Seinfeld is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, running a total of 9 seasons. Many of its catchphrases have entered into the pop culture lexicon. The show led the Nielsen Ratings in its sixth and ninth seasons, and finished among the top two (along with "ER") every year from 1994 to 1998. Geographically, it took place on the Upper West Side— a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The series was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, with the latter starring as an eponymous, fictionalized version of himself. Set predominantly in an apartment block on New York City's Upper West Side, the show features a host of Jerry's friends and acquaintances, including George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Seinfeld was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment, (which Warner Bros. owns), and distributed by Columbia Pictures Television and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television). Seinfeld was largely co-written by David and Seinfeld, with later input from numerous script writers, including Larry Charles, Peter Mehlman, Gregg Kavet, Andy Robin, Carol Leifer, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Steve Koren, Jennifer Crittenden, Tom Gammill & Max Pross, Alec Berg and Spike Feresten. Seinfeld is now widely considered one of the greatest American television programs of all time.