The One Phone Call From Rob Reiner That Kept Seinfeld on the Air
Seinfeld nearly died on the vine. Jerry Seinfeld reveals on Instagram that filmmaker Rob Reiner’s behind-the-scenes push kept the sitcom from cancellation, praising his quiet generosity.
Jerry Seinfeld just laid out something a lot of people probably never knew: Rob Reiner helped keep Seinfeld from getting axed back when the show was flailing out of the gate. He shared a tribute this week after news broke that Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, have died.
What Jerry said
In a post on Instagram, Seinfeld put Reiner right up there with Larry David and longtime manager George Shapiro as the biggest influences on his career. He even says there might not have been a show at all without Reiner, who stepped in when the network was not loving those early episodes and pushed to keep it alive.
"He saw something no one else could. When nobody at the network liked the early episodes, he saved us from cancellation."
Seinfeld also talked about the person behind the credits. Working with Carl Reiner's son felt like a pinch-me scenario, and Jerry describes Rob as unusually generous and decent, even by the standards of the nicest folks in the business. He also nodded to Rob and Michele's relationship: they got married right as Seinfeld was starting, and the way they supported each other became a kind of blueprint for him on how a partnership should work. Losing both of them at the same time, he says, is just crushing.
How Reiner was tied to Seinfeld
If you are wondering how Reiner had that kind of pull here, it runs through Castle Rock Entertainment, the company he co-founded. Castle Rock produced Seinfeld for its entire nine-season run, 1989 to 1998. The show went from near-cancellation to era-defining, which makes Reiner's early vote of confidence a pretty big hinge point.
- Main cast: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, Jerry Stiller, and Wayne Knight
So yes, there is the public legacy everyone knows, and then there is the behind-the-scenes save that kept the show on the air long enough to become, well, Seinfeld. Without Reiner backing it when the suits were skeptical, there is a non-zero chance we never get 'No soup for you,' 'yada yada,' or any of it.