Jerry Seinfeld on Monday thanked Rob Reiner for stopping the short cancellation of “Seinfeld” (1989-98), the sitcom that skyrocketed the comic to fame.
In an Instagram tribute to the enduring director and actor after he and his spouse, Michele, have been discovered useless of their dwelling, Seinfeld shared a photograph with Reiner and his father, Carl Reiner.
“Subsequent to [“Seinfeld” co-creator] Larry David and [talent manager] George Shapiro, Rob Reiner had the most important affect on my profession,” Seinfeld 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.”
“That I was working with Carl Reiner’s son, who happened to be one of the kindest people in show business, seemed unreal,” the comedian continued. “I was naive at the time to how much his passion for us meant.”
In a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, Reiner, who cofounded the Fort Rock manufacturing firm behind “Seinfeld,” recalled begging NBC honcho Brandon Tartikoff to not relegate the present to the dustbin of TV historical past.
“We knew we had a great show,” Reiner advised Stern. “They wanted to take it off the air.”
“They said, ‘We can’t have this show. … What is this show? It’s just people sitting around talking,’” Reiner continued.
Reiner had constructed comedy cred as an actor on “All in the Family” (1971-79) and as director and star of the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984). “When Harry Met Sally,” the traditional rom-com he helmed, would premiere simply weeks after “Seinfeld” debuted as “The Seinfeld Chronicles” in July 1989.
“I had a screaming, crazy thing with Brandon Tartikoff at the time and I begged him and 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.’” Reiner advised Stern.
The sitcom made a prophet of Reiner, incomes 10 Emmys amongst 68 nominations in changing into the zeitgeist comedy of the Nineteen Nineties.
“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,” Seinfeld concluded his homage. “Their death, together, is impossibly sad.”
