Iconic TV Sets: ‘Seinfeld’ Apartment Is Yada-Yada-Yada Great
Share News:
This is the first in a series.
What is your dream living room set on TV? As classic shows live on through retro channels and streaming services we’re seeing the sets that made us feel at home while watching our favorite shows. We’re taking a deep dive into what made these sets so special. If you have one you’d like us to examine or have some memories to share, email [email protected].
Seinfeld (1989-1998)
Jerry Seinfeld’s TV home at 121 W. 81st St. is arguably the most famous New York City apartment of all time. The place is etched into our minds. The front door. The kitchen. The couch. The dining table. The bathroom door. We’ve seen it so much that any deviation would have us yelling “serenity now!!”
Just looking at the set puts our mind into a routine we saw for nine seasons. Jerry would buzz in George or Elaine, they’d come into the front door (unless you were Kramer, then you’d burst in and slide through), then they’d take a hard left, open the fridge, and scarf a drink.
The show and the apartment are so New York-centric, but in reality, the apartment is a set built in Los Angeles. According to a Reddit thread, the design might work on TV, but couldn’t logistically exist without some weird configuration of the hallway.
The kitchen is open to the living room with a shelf full of assorted cereals. A lot of the dialogue in the apartment revolves around the counter. It looks like a typical New York apartment kitchen, small and nearly functional.
The living room has had assorted chairs and couches, including the one that Poppy soiled. The dining area behind the couch has featured many show-about-nothing discussions. The alcove near the window is Jerry’s work-from-home space with a computer, desk, and bookshelf filled with VHS tapes and Superman paraphernalia. The bathroom door isn’t usually key to a story except for the time George ran out, pants around his ankles, and demanded the phone be answered “Vandalay Industries” before falling to the floor.
The apartment has several tribute products, including a Lego Seinfeld Set, a recreated set, a replica set (no longer available), a $14,999.99 signed apartment set on eBay, and much more.
You can waste a lot of time exploring this small apartment — not that there’s anything wrong with that.
1 Comments
Leave a Comment
This is so great, laud you for thinking of it Tommy. Got me thinking how TV shows influenced not just our “dream living rooms” but also our expectations and later, values! For example, I am now drifting back to the sets of my way early youth (early early Donna Reed, Leave It to Beaver) and how NEAT the house always was. I mean, I was very young but still grew up thinking every extraneous item should NOT be left out! People on TV did not live like that! Even Archie Bunker’s house was relatively clutter free. Did TV make me an OCD freak? And separate kitchens. The Dick Van Dyke Show, for example, where Dick trips over that ottoman… the door to the kitchen: this is how most kitchens were built in 1950’s homes, as separate rooms. The open kitchen concept came much later. Interesting to think of how set design that went live into the homes of millions of American living rooms every day influenced us!