Whether it was a show about nothing, or, as Eric Jaffe claims, a show about anything, Seinfeld was all about New York City. And it debuted 25 years ago, on July 5, 1989.
"America celebrated an important anniversary late last week. Obviously that refers not to July 4 but July 5, which marked 25 years since Seinfeld debuted, back in 1989," explains Jaffe.
But the show wasn't about America; it was about New York City:
"The city supplied the 'excruciating minutia' that kept the narrative motor running for a group of self-obsessed, over-analytical, otherwise-unoccupied characters (think about it: only Elaine had a steady job). From Steinbrenner to Mickey Mantle to Keith Hernandez, chance sidewalk encounters to apartment and doorman etiquette, an endless parade of health clubs and diners to a bottomless dating pool, glorious Hamptons weekends to 3 a.m. cock fights to games of Risk on the subway—the situations were all contrived, and anywhere but New York they might have felt like it."
To mark the occasion, Jaffe leads a digital tour of "five classic Seinfeld spots still here, and five since gone."
Jaffe also recommends a great fan site called Maps About Nothing, which bills itself as a "Seinfeld reality tour on steroids."
Read the full story: The Geographic Legacy of 'Seinfeld'
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