The Marshall Chronicles Changed Sitcom History (Probably)

A small fact nugget keeps popping up about Seinfeld – that the show was renamed after the pilot to avoid allusions to the ABC show The Marshall Chronicles. As the pilot had been called The Seinfeld Chronicles, and the ABC show was cancelled after four episodes, they went with the much snappier new title.

It’s the sort of fact that sounds totally plausible.

The trivia track on the pilot episode says that the show was first called Stand Up, with early drafts featuring George discussing his own stand up act with Jerry, and that it was next called The Jerry Seinfeld Show.

But here’s a rather more contemporaneous reference, albeit with no attribution.

[image error]Kay Gardella, New York Daily News, 31st May 1990

It does seem a little unfair on the ABC show to only be remembered as a footnote to another show, so here’s the first episode. I love how populated the sets are, and there’s even another Seinfeld link, with one of the regular extras having a snog on the train.

American ad placements feel weird to me …

Ken Levine has an excellent blog about the show too, which is well worth a read.

[image error]Just normal men …[image error]Sneakers[image error]