It’s been 30 years since Seinfeld premiered as The Seinfeld Chronicles on July 5, 1989. One thing’s always been true: this is our view of Jerry’s apartment. There’s good reason for it, too — the audience and cameras are on the other side.
This photo reveals Seinfeld’s never-before-seen fourth wall
See the wall that was always hidden.
Phil Edwards is a senior producer for the Vox video team.
The classic Seinfeld shot.
But what if you could look in the other direction? What if you could see the other side of Jerry’s apartment? What if you could see the fourth wall?
This is that wall:
The fourth wall of Seinfeld.
Why is the wall there? It was probably used for kitchen scenes — in case the camera drifted too far to the right, the wall ensured an empty studio wasn’t revealed. But more important are the revelations about Jerry’s character.
Now we know where Jerry stores his mugs, which were part of most shows:
Simple, effective. Note the multicolored dishes.
Seinfeld fans know Jerry’s passion for cereal is unmatched. Here are his boxes on full display (some sources say there are 17 different types of cereal).
Jerry has many varieties of cereal. Would a show about nothing have this much grain?
He also has two champagnes (possibly a Moet on top and Perrier-Jouet below that), a red wine, and one white wine. On the show, Jerry drinks extremely rarely (with some exceptions, as in “The Red Dot,“ when he enjoyed Scotch). Is Jerry a secret oenophile?
He's got room for two more. Why isn't he using that space more efficiently?
The posters deserve their own close-up view:
Jerry's fourth wall, revealed.
On that wall, you’ll see a vintage Porsche ad, a baseball poster, a photo of an old horse and carriage, and another baseball picture. It’s classic Jerry — it turns out that even on the fourth wall, his passion for baseball and cars is fierce.
But that’s not all. Another picture from the same photo shoot shows Jerry’s apartment in a new way:
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Jerry's apartment, as you've never seen it before.
This wall illustrates Jerry’s consistency: more baseball and Porsches (this time, he celebrates the 356 West Coast Holiday). Unfortunately the book titles are unreadable, but look in the upper right corner:
This may be Jerry's childhood baseball team.
We may have just gotten a peek at the childhood of Jerry Seinfeld, the character. Is that his Little League team above? Is George Costanza somewhere in that picture? We may never know, and therein lies the mystery.
If this rare glimpse into the secret world of Seinfeld has inspired you to learn more, credit set designer Thomas E. Azzari, who created the version of the apartment we know today. You can watch an extensive interview with him here.
But even if that's the end of your exploration of Jerry's apartment, don't forget what you saw today. And don't let anyone — anyone — tell you this was a show about nothing. These walls prove there was more to Seinfeld than we ever knew.
Updated: Thanks to a reader who helped identify Jerry’s champagne.
