When 'nothing from nothing' doesn't always leave nothing...
Billy Preston may have had it right most of the time but not in the case of the comedy series that debuted on this date in 1990. The show about, well, nothing, aired the pilot for the series in July of '89 and was placed in NBC-TV's summer lineup on the last day of May in1990 when it was called "The Seinfeld Chronicles"...
The show struggled to gain acceptance but gradually started its climb in the Neilsen ratings. In the 1992-'93 season, "Seinfeld" was the 25th most watched show. By the '93-'94 season it was 3rd and in the '94-'95 season, "Seinfeld" was #1...
The secret to "Seinfeld's" success was great writing and a brilliant cast assembled by Jerry Seinfeld. They didn't come any wackier than Michael Richards as Kramer. Jason Alexander was perfect as George Costanza and Julia Louis-Dreyfus played the pretty but quirky Elaine to a tee...
The show aired its last episode on May 14, 1998 and 76 million viewers were there to say goodbye. Commercials reached Super Bowl proportions for the finale with 30-second commercials selling at $1.7 million, proving that 'nothing from nothing' doesn't always leave nothing...
More May 31 Memories..
1870] E.J. DeSemdt patents asphalt (let's see, DeSemdt, cement, DeSemdt, cement, DeSemdt, cement...ya think?)...
1884] Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents "flaked cereal" (for flakey people ?)...
1889] The Johnstown (PA) flood kills more than 2,000 after a dam break sends tons of water rushing through the city...
1907] The 1st taxis in the U.S. arrive in New York City (so do traffic accidents)...
1929] The Atlantic City Convention Center opens...
1941] The 1st issue of the still popular "Parade" magazine goes on sale (now included as a Sunday supplement)...
1956] Buddy Holly is inspired to write "That'll Be the Day" after watching the John Wayne movie, "The Searchers"...
1957] Pat Boone is #1 with the big summer hit of 1957, "Love Letters in the Sand"...
1958] The Surfing Era begins when Dick Dale performs "Let's Go Trippin'" at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California when the Beach Boys weren't even on the horizon...
1961] Red Sox backup Carroll Hardy becomes the only player to pinch-hit for both Ted Williams and Carl Yaztrzemski. Batting for Yaz in the 8th inning, he drops down a bunt single during a 7-6 loss...
1964] The Dave Clark Five make the 1st of 12 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
1967] A.J. Foyt becomes the 4th man in the history of the Indy 500 to win the race 3 times...
1969] Stevie Wonder releases "My Cherie Amour"...
1969] The Rolling Stones record "Honky Tonk Women"...
1969] John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace A Chance"...
1972] The Staple Singers are #1 with "I'll Take You There"...
1975] The Eagles release "One of These Nights"...
1977] The trans-Alaska oil pipeline is completed after 3 years of work...
1979] The newly renovated Radio City Music Hall reopens in Manhattan...
1982] The Clash release their "Combat Rock" LP...
1982] Survivor release the single "Eye of the Tiger"...
1990] "Seinfeld" debuts (feature story)...
1991] Pat Riley who coached the Lakers to 4 NBA titles, becomes the Knicks new coach (the closest he gets to a championship in NY is one game from the league title in 1994 but the Knicks will reach the playoffs twice more during his 4 years in NY)...
2000] Latin jazz great Tito Puente dies on the operating table as a result of complications following 12 hours of open-heart surgery. Puente was 77...
2003] Olympic Park bombing suspect Eric Rudolph is arrested outside a grocery store in Murphy, NC...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1928] Tommy Noonan (the dean of the CBS Records Alumni Association)...
1930] Clint Eastwood...
1938] Peter (of Peter, Paul and Mary) Yarrow...
1943] Sharon ("Cagney and Lacey") Gless...
1943] Joe Namath...
1950] Tom Berenger...
1960] Comedian Chris Elliott...
1964] DMC (Run-DMC) a.k.a. Darryl McDaniel...
1965] Brooke Shields...
1967] Rob Phillips...
1976] Colin Farrell...
[Today is the 151st day of 2006 with 214 days remaining in the year and 34 days until July 4]
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