The Seinfeld Chronicles.

I have the first three seasons of Seinfeld to work through on DVD. They're excellent productions, and have many juicy facts. I was anxious to see the very first episode, and I watched the weird first version. It has different credits and music and the standup is different. Things I learned from the Notes About Nothing:

1. The name of the show was shortened to Seinfeld so it wouldn't sound like another current show, The Marshall Chronicles. (No, I didn't remember it either.)

2. It's not actually a sitcom, because when they decided at the last minute to order more episodes, the financing came through the music and variety department. Weird.

3. The four-episode order is the shortest in television history.

4. The music we all know with the funky bass line was scored to the tempo of Jerry's stand-up routine. The bass is supposed to simulate him talking. Cool!

5. Larry David got upset when the plot of the second episode was revealed in previews. After that, when the network asked what they should say about the next episode, Larry told them, "Next Episode."

5. George was originally a real estate salesman.

6. Jerry said that the stand-up bits stayed in the show because sitcom folks make jokes that are too zingy, too unrealistic. So they put the real jokes in the stand-up stuff, and kept the other bits more realistic.

7. The show was originally described as illustrating where comedians get the ideas for their material.

8. When Seinfeld made comedies featuring stand-up comedians successful, I called them "stand-up sitcoms." Jerry once called Seinfeld a "stand-com." Cuts out the middleman.