Seinfeld's pilot episode, “The Seinfeld Chronicles,” is listed with production code 101.
The pilot first aired on NBC on July 5, 1989. It introduced Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself, George Costanza, and Kessler, the character who would soon be renamed Kramer. The episode was written by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David and directed by Art Wolff.
Production code 101 follows the standard television numbering convention in which “1” identifies the first season and “01” identifies the first episode produced for that season. It is distinct from the episode's broadcast order, title variations, and later rerun history.
The pilot was originally known by several names, including “Good News, Bad News,” “The Premiere,” and simply “Seinfeld.” It tested poorly with audiences, and NBC initially declined to order a full season. Executive Rick Ludwin nevertheless supported the project and helped secure four additional episodes, creating the unusually short first season. A common mistake is to confuse the pilot's production code with 100, a number sometimes assumed to mean “episode one.”