Episodes were necessarily light on plot, concentrating on characters and dialogue. Because people like to say salsa. The pilot, The Seinfeld Chronicles, was met with a lukewarm reception, but NBC commissioned more episodes, and renamed the show Seinfeld. The breakthrough episode came towards the end of season 2, finding Jerry, Elaine and George waiting for a table in The Chinese Restaurant. And talking some more.
Nothing happens, but the result is outstandingly funny.
It still took three years for Seinfeld to hit the big time. Previously NBC had shifted the show between Wednesdays and Thursdays, but the popularity of the fourth season meant it was given the coveted 9pm Thursday slot vacated by Cheers. In the UK the show was picked up by Sky, and broadcast in a late-night Sunday slot. The BBC also bought the rights to the show, but the network, typically reluctant to support US programming, pushed it out to a graveyard slot on Tuesday nights, alongside another US comedy gem, The Larry Sanders Show. Season 4 saw the introduction of linear story-lines running from episode to episode.