5. Seinfeld (1989-1998)
What Was So Bad? It might come as something of a painful revelation, but it's true. The pilot for Seinfeld (or The Seinfeld Chronicles as it was then known) is truly disastrous. If you watch the pilot, and then the rest of the series as I did, it's like watching two completely different shows. First off, Kramer is actually called Kessler and, for no reason whatsoever, has a dog. Kramer genuinely feels a little creepy in this episode, more of a stalker than a loveable idiot, and it's only down to the good acting of Michael Richards that he doesn't come off as a complete loon and potential serial killer. There's no Elaine either - seriously, one of the best characters of the entire show isn't in the pilot, and instead, we get a waitress at Pete's Luncheonette - not Monk's Cafe - called Claire, who really contributes nothing to the show. The complete difference between sets and characters aside, the episode is almost entirely humour free. Sure, there's a few snickers here and there, but no signs of the monumental and iconic TV show it would become. In fact, if not for NBC executive Rick Ludwin giving it a rerun airing during pilot season and using his own budget for specials to fund season 1, we might not even be talking about it on this list. It might have been on "The 6 Worst Pilots Ever". Just think about that.
How Did They Fix It? Julia Louis-Dreyfus, basically. Elaine is one of the central figures of the show and her absence in the pilot is really jarring, she brought such a different dynamic to the group of Jerry, George and Kramer that it's weird not seeing her there. Elaine was the much-needed female character in what was essentially a male-dominated show, she and the guys could agree and disagree in endless combinations without it ever getting boring. Larry David also took a much more hands-on producing role and broke away some of the sitcom shackles, making it a lot less conventional and more dark-humoured. There were also less conventional sitcom plots, and they invented a lot of them. When "The Chinese Restaurant" aired in 1991, it was unthinkable to have an entire episode set in real-time without a very interesting plot, but Seinfeld made it work by focusing on the humour of real life - we've all stood in line at restaurants getting frustrated and arguing with our friends.