It’s No Joke--Seinfeld Says Show’s Over
After nine years of high ratings, critical acclaim and a place in the popular culture, comedian Jerry Seinfeld has decided to cease production of his hit Thursday night comedy show at the end of this season in May, NBC said late Thursday.
“To keep a show of this caliber at its peak is a great undertaking, and we respect Jerry’s decision that at the end of this season it’s time to move on,” said NBC spokeswoman Pat Schultz.
The news came as a surprise to industry observers, because in recent interviews, Seinfeld said he would not be making a decision about the fate of the show until January.
The show, which described itself as being about nothing, nonetheless became an urban leitmotif of the 1990s, its ensemble cast members becoming as familiar to its mostly young and yuppie fans as their own neighbors. “It started as nothing, but it became something, and for that we are grateful,” Schultz said.
The show made household figures of its stars: Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine, Jason Alexander as George and Michael Richards as the off-center Kramer. All three co-stars have already negotiated new contracts through next year at $600,000 per episode--about $13 million per year--making the show perhaps the most expensive series in TV history.
Seinfeld has said in interviews that money was not a determining factor in his decision; he is already reportedly making in excess of $1 million per show, in addition to the millions he is paid as co-creator of the series. Rather, the star has said he would only continue as long as the show remained fresh creatively.
And the show has come under criticism this year for not living up to its earlier creative standards. Some have felt that, in its ninth season, the show has become tired, an accusation that Seinfeld has denied.
His decision was one that NBC has been dreading. The network has been desperate to find hits capable of replacing “Seinfeld,” knowing that the show could continue only as long as its namesake was willing to participate.
The expectation has been that NBC will move the show “Friends” from 8 p.m. into the crucial 9 p.m. slot that Seinfeld has occupied since 1993.
Seinfeld’s departure isn’t the only worry for NBC, which will soon begin negotiations to renew “ER,” television’s highest-rated drama.
Losing both series would gut the network’s dominant Thursday night lineup and put at risk not only its first-place status in prime time but also hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue.
Analysts noted that “Seinfeld” was also enormously profitable for NBC, which was commanding as much as half a million dollars for a 30-second commercial on the show. “Seinfeld” also pulled other comedies along with it to good ratings, the way an ocean liner might pull dinghies in its powerful wake.
The show won an Emmy for best comedy series 1993, before “Frasier” began its four-year streak in that category. This year, co-star Richards won his third Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy series.
*
Times staff writers Abigail Goldman and Matt Lait contributed to this story.