The other night, I was watching the Seinfeld (“The Stakeout”)were Jerry and Elaine go to a bar for Elaine’s friend’s birthday and Jerry starts flirting with lawyer (played by Mia Sara.) He and George hang out in the lobby of the building where she works until she shows up. Anyway, Jerry’s parents are staying with him and they’re sleeping on a foldout couch in the living room and Jerry has to sleep at Kramer’s. This episode also features the “first” Morty Seinfeld. Anyway, in every other episode I can remember, Jerry’s apartment obviously has a bedroom off to the left of the bathroom. Does anyone know when the change occurs? Or if that “first” Morty Seinfeld appears an any other episodes?
The layout of the apartment is quite different in the first two episodes of “The Seinfeld Chronicles.” There’s 3 more episodes in the first season and I don’t recall if the layout had normalized by then. But definitely by the 2nd second season.
For those how don’t recall: There is no back hallway to the apartment. The bathroom door is directly off the main room. There is also a side alcove with a big greenhouse-like glass window (?call those?) off to the left which gradually disappears.
The door buzzer and sconces also change quite a bit in this era.
It never did seem certain to me whether Jerry’s bedroom was to the left or right of the back hallway. It seemed to change around.
Philip Bruns only played Morty in this one episode. The first appearance of Frank Costanza was also played by another actor, but you only heard the voice. Jerry Stiller later dubbed in his voice for repeats and DVD.
I can’t tell if you’re asking about the bedroom or Morty Seinfeld. In any case, the episode you’re referring to was the first “real” episode of Seinfeld. The only thing that preceded it was called The Seinfeld Chronicles and did not feature Elaine or Morty at all.
By the time they got the green light to continue the show, they decided to change the title to Seinfeld, add Elaine, and introduce Philip Bruns as Morty. However, they ultimately used Barney Martin in every subsequent episode, which upset Bruns. I remember reading an interview with him in which he stated, “Well, that’s what happens when you’re funnier than the star of the show.”
Nice 1 one.
Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim, and Taft
Sagman, Bennet, Robbins, Oppenheim, and Taft
By the way, that wasn’t Mia Sara playing the lawyer. I had to look it up, but IMDB lists “Vanessa” as being played by Lynn Clark.
Wow! You know, even as I was typing that, I was becoming less and less sure…throw me a bone, though, doesn’t she, at least, resemble her?
Well, they’re both smokin’ hot. 
Those early Seinfeld episodes are pretty much unwatchable to me. But there were a lot of differences from the “mature” episodes - George mentioned having a brother at one point.
Many, many sitcoms have such one-off relative mentions. MASH had a ton of them. Jerry mentions his sister in “The Chinese Restaurant” episode. We never find out what happened to Uncle Leo’s wife Stel-laaa as he’s later single. That sort of thing happened throughout the run.
Lot’s of early inconsistencies. Newman was jobless early on but later was said to have taken over David Berkowitz’s route. Etc.
The real mystery is why is Michael Richard’s character called “Kessler” in the first episode?
Larry David was worried if they used the actual name Kramer, his former neighbor, Kenny Kramer, would either ask for royalties or somehow associate himself with the show. At some point, Jerry and Larry decided that the name Kessler didn’t work for the charactor and took the risk. Of course, ‘the real’ Kramer did create a little cottage industry around the show, as predicted.
George also has a brother we never see or hear much about. If you recall in the pilot for the “Golden Girls” Blanche’s bedroom is where the lanai is for the rest of the series
But that’s outside the show. Inside the show it’s a mystery.
And referred to in the “backwards episode”, which shows Jerry and Kramer meeting for the first time. Jerry says something like, “Hi, I’m Jerry. Kessler, right?” “No, actually it’s Kramer.” “Huh.”
They also had a gay housekeeper/cook (“the funny man”).
Nope, you really can see another actor (John Randolph) as George’s dad in the episode “The Handicap Spot.” They reshot his scenes with Stiller for syndication. See the Trivia section here: The Handicap Spot - Wikipedia
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@ftg I wondered the exact same thing. Setting aside the fact that Morty’s different and a lot of things in the apartment are different, why would Jerry say his parents are in his bed when they’re in his fold out bed, and why would he have to stay at Kramer’s if his actual bed should be empty - unless he always sleeps in the fold out?
It jumped at me.
In the DVD commentary with Jerry and Larry David, they said (as I recall) that they originally had Jerry living in a studio apartment but later decided to give him a bedroom. The attitude was basically: who cares about continuity, it’s a sitcom.
No kidding- we only saw Chuckie that one time, in the lobby, silently dribbling his basketball.
Then, never again. 
Yeah, apparently the bathroom opens right up to the living room, there was no hallway in the first episodes.
If you want to see an apartment change a lot during a TV series, watch perfect strangers. Closets become entryways to hallways. The apartment changed quite a bit the first few seasons.