Season four of Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

, an American comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 television series created by Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

 and Larry David

Larry David

Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...

, began airing on August 12, 1992, and concluded on May 20, 1993, on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

.

Production

Seinfeld was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment

Castle Rock Entertainment

Castle Rock Entertainment is a film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick and Alan Horn. It is a subsidiary of Warner Bros...

 and distributed by Columbia Pictures Television

Columbia Pictures Television

Columbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...

 and Columbia TriStar Television

Columbia TriStar Television

Columbia TriStar Television was the third name of the television studio Screen Gems, named after its then-current 1991 home video division....

 and was aired on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 in the US. The executive producers were Larry David

Larry David

Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...

, George Shapiro

George Shapiro

George Shapiro is an American talent manager and multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winning television producer. He represented the late Andy Kaufman and is among the most successful managers in show business. He currently represents Jerry Seinfeld....

, and Howard West with Tom Gammill and Max Pross as supervising producers. Bruce Kirschbaum was the executive consultant. This season was directed by Tom Cherones

Tom Cherones

Tom Cherones is an American director and producer of several TV series.-Early life:He grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where his father operated a radio and TV repair shop. His grandfather was a Greek immigrant. From 1961 to 1965, he was a lieutenant in the United States Navy...

 and was largely written by Larry David

Larry David

Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...

, Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

, Larry Charles

Larry Charles

Larry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines...

, Peter Mehlman

Peter Mehlman

Peter Mehlman is an American television writer and producer, best known for serving as a writer and producer on the TV series Seinfeld through nearly all of the show's nine-year run from 1989 to 1998. He also created the 1999 series It's Like, You Know... and produced the 2004 animated series...

 and Andy Robin

Andy Robin

Andy Robin is a writer and director and student at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He started his career at Saturday Night Live and spent several seasons on NBC's Seinfeld, initially solo, later partnering with collaborator Gregg Kavet...

.

The series was set predominantly in an apartment block on New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Upper West Side

Upper West Side

The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...

; however, the fourth season was shot and filmed predominantly in CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California. The show features Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld

Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...

 as himself

Jerry Seinfeld (character)

Jerome "Jerry" Seinfeld is the main protagonist of the American television sitcom Seinfeld . The straight man among his group of friends, this semi-fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld was named after, co-created by, based on, and played by Seinfeld himself.The series revolves around...

, and a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, which include George Costanza

George Costanza

George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...

, Elaine Benes

Elaine Benes

Elaine Marie Benes is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Elaine's best friend is her ex-boyfriend Jerry Seinfeld; she is also good friends with George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer...

, and Cosmo Kramer

Cosmo Kramer

Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...

, portrayed by Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander

Jay Scott Greenspan , better known by his professional name of Jason Alexander, is an American actor, writer, comedian, television director, producer, and singer. He is best known for his role as George Costanza on the television series Seinfeld, appearing in the sitcom from 1989 to 1998...

, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine....

 and Michael Richards

Michael Richards

Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld....

, respectively.

Story arcs

This season had numerous story arcs. The story arc that lasted the whole season was one where Jerry and George try to make a TV pilot for NBC. Another is George having a relationship with former NBC executive Susan Ross. Another story arc is Joe Davola trying to kill Jerry; his final attempt was in the premiere of Jerry and George's pilot, when Jerry introduces what they are going to do, and suddenly Joe Davola jumps to land on the stage and kill him. However, he misses and hits himself in the face and has to go to the hospital.

Critical reception

TV Guide

TV Guide

TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...

 named it #1 on their list of the greatest TV seasons. Jamie Malanowski of Time

Time (magazine)

Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

 named it the best season of the series saying "A mix of high and low, of the self-referential and the hip, of things underfoot and out of left field."

Nielsen ratings

Season four was ranked #25 according to the Nielsen ratings

Nielsen Ratings

Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 system, with 12,754,700 estimated audience.

Awards and nominations

Season 4 received eleven Emmy nominations, three of which were won. The show won its first and only Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Larry David won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for the episode "The Contest". Michael Richards won his first out of three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Jerry Seinfeld was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Jason Alexander was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Tom Cheromes was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for "The Contest". Larry Charles was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Other nominees where Outstanding Achievement in Editing for a Comedy Series for The Airport. Jason Alexander was nominated in the Golden Globe Award in the category for Best Performance by a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture for TV. This season won a Directors Guild of America (Tom Cherones) for "The Contest", and a Writers Guild of America (Larry David) for "The Contest".

Episodes

• The number in the first column is the episode's number within the whole series.
• The number in the second column is the episode's number within that particular season.

№	#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code