Hulu also used the more modern-looking 16.9 aspect ratio as well, foregoing the series' original 4:3. is now available to stream on Netflix, but fans are noticing a major difference in the show's appearance.Seinfeld originally appeared on television screens with a 4:3 aspect ratio when the landmark sitcom aired from 1989 to 1998. However, the series now appears on Netflix in 16:9, severely changing what appears on the screen. The most notable difference, as pointed out by Twitter user @Thatoneguy64, is that the pothole from Season 8, Episode 16 "The Pothole" is now cropped entirely from the frame, will Jason Alexander's Goerge Costanza now wildly gesturing to nothing.
As shown in "The Pothole" episode, the 16:9 aspect ratio may provide the series with HD quality and allow for more footage on the left and right side of the frame, but this results in the top and bottom of the frame being cut off. Hence, the missing pothole and, unfortunately, the missing joke.
Netflix landed the global streaming rights to Seinfeld in 2019, and the series moved to the streaming service after leaving Hulu in the United States, where it was available to stream for six years. Hulu also used the more modern-looking 16.9 aspect ratio as well, foregoing the series' original 4:3 cut, like many other HD releases of the series. Seinfeld will be available to stream on Netflix for the next five years.
"Larry [David] and I are enormously grateful to Netflix for taking this chance on us. It takes a lot of guts to trust two schmucks who literally had zero experience in television when we made this thing," said Jerry Seinfeld. "We really got carried away, I guess. I didn't realize we made so many of them. Hope to recoup god knows how many millions it must have taken to do. But worth all the work if people like it. Crazy project."
Seinfeld isn't the only sitcom to face this adjustment once it hit streaming services. Last year, The Simpsons premiered in its entirety on Disney+ and faced a similar outcry from fans after it was discovered that earlier episodes of the animated sitcom were altered from their original 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9. While Disney later clarified that this had been done for "visual consistency" with later seasons of the show -- which were presented in 16.9 -- the streaming service later changed the altered episodes back to their original appearance.
All nine seasons of Seinfeld are currently available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Twitter