Hoochie Mama!: An Interactive ‘Seinfeld’ Experience Is Coming to New York
The attraction will include costumes, sets, a gift shop, yada, yada, yada
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Thirty years since the first episode of its nine-year run debuted, the cult of “Seinfeld” abounds. The show was rated as the best television show of all time by TV Guide in 2009 (it’s since been knocked down a peg by "The Sopranos"), and came in No. 5 on Rolling Stone’s list behind prestige dramas “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad.” At this point, the show’s catchphrases and scenarios are considered pop culture fixtures.
“Seinfeld,” in other words, is still feeling the love. So much so that this fall, New York City is getting its own “Seinfeld” attraction.
According to a press release, The Seinfeld Experience will open in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood. The “experience” is being put together by event organizer Superfly and will included interactive exhibits that “Bring ‘Seinfeld’ to life” including “iconic costumes, memorabilia, set re-creations, and props from the show.”
The details about the attraction’s exact opening date, location, prices, yada, yada, yada are not yet available. Unsurprisingly, though, it’s already been announced that the experience will have a retail area that will include exclusive merchandise, which, we’re hoping, will feature snacks like muffin tops, pudding skin singles, big salads, chocolate babka, black-and-white cookies, as well as limited-edition merch like Festivus poles and puffy shirts.
Jerry Seinfeld who created and wrote “Seinfeld” with Larry David, and also starred as its titular character, has already weighed in with his opinion of the attraction. “Because I am Seinfeld, for a long time I was the only person to actually have the Seinfeld experience. Now, these crazy Superfly people are going to make it so lots of people can interact with our silly ’90s TV show,” he says in the release. “All I can say is, in the general context of the world we live in, this now seems completely normal.”
For good or bad, Charles Passy at The Wall Street Journal reports that such experiences are becoming ubiquitous. Recently, the Museum of Pizza opened in Brooklyn, offering people the immersive pizza experience they’ve always wanted; meanwhile, the colorful Insta-bait Museum of Ice Cream is drawing crowds in San Francisco and NYC; just recently, a new Trolls Experience joined the group in Times Square.
Christopher Heywood, executive vice president of NYC & Company, the city’s tourism organization, tells Passy that these experiences tend to do very well. “Pop culture is such a powerful medium.” Then again, he jokes, an exhibit about the show about nothing might face an uphill battle in a place already brimming with tourist destinations. It’s “not like the Empire State Building,” he says.