Jerry Seinfeld Details How Rob Reiner Saved ‘Seinfeld’ From Cancellation
What To Know
- Jerry Seinfeld credited Rob Reiner with saving Seinfeld from cancellation by advocating for the show when network executives doubted its potential.
- Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead in their Los Angeles home, with their son Nick Reiner arrested as a suspect in their deaths.
- Seinfeld paid tribute to Reiner’s profound influence on his career and described the couple’s relationship as an inspiration, calling their deaths “impossibly sad.”
Jerry Seinfeld detailed how Rob Reiner saved Seinfeld from cancellation in a touching tribute after the director’s shocking death.
On Sunday, December 14, Reiner, 78, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead in the Los Angeles home. Their daughter, Romy, discovered her parents’ bodies after a family member allegedly slit their throats following an argument. Rob and Michele’s son, Nick Reiner, has since been arrested as a suspect.
Seinfeld took to Instagram on Monday, December 15, with a heartfelt memorial for the iconic director, whose company, Castle Rock Entertainment, produced Seinfeld.
“Next to Larry David and George Shapiro, Rob Reiner had the biggest influence on my career,” he wrote. “Our show would have never happened without him. He saw something no one else could. When nobody at the network liked the early episodes, he saved us from cancellation.”
In his post, the comedian continued, “That I was working with Carl Reiner‘s son, who happened to be one of the kindest people in show business, seemed unreal. I was naive at the time to how much his passion for us meant.”
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Seinfeld concluded, “Rob and Michele married right as our show was starting, and they became an imprint for me of how it’s supposed to work, each one broadening the other. Their death, together, is impossibly sad.”
Reiner was best known for starring in All in the Family as well as directing A Few Good Men, This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, and more.
In a 2016 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Reiner detailed his confidence in Seinfeld despite NBC executives not understanding the show’s humor.
He explained, “They said, ‘We can’t have this show. What is this show? It’s just people sitting around talking.’ Remember, they called it The Show About Nothing?”
During a “screaming, crazy thing” with an NBC executive, Reiner said he begged the network to allow Seinfeld to have more time to establish its footing with viewers.
He recalled, “I said, ‘Please, I promise you there’ll be stories. You can’t take this show off the air. It’s going to be one of the great shows you’ve ever had.'”
Seinfeld aired for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998. In addition to Seinfeld, the sitcom starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, and Ruth Cohen.
Seinfeld, streaming on Netflix