As “Seinfeld” drew to a close during its ninth and final season, fans of the uproarious sitcom created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David had a hard time accepting that there would be no further squabbling adventures in this rich and deeply petty universe again. Surely, there were spinoffs in development. Maybe a movie! An animated series?
Advertisement
If NBC had decided to keep the “Seinfeld” money train chugging in 1998, it could’ve drawn from a deep bench of recurring characters that might’ve been able to carry their own series. There was also the possibility of spinning off a show for one of the four leads, but no one seemed interested in going the “Frasier” route (which proved disastrous for Matt LeBlanc six years later when he segued from “Friends” to the weirdly misconceived “Joey”). Instead, as we all know, when “Seinfeld” ended, all of its characters ceased to be. It’s unlikely NBC will go back to that well again either, seeing as no one needs the money at present (though keep an eye on the canceled Michael Richards). Not to mention, David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” already put a perfect cringe-comedy spin on the series’ comically mean-spirited sensibility.
Advertisement
This doesn’t mean the people involved with the series were devoid of ideas for “Seinfeld” spinoffs. Jason Alexander, who achieved stardom playing the hilariously neurotic and selfish George Costanza (based on David), actually had two pitches for more “Seinfeld.” They never came to fruition, and this is a good thing because it sounds like they would’ve been cancelled faster than you can say “Joey.”
Alexander’s proposed spin-offs could’ve gone terribly wrong
In a 2016 interview on the appropriately titled “Id1ot” podcast with Chris Hardwick, Jason Alexander revealed that he’d thought a sitcom based around Jerry and George’s parents living in the Del Boca Vista condominium community in Florida was bursting with potential. As he told the podcast host, “The number one that I thought, through the roof, would’ve been the four parents down at the condo in Florida. That would’ve been unbelievable … I don’t think they ever looked at it.”
Advertisement
On one hand, I could’ve gone for an acerbic take on “The Golden Girls” featuring a cast of Jerry Stiller, Estelle Harris, Liz Sheridan, and Barney Martin, but the series’ success might’ve been contingent on finding palatable foils for their awfulness. Those characters were best taken in small doses. An entire show starring them would’ve tested viewers’ tolerance for retiree shrillness.
Alexander’s other pitch was flat-out awful: “If they had made a legal comedy, with [lawyer Jackie Chiles] as the centerpiece, that would be absolute gold.” No. Chiles was a hilarious parody of defense attorney Johnnie Cochran, who became a legal celebrity when he successfully defended O.J. Simpson against murder charges in the mid-1990s. But Cochran wasn’t a headline-chasing huckster of a lawyer (e.g. he quietly worked to vacate a trumped-up murder charge against wrongfully imprisoned activist Geronimo Pratt), which would’ve made the Chiles caricature feel racially insensitive at a certain point. There was nowhere to go with that character.
Advertisement
To date, there has been no significant interest in a “Seinfeld” revisit. Hopefully, NBC will never be desperate enough to tap that vein again.
