Jerry Seinfeld‘s hit NBC sitcom might have never gotten off the ground without an unknowing assist from professional wrestling.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was a recent guest on The Rich Eisen Show. When asked about getting Seinfeld greenlit from NBC, Seinfeld spoke about the struggles the series faced early on and revealed that NBC used some of the funds from WWE‘s Saturday Night’s Main Event to produce four of the early episodes.
“The original pitch was how a comedian gets his material,” Jerry Seinfeld said. “Which Larry and I knew we were lying when we said it, because nobody wants to see that. It’s not interesting. But it sounds good to a network executive. So they gave us a pilot. They didn’t like the pilot. Then Rick Ludwin said, ‘You know what? I think this show isn’t that bad.’ Everyone disliked it.
“And Rick Ludwin said, ‘I’m going to take some money from Saturday Night wrestling (WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event).’ In those days, professional wrestling replaced Saturday Night Live once a month, and he took the money from one of those, and it was enough money for us to make four episodes.
“We made four episodes. They still didn’t like it. And then FOX said, ‘We want the show.’ And then NBC said, ‘Okay, we’ll make a few more.’ They still wouldn’t order it. They just didn’t like it. When they put it after Cheers, we got ratings. And then they put us on Wednesday night we went in the toilet again. It was four years of struggle, which, you know, we didn’t really care. We were just having fun doing the show.”
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What do you make of Jerry Seinfeld’s comments? Are you shocked to learn that NBC took funds from WWE to produce four episodes of his show? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit The Rich Eisen Show with a link to this article for the transcription.
