intended to be a one-off, hour-and-a-half long comedy special on NBC.

Patrick Warburton, known for playing Elaine’s flighty on-off boyfriend David Putty, revealed to an Australian news outlet that on the final day of filming, Seinfeld gifted each castmate a custom engraved Cartier watch.

In a 1998 episode, after being completely befuddled by a cartoon appearing in the New Yorker, Elaine arranges a meeting with the work’s artist in a failed attempt to understand the joke. After decrying the magazine’s oblique cartoons and creating one of her own, the editors, strangely impressed, decide to hire her. Ironically, when Elaine’s cartoon makes it to print, all her friends she shows it to don’t get the joke. The real New Yorker would publish a tribute to the cartoon and episode in a 2012 article.

Composer Johnathan Wolff revealed in 2017 that, due to variation in length and content of Seinfeld’s stand up intros, each episode had to have the theme tailored specifically to it, matching the rhythm of the music to the pacing of Seinfeld’s routine.

In one of the show’s first scenes, Jerry and George have a conversation wherein Jerry criticizes the button placement on George’s shirt. Later, in the pair’s final scene together, Seinfeld makes the same criticism, prompting George to ask whether they’d had this conversation before. Indeed, they had.

During a 2014 Reddit AMA, co creator and star Jerry Seinfeld told fans the “show about nothing” sobriquet, though a joke within a later episode, was never intended by Seinfeld and creative partner Larry David to become as ubiquitous with the show as it has. In reality, the pair had pitched the show to NBC as a series following a comedian garnering material for his standup act.

The real diner used for the exterior shots of the group’s grub spot, Tom’s Restaurant, located near Columbia University, was the inspiration for the 1982 Suzanne Vega song Tom’s Diner before appearing on the show.

Kenny Kramer, Seinfeld’s real life former neighbor and inspiration for the Kramer character, was initially reluctant to allow Seinfeld to use his name in the series. The “real Kramer” would eventually relent, allowing Seinfeld to change the character’s name from Kessler to Kramer after the pilot episode was finished filming.

While it’s seemingly impossible to imagine anybody else in the role of George, Seinfeld told Access Hollywood he’d initially begged comedian Jake Johannsen to assume the role. Thankfully, Johannsen declined the offer and the role was given to Alexander instead.

Though he’d personally found the script to be brilliant, Alexander admitted to Deseret News he didn’t think the show would last. When asked about his reasoning, Alexander stated, “Because the audience for this show is me, and I don't watch TV … But I don't think anyone is more surprised by the success of [Seinfeld] than we are, because we thought, ‘Oh, we'll amuse ourselves, and that'll be it. We'll have a videotape at the end of it that we could play at parties.’”

O’Donnell, with the encouragement of series co-creator and longtime friend Larry David, auditioned for the role of the series female lead, Elaine. While Seinfeld was impressed with O’Donnell’s performance, the role would eventually be given to Julia Louis-Dreyfus instead.

Astonishingly, Jerry racked up an improbable 66 girlfriends throughout the course of the show’s run. They were portrayed by actors like Lori Loughlin, Anna Gunn, Catherine Keener, and Debra Messing, solidifying his lothario status.

After not being included in a season 3 episode of the show, Alexander threatened to quit if he was left out of another episode.

Before being replaced by Barney Martin, Jerry’s father was played by actor Philip Burns.