Nine seasons is quite a long run for a show that's famously regarded as "a show about nothing." Nonetheless, the public stuck with Seinfeld the way Kramer stuck to his fruit, and it's not by chance that its ratings were high back when the sitcom was airing.
According to the Nielsen ratings, recorded in Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh's 2007 book, "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present," Seinfeld's ratings oscillated quite a bit from 1989 to 1998, which might surprise avid fans of the show's earliest seasons.
Season 1 (1989 - 1990) Not Rated
Although Seinfeld is one of the best '90s sitcoms, first seasons are often like drafts, and with this one that wasn't different. While it's true the first episodes already contain some of the essential features of the television landmark, with some good jokes, the first season was not even rated by Nielsen. Back then, Nielsen rated the shows based on statistical sampling, choosing a determined number of people to represent the entire population of the U.S. and then counting how many people from the "sample" watched a particular show.
Seinfeld was just starting to find its place and was not among other famous '90s shows yet, so without a meaningful viewership, there was no rating. After that, relevant changes were made, Elaine got more screen time and the show was on its way to improvement.
Season 2 (1990 - 1991) Not Rated
Like its predecessor, season 2 was also not rated, since, even though there were relevant improvements from the first episode, the show was far from being as popular as it became a few years later.
The show hadn't a meaningful viewership yet, which might shock some Seinfeld fans since this season has some of the greatest episodes of Seinfeld, including "The Busboy" and "The Chinese Restaurant," which includes one of George Costanza's most iconic outbursts. However, unlike George, the sitcom didn't need to do the opposite to be noticed and kept up with its original material.
Season 3 (1991 - 1992) - 12.5
Season 3 is the first season to be rated and the one with the lowest rating, which might make a Seinfeld fan wonder what the people of the '90s were doing back then instead of watching episodes like "The Parking Garage" and "The Subway."
This rating shows Seinfeld was starting to get more popular but wasn't a television staple yet. Nowadays, it's hard to believe this season wasn't loved by the audience when some of the fans' favorite moments, like Kramer spotting Joe DiMaggio at Dunkin' Donuts in "The Note" and Keith Hernandez playing himself in "The Boyfriend," can be traced back to it.
Season 4 (1992 - 1993) - 13.7
It took a contest for the rating to rise, but that was not all. While Seinfeld's "The Contest" was a crucial turning point that made the show more popular, the fourth season's rating improvement can also be explained by episodes like "The Outing" and "The Pilot," as well as the start of an entertaining dynamic between George and Kramer in "The Airport."
These episodes helped the viewership increase, and with a new timeslot on Thursday evenings, the show was starting to become the cultural landmark of its decade.
Season 5 (1993 - 1994) - 19.6
The high rating of the fifth season can be justified by its collection of great storylines, which includes one of the funniest Seinfeld fights in the season-opening "The Mango" and episodes like the classics "The Puffy Shirt," "The Dinner Party," "The Marine Biologist" and "The Opposite."
With a list like this, it's easy to see why the rating got a couple of points higher compared to the previous season. Season 5 was arguably the start of the Golden Age of Seinfeld. As viewership and ratings kept increasing, turning on the TV to watch the show had become part of people's lives.
Season 8 (1996 - 1997) - 20.5
Season 8 failed to continue the increasing pattern in ratings, though it still received a high score compared to early seasons. Without Larry David, Seinfeld had to find its pace again now that it couldn't rely on the showrunner.
Good episodes like "The Little Kicks" and "The Bizarro Jerry," along with a loyal audience, kept the viewership numbers steady, but it's probably because of episodes like "The Muffin Tops," which nonetheless is still a favorite episode for some, that the steady incline in ratings was gone, just like the infamous summer of George.
Season 6 (1994 - 1995) - 20.6
Rated exactly one point higher than season 5, the sixth season of Seinfeld had great episodes like "The Big Salad," "The Pledge Drive," "The Fusilli Jerry," and "The Race." Not just that, Season 6 had some memorable quotes that never get old, rewatch after rewatch.
Following the Golden Age of season 5, the sitcom's viewership kept increasing as it got more and more popular, and after six seasons, it had crafted a loyal audience.
Season 7 (1995 - 1996) - 21.5
No soup for Elaine but a higher rating for Seinfeld. The memorable quotes of the Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld are one of the reasons why season 7 had such a high rating, but it's not the only reason.
The sitcom's audience remained loyal season after season, and with titles such as "The Calzone" and "The Hot Tub," the seventh season received the second-highest rating of the long run. This rating shows that by the time season 7 was airing, many people part of the population "samples" were watching the sitcom, proving that Seinfeld had become a television staple.
Season 9 (1997 - 1998) - 22.0
In its final season, Seinfeld reached a mark that settled the show for good in the hearts of fans and the history of television ratings. At this point, the whole country was either watching or talking about Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer.
With the last episode of the show making people gather in Times Square to watch it, with some great photos from the day shared on Reddit, it's no surprise that season 9 has the highest ratings of all seasons. Though it's debatable whether the final season is as good as early ones or not, one thing the Nielsen ratings prove is that '90s television wouldn't have been the same without the nine seasons of Seinfeld.