The Deal (Seinfeld) The Deal (Seinfeld) "The Deal" is the ninth episode of the second season of NBC's "Seinfeld", and the show's 14th episode overall. The episode centers on protagonists Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who decide to have a sexual relationship, with a set of ground rules. However, as their "relationship" progresses, they experience difficulties maintaining their original friendship. Series co-creator Larry David wrote the episode in a response to NBC's continued efforts to get the two characters back together. The main inspiration behind the episode was a similar agreement David once made with a woman. The episode, which
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