Television director and producer Tom Cherones, best known for his work on the first five seasons of the Emmy-winning series \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d has died. He was 86.<\/p>\n
He died Jan. 5 at his home in Florence, Ore., according to a statement from his family<\/a>. <\/p>\n He directed some of the most iconic episodes of \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d including \u201cThe Chinese Restaurant,\u201d \u201cThe Parking Garage\u201d and \u201cThe Contest.\u201d The first episode he directed was the show\u2019s second-ever episode, \u201cThe Stake Out.\u201d The director ultimately helmed over 80 episodes of the show. <\/p>\n \u201cI think they liked the way I ran the set,\u201d Cherones said of why he was chosen to direct so many \u201cSeinfeld\u201d episodes in an interview with the Television Academy Foundation<\/a>. \u201cI shot the show a little different … I just shot it in a way that I thought made it look better than the average show.\u201d <\/p>\n Cherones left the show at the behest of its star Jerry Seinfeld.<\/p>\n \u201cJerry asked me to [leave], he was tired of the same thing I guess,\u201d he told the Television Academy Foundation<\/a>. \u201cWe changed writers almost every season and finally he just wanted somebody else, another presence to try to keep it fresh. He always said from the beginning that when this thing isn\u2019t working anymore we\u2019re going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Cherones received six Emmy nominations<\/a> for his work on \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d winning his sole Emmy for his production work in 1993. <\/p>\n