SEINFELD
PREMIERED May 31, 1990
THE SCOOP Note to current and future network TV execs: Sometimes it pays to bet on an oddball. Of course, this particular bet took a while to pay off. NBC aired comedian Jerry Seinfeld's sitcom pilot — titled The Seinfeld Chronicles — as a one-time special in the summer of 1989, then gave the series a mere four airings in 1990. That tiny investment of airtime paid off big. Seinfeld not only went on to become a cornerstone of NBC's must-see Thursday lineup, but it also left a lasting mark on the pop-culture lexicon, introducing the world to such Seinfeld-ian terms as sponge-worthy, puffy shirt, ''serenity now,'' the manssiere, Sack Lunch, and, of course, yadda, yadda, yadda. —Michael Slezak