The Jacket (Seinfeld) The Jacket (Seinfeld) "The Jacket" is the third episode of the second season of the NBC sitcom "Seinfeld" and the show's eighth episode overall. In the episode, protagonist Jerry Seinfeld buys an expensive suede jacket and has dinner with the father of his ex-girlfriend Elaine Benes. Elaine's father Alton (Lawrence Tierney), a war veteran and writer, makes Jerry and his friend George Costanza (Jason Alexander) very uncomfortable. Elaine is delayed and Jerry and George are stuck with Alton waiting for her at the hotel. The episode was written by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and was directed by Tom Cherones.
The Seinfeld Chronicles episode to see how audiences and TV critics would react, the network had already decided not to pick up the show, as a result of the test-results. Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced this pilot (and the series proper), also had another pilot produced for NBC featuring actress Ann Jillian in her own eponymous series. After the poor reception of "The Seinfeld Chronicles", the production company turned to Jillian's series, which tested better and had earned a full-season order; it would only last a single 13-episode season before being cancelled by the end of 1990. When "The Seinfeld Chronicles" aired, it