‘Seinfeld’ Is the Most Loved TV Show Ever Set in New York

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Feb 13, 1:00PM EST

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Of the thousands of TV series that have been aired since televisions went into homes in the 1950s, some of the most memorable have been set in New York City. “I Love Lucy,” which ran from 1951 to 1957, is a small-screen comedy legend.

“Sex and the City” aired from 1997 until 2004, and was so popular that it was later turned into two movies and spawned both a prequel and a sequel series. Among the many other examples are “Girls,” “Friends,” “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “Mad Men.”

Of all the many NYC-based shows, however, the one that is ranked highest by views is “Seinfeld” which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1998. (See the best TV show released the year you were born.)

Based on characters who lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the 180-show series was created by Jerry Seinfeld and veteran comedian Larry David. (David’s own series, “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” has been on HBO since 2000.) Seinfeld plays himself and most of the show revolves around him and three friends – George Costanza, former girlfriend Elaine Benes, and neighbor Cosmo Kramer. The BBC called it a “show about nothing,” referring to how little happens outside the small circle of characters.

Seinfeld was wildly successful financially, and it topped the Nielsen ratings more than once.

After the show’s ninth season, Jerry Seinfeld turned down financial deals to keep the show on the air. He walked away from the show rich. According to Forbes, in just one year, he made $267 million because of the huge success of the series.

Here’s a look at all the best TV shows set in New York City.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.