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Would the TV show "Seinfeld" survive long enough to become a ratings behemoth on network TV today?

M

Mikey Radio

This interview with Jason Alexander who played "George Costanza" on Seinfeld is a few years old, but I found his comments interesting, especially when he says that show would not have survived today, at least on broadcast television.


"Larry and Jerry wanted to do the show they wanted to do, and the way they wanted to do it. Larry's power lay in the fact that he was willing to to go "You can put it on, you can take it off. That's all the power you have. But if it's on, it's mine. Don't tell me how to fix it, don't tell me what to do. Put it on, or take it off.""
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"That was one of the big things about Seinfeld..When people say "Would Seinfeld have survived today?" No, because nobody gets that shot. If you're not scoring points in 3 episodes, you're gone! There's maybe 4 or 5 TV producer/writers that can tell a network where to stuff it at this point. And we've also seen because of the cable niche stations that if you allow a creative person to do what they're doing and stay out of the way, you get a very good result most of the time, but that lesson is not learned in broadcast."
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For the above reason and that so many of the plot lines are about miscommunication and getting "wires crossed". The characters ould all be on their cellphones while in the parking garage as one example.
 
Jason Alexander is talking about a bygone era. There are no "ratings behemoths" any more. The bar is much, much lower.

If Larry David wanted to do a TV show today, he'd put it on YouTube, and he'd make his money off Google ads. Or maybe Seinfeld would be run on TBS or TNT.
 
Mikey Radio said:
This interview with Jason Alexander who played "George Costanza" on Seinfeld is a few years old, but I found his comments interesting, especially when he says that show would not have survived today, at least on broadcast television.

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In this era shows like Seinfeld would only work on Netflix and HBO Max though. The streamers will take the show. Traditional broadcast networks not so much at this point like they did 30 years ago.
 
The modern day stand-up comics will not get their own primetime show on the 4 major networks, rather they are found on Social Media or Streaming. IMO, Kevin James broke out because of his TV show "King of Queens", same goes for Seinfeld and others. Some up and coming comics that I watch in 2020 such as Ben Brainerd arose thanks to social media and traditional in-person shows, not a TV premiere. Not even Gabriel Iglesias got his own show until like 2018 (it was all on Netflix) despite his works going back to the 1990's. And as a side-note, the new Late-Night shows with the likes of James Corden are a different breed, and even if they were primetime television, they wouldn't budge for a while.

So, basically Jerry today would be on Peacock or what have you. Oh how times have changed!
 
ZantennaG1 said:
The modern day stand-up comics will not get their own primetime show on the 4 major networks,
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One of the big factors for comedians is who gets to own your stuff. I've read that Tim Allen had some ownership in the characters and the scripting of Home Improvement. Who owns what plays a big part in how long a media company is willing to invest. Disney owned the syndication company that handled Home Improvement. So it was in their best interest to bring that series to enough episodes to reach syndication.
 
TheBigA said:
One of the big factors for comedians is who gets to own your stuff. I've read that Tim Allen had some ownership in the characters and the scripting of Home Improvement. Who owns what plays a big part in how long a media company is willing to invest. Disney owned the syndication company that handled Home Improvement. So it was in their best interest to bring that series to enough episodes to reach syndication.
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Ah yes, Tim Allen! You should see his car collection. Also, I agree that the contract is a lot about ownership
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Ah yes, Tim Allen! You should see his car collection. Also, I agree that the contract is a lot about ownership
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It was interesting how many comedians (Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Ray Romano, Roseanne Barr) got TV deals in the 80s and 90s.

Not so many now. I bet ownership is a big factor. I hear this about radio all the time. Why doesn't radio hire better talent? The answer usually is that the better talent can get a better deal in terms of ownership and other factors (language, topics, music). All of these are contract issues now, and they never came up 30 or 40 years ago. Back then it was only money. Not any more.
 
TheBigA said:
It was interesting how many comedians (Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Ray Romano, Roseanne Barr) got TV deals in the 80s and 90s.

Not so many now. I bet ownership is a big factor. I hear this about radio all the time. Why doesn't radio hire better talent? The answer usually is that the better talent can get a better deal in terms of ownership and other factors (language, topics, music). All of these are contract issues now, and they never came up 30 or 40 years ago. Back then it was only money. Not any more.
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Also in the past decade you have to consider the political of certain comedians and see if they are accepted within the demo. They have to be considered in the contract now. Maybe in the 1960's and 1970's when the politics of comedians, their EP, director and production staff were a factor when All in the Family were on.
 
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