Jerry Seinfeld Confirms ‘Seinfeld’ Coming To Netflix?
Did Jerry Seinfeld just confirm that Seinfeld is coming to Netflix?!
Seinfeld, one of the highest rated sitcoms of all time, the show about nothing, the show that gave us “The Soup Nazi” and “The Sponge” and “The Kramer” and “The Chinese Restaurant,” may indeed be available to stream via Netflix soon.
Here’s what happened.
Earlier today, Jerry Seinfeld hosted a Reddit AMA — that’s “Ask Me Anything” for the uninitiated — and was asked by a Redditor, “Jerry, any word on ‘Seinfeld’ coming to Netflix? Can you please convince Larry to let it happen? There are still so many people who have not experienced ‘Seinfeld’ firsthand and having it available through Netflix will surely be the easiest way.”
To which, Seinfeld responded:
“You are a very smart and progressive person. These conversations are currently taking place.”
The response to that was what can only be described a delirium and euphoria from Seinfeld fans the world over. The bigger question, however, when one takes a step back and looks at the big picture, is what conversations? From what the Redditor said, it’s show co-creator Larry David that was holding up the process. Are the conversations between Seinfeld and David? Or are they past that point, in discussions with Netflix…?
Seinfeld already airs daily in syndication, as well as on the Crackle streaming service. Crackle also serves as the outlet for Seinfeld’s popular talk-drive-drink show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Would Seinfeld have to pull the plug on Crackle to air on Netflix — or is there no question of exclusivity?
Seinfeld had a very successful run on NBC from 1989 to 1998. The self-proclaimed “show about nothing” featured Jerry Seinfeld as himself, Jason Alexander as George, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine, and Michael Richards at Cosmo Kramer. Seinfeld became part of what would be classified as “Water Cooler Shows” because everyone would stand around the water cooler — or the coffee maker or the copy machine — the next day at work and talk about what happened on the show, (this is pre-internet we’re talking about, kids!). The show introduced us to a wide array of supporting characters, offered some of the best and original comedy writing ever on television, and contributed a strange new collective vernacular to the entire world.
When Seinfeld ended in 1998, Jerry did a stand-up tour called I’m Telling You for the Last Time, some American Express commercials with Superman, was part of a documentary called Comedian, and loaned his voice to the animated feature Bee Movie.
In 2012, Jerry Seinfeld returned on a semi-regular basis with Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The web series is exactly what the title says it is. In the span of anywhere from 12 to 25 minutes, the show presents Jerry picking up comedians ranging from Howard Stern to Don Rickles to Tina Fey to Chris Rock, in a car that he thinks represents them. Then they go get coffee. They talk, and they’re funny.
The show is a hit.
Will Seinfeld come to Netflix? We can only hope.
