Seattle Times wrote that though he found the show amusing, he considered It's Garry Shandling's Show better, and the Houston Chronicle's Mike McDaniel called it "a not-as-good Garry Shandling-like show". Most critics reacted with disappointment that NBC had not picked up the show. Bob Niedt of the Syracuse Herald-Journal write, "What gives? Comedy this good, and NBC is keeping—excuse me—A Different World on the schedule?" Ken Tucker said, "NBC is making a mistake if it doesn't pick up The Seinfeld Chronicles as a midseason replacement; it's bound to be superior to most of what the network has planned for the fall". Casting directors Hirschfeld and Meg Liberman were nominated for a Casting Society of America Artios Award for 'Best Casting for TV, Pilot', but lost to the casting directors of Northern Exposure. Though the network executives had decided not to pick up The Seinfeld Chronicles for a first season, some of them were reluctant to give up on it, as they felt it had potential. Rick Ludwin, one of the show's greatest supporters, eventually made a deal with Tartikoff, giving up some of his own development money and cancelling a Bob Hope special so the entertainment division could order four more episodes of The Seinfeld Chronicles; these formed the rest of the show's first season. It was a very small order for a new series—the smallest sitcom order in TV history—but when Castle Rock failed to sell the series to another network, they accepted the order. The first season premiered about a year later, with the show renamed Seinfeld to avoid confusion with ABC's The Marshall Chronicles''. The pilot was re-aired on July 5, 1990 as the season's first episode; it received a Nielsen rating of 13.8/26. References External links 1989 American television episodes American television series premieres Seinfeld (season 1) episodes Television episodes written by Larry David Television episodes written by Jerry Seinfeld