"The Seinfeld Chronicles" (also known as
"Good News, Bad News" for syndication or even
"Pilot")[1] is the pilot episode of the NBC
sitcom Seinfeld. The pilot, the first of the 180 Seinfeld
episodes, was written by show creators Larry David and Jerry
Seinfeld (the latter starring as a fictionalized version of
himself), and was directed by Art Wolff. During the episode,
Jerry frets over the romantic intentions of a woman who
requests to stay with him while she’s in town on business.
It originally aired on July 5, 1989, and was re-broadcast
June 28, 1990, after the show had been picked up as a
series.
When first broadcast, the pilot was watched by nearly 11% of
American households. These ratings were high enough to
secure the show's first season, which consisted of five
episodes, including the pilot.[1] Seinfeld later went on to
become one of the most successful sitcoms in television
history.
The pilot episode features several differences from the rest
of the series. The character of series regular Cosmo Kramer
(played by Michael Richards) is named "Kessler,"
although this inconsistency is later addressed in the season
9 episode "The Betrayal."[2] Another regular
character, Elaine Benes, does not appear in the episode.[3]
The main characters, Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza
(Jason Alexander), eat at "Pete's Luncheonette"
(a set that had its exterior left over from The Muppets Take
Manhattan[4]), as opposed to Monk's Café. Differences
between how the characters behave in the pilot and the rest
of the series have also been noted, as well as the different
theme song.[3]
The character of Claire the waitress (Lee Garlington) was
originally planned as a regular but was dropped and replaced
with Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).[1] The pilot guest stars
Pamela Brull as Laura.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seinfeld_Chronicles