I also posted this on the "Mad About You" board, but that board is not very active so I will probably get a response faster here.

I was looking at Jerry's details on IMDB and noticed that he guest starred( I assume a short cameo) on Mad About You season opener (titled "Season Opener") in fall 1998, right after "Seinfeld" had ended its run.

We know that he appeared as himself, but the question is did he appear as the real Jerry (rich, successful TV star of "Seinfeld") or did he appear as the character Jerry from "Seinfeld" (who appeared in a failed pilot called "Jerry" and should have still been serving his one year jail sentence in fall 1998).

Since it was established earlier that Paul once lived next door to "Seinfeld" character "Jerry" and then sublet his apartment to Kramer (and also asked in that episode what happened to the comedian "Jerry" next door), this put "Mad About You" and "Seinfeld" in the same universe so in the Buchman world, there should not have been a show called "Seinfeld" and their Jerry should have still been in jail. Can anyone shed any light on this?

George also should not have been watching "Mad About You" on TV with Susan.

Interesting question, I didn't know Jerry was on Mad About You so I don't know the answer.

Originally posted by Dr. John Becker
George also should not have been watching "Mad About You" on TV with Susan.

Yes, writers do that all the time because they figure we are not paying attention or it is too nitpicky. It was funny to see George and Susan watching "Mad About You" but they shouldn't have been able to if Kramer was subletting his apartment from Paul.

I assume that Jerry's cameo on MAY was as the real, TV star Jerry but that also would have been wrong since "Seinfield" and "Mad About You" were in the same universe. Because of Ursula and Phoebe being twin sisters, that also puts them in the same universe as "Friends". So when Jason Alexander guest starred as "Friends", it should have been as George and not a new character.

Jon,
Whoa... welcome to the excruciating minutiae club ;)

I didn't know Jer was on Mad About You either.
As far as "real" Jerry vs the Seinfeld character "Jerry Seinfeld" appearing...
although a bit extreme and of course we would have to leave out The Finale results, as that was a big deviation, sitcom Jer's life somewhat paralleled and was a parody of real Jerry's life, so either way it's negotiable which Jer was there.

You have to view it, & see how the Buchmans related to Jer. Was he the arogant superstar or the up & commer trying to land a show? Were they like "hey Jerry(that guy I used to live by)" or "there's Jerry Seinfeld (the big star)."

Hard to say as this aired after Seinfeld was over anyway.

My assumption is that it was the big star Jerry and not Jerry from Seinfeld. That's only a guess though.

I was never much of a fan of Mad About You, but I remember an ep where Paul Reiser's character tried viagra. Hilarity ensued as he had to go outside while sporting a tent. He just happened to bump into Jerry Seinfeld (MEGA TV star enjoying the good life).

Paul was star struck and let Jerry know he was a big fan to which Jerry quipped something like, "I can see" and walked away. I'm guessing that was 1998ish at least.

So it was 'famous Jerry'

I guess they scrapped the whole Seinfeld Mad About You connection. :(

It doesn't jive with the fact that Paul sold his old apartment to Kramer and asked how "Jerry from across the hall" was doing.

The only other explanation would be that by fall 1998, even struggling Jerry and the gang would have been famous as the "New York Four" of the Latham trial (after all, they were even featured on "Geraldo"(lol). Perhaps they got out early for good behavior or the verdict was overturned, and that's what Paul meant when he said he was a "fan".

But of course I'm stretching it and the point I'm trying to make is that writers are inconsistent in how they treat cross over and guest situations all the time and either forget what they have done in the past or they think we don't care or won't remember.

Agreed. If things worked at the way the writers originally intended. Seinfeld, Mad About You, Friends, Caroline in the City and The Single Guy are all apart of the same sitcom universe.

Originally posted by Brian Damage
Agreed. If things worked at the way the writers originally intended. Seinfeld, Mad About You, Friends, Caroline in the City and The Single Guy are all apart of the same sitcom universe.

There is an excellent web site

http://www.poobala.com/crossoverlist.html

then look at group 2 - it will show that now only these shows but over 75 shows as diverse as I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, MASH, and even the X-Files are all part of the same universe!