The Legacy

Seinfeld just keeps chugging along. According to CNBC, "more people have watched Seinfeld as a re-run than watched it when it was the most popular show on television." And that was before 2015, when Hulu acquired streaming rights to all nine seasons of the series, reportedly for a figure between $130 million and $180 million. But of course Seinfeld wasn't (and isn't) merely popular; it's also great. Few programs, however popular in their time, can stand the test of time. But just last month, Rolling Stone ranked Seinfeld as the fifth-greatest show in television history...and THE greatest sitcom.

The show's catch-phrases live on, and actors like John O'Hurley (J. Peterman) and Larry Thomas (the Soup Nazi) continue to draw crowds and sign autographs. And for all the Yankees and Mets who appeared in the series, Seinfeld is the gift that just keeps on giving; granted, to some more than others.

Showalter: The problem with [with appearing on Seinfeld] is you have to join the Actors Guild. I actually lose money every time they show it. But I’m kinda glad I did it, if only for our kids.

McDowell: I still get the residual checks: $13 and some change, which doesn’t cover my SAG membership.

O’Neill: If I’m flipping the channels and Seinfeld’s on, I’ll watch any episode. But I thought that episode [“The Wink”] was one of the really good ones. Every time, it makes me laugh.

Jennifer Armstrong, author of “Seinfeldia”: I wonder if there are people, maybe people in the Midwest, who don’t realize that Steinbrenner was a real person.

Buhner: I still get family members who call me and say the rerun was on last night. And any time [Ken Phelps and I] see each other, we still talk about it, to this day.

Phelps: When the first thing people wanna talk about is Seinfeld, that’s fine. It’s just great to be remembered. I bump into Jay Buhner every so often, usually at spring training, since he does some work for the Mariners and I do some fill-in broadcasting for them. I always tell him, “Yeah, it worked out pretty well for the Mariners, but I was better before the trade.”

McDowell: During the season, there’s probably three or four times a week that somebody brings it up. We just played a series in San Francisco, and the cameraman in the well next to the dugout said his friend told him to ask me about it. Sometimes when I’m signing an autograph, somebody will ask me to add “The Second Spitter.” It’s great, being a part of what might be the greatest television comedy ever. And every time it’s on, I have to watch it; I don’t care how many times I’ve seen it before.

Billy Harner, Brooklyn Cyclones Director of Communications: We just had our third Seinfeld night. In terms of national exposure, the first one in 2014, when we gave out the Magic Loogie bobblehead with Keith Hernandez, was the biggest by far. According to TV-Eyes, the media coverage was the equivalent of four Super Bowl commercials, and we were featured on at least one newscast in all 50 states. Last year it was the Little Jerry bobblehead, with a limited-edition Martin Van Buren bobblehead for the Van Buren Boys episode. And this year it was Roger McDowell and “The Second Spitter”; the limited edition was J. Peterman. We wanted to stop doing it after this year, but our fans are so passionate about it; they just really love it. The show’s been off the air for like 20 years, but people are still as crazy about it as ever. When you do things like this, people tend to lose interest. But that’s just not the case with Seinfeld Night.

Darling: Seinfeld is one of the great shows of TV history and Keith’s episode is one of the best three or four. When I'm with Keith, people will always say, “Hey, Keith, what's up? Let's go Mets! Seinfeld!” It's always included. That's just part of his moniker.

Hernandez: As the years have gone by, the generations that didn’t see me play? They don’t relate to me as Keith Hernandez, the baseball player. They relate to me as Keith Hernandez from the Seinfeld show. I have kids come up to me to this day…they’ll come behind me and go...“What was it like kissing Elaine?” Which I always say was awful. Eight takes. Brutal. That was the hardest part.