Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
The two-part opener picks up with Jerry and George in Los Angeles, trying to find Kramer after his trip west. A mistaken identification links Kramer to a serial killer, and the friends help clear him at a police station. Back in New York, an NBC executive invites Jerry to pitch a sitcom; George appoints himself its writer and pitches a show about nothing based on their own lives. The network orders a pilot, while George begins dating NBC executive Susan Ross and Jerry draws the attention of Joe Davola, whose threats turn into stalking.
The pilot deal becomes a thread through the season as Jerry and George struggle to write their script and then cast and produce it. George bluffs for more money, loses the offer, and persuades NBC to restore it through Russell Dalrymple; his attempts to keep the job later cost Susan hers after he kisses her during a meeting. Davola’s fixation expands to Elaine, who dates him without knowing his history, and his pursuit shadows the group at the opera. Alongside that arc, the four take on such separate problems as a missing wallet, a disastrous visit to the Bubble Boy and the wager in The Contest.
The two-part finale brings the pilot to a taping and then a television broadcast. Kramer auditions, but diarrhea cuts his tryout short; Jerry is singled out as the weak link, and the actress playing Elaine breaks up with him to stay in character. Davola attacks Jerry during the recording, but the pilot is completed and airs, with Jerry hosting a group watch. Rita, the new NBC president, cancels it immediately. Elaine’s complaint about discriminatory hiring at Monk’s fails when she learns the waitresses are the manager’s daughters, and George looks for work again.