The TV Zone

(Getty)

That's the big question this Friday morning.

Or allow me to re-phrase: It's my big question.

NBC is bringing advertisers to 30 Rock on Monday for it's so-called "In Front" meeting - a cute little play on the word "upfront," which means the fourth place network will be "in front" of its competitors by announcing its development slate.

In any event, the question on everyone's mind should be, and very possibly will be: What about Jerry Seinfeld? Will he appear in his new reality show, "The Marriage Ref?"

"He's not appearing on the show," says his spokesperson, Elizabeth Clark, a little while ago.

And for re-emphasis, she repeated - "he's not appearing. It's his project, he is going to be working on it actively, and it's going to have his [comic] voice. He is an active executive producer - it's going to be his vision but he's not handing it over." And he's not appearing...

But when NBC hears - loudly and clearly - from advertisers on Monday that they want Jerry on-screen, what will Jerry say then?

Would advertisers prefer Seinfeld to have an on-air role as opposed to an off-air one? Silly, silly question!

"Yeah, because he could talk about like with his wife," says Shari Anne Brill, senior v.p. and director of strategic audience analysis for ad firm Carat.

"He's better 'in front' - to borrow an NBC term - of the camera. He had the number one comedy on television...if [he] did a comedy that did half the rating of 'Seinfeld,' it'd still be one of their highest-rated..."

"The Marriage Ref" is a go for this fall, and as you know, this reality series will be exec produced by Seinfeld. A team of celebrities - still to be named - will moderate a married couple's woes, or comment on them; they'll be different celebs each week, though there will also be a "ref" who will determine which spouse is right or wrong in a certain situation. This is Seinfeld's first production gig for the network since "Seinfeld," and as such, probably - make that definitely - the most important new show on its fall lineup.

During a talk at the 92nd Street Y recently, Jerry said of the show: It's not going to "be a serious show, it's not going to be a helping show, as is my tradition. It's gonna really be about the fights that married couples have that are actually quite funny when it's not your marriage."

Here's an absurdly modest proposal: Have Jerry appear as the "ref." Why wouldn't he want to? And why has he so steadfastly refused to appear on the show?

My Speculation: If he did appear and the show flops, then the one person not yet cursed by the Seinfeld curse would also be cursed. The perfect post-"Seinfeld" career would no longer be perfect. By not appearing on screen, he avoids this fate. But doesn't Jerry owe his new creation every possible chance of success, and isn't the most obvious means of assuring a chance of success to appear on-screen?

Expect JS to provide more details Monday...

Good scooplet in EW.com: Says that the "Seinfeld" core cast will re-unite on "Curb you Enthusiasm" next year. Here are the relevant sentences from the story, just posted:

"Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards -- will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall.

The cameos will mark the first time that all four actors have appeared together in a scripted TV show since Seinfeld went off the air nearly 11 years ago.

No date has been set for this event, or for Curb's seventh season, which will run for 10 weeks. Curb, of course, was created by and stars Larry David, the cocreator of Seinfeld."

As your probably know by now, Jerry Seinfeld has a new production deal with NBC - "The Marriage Ref" has been picked up.

Right, like NBC wasn't going to pick this up.

This is a network that picks up every reality show.

And not Jerry's?

It's been in development for months, and Jerry has been warming up audiences to the idea as well. Check out this "Tonight Show" appearance from last fall - it's a peak at Jerry's new show.

No, he won't have an on-air role, or will he? Hard to imagine NBC would want something from Seinfeld without some sort of on-air identification, at the very minimum voice-over. So we'll see...

(Happily Married Man, right)

What do we know about this? Very little, and NBC is saying very little. Here's Seinfeld's statement to the trades last night:

"This is not a therapy show, it’s a comedy show,” the 54-year-old comedian said of his new show The Marriage Ref. “After nine years of marriage , I have discovered that the comedic potential of this subject is quite rich.”

Press release is on the jump.

And for proof, this...

(Pix: Jemal Countess/WireImage.com)

Continue reading "Seinfeld Back On NBC, Sorta" »

David Costabile.

That's right: David Costabile.

He's the father in the Seinfeld "New Family" ad, and I know all of my readers - all fifteen of you - were tearing your hair out trying to figure out who he was.

So tear no more. You have your answer. He's actually kinda funny in "New Family," and you know him from a few shows, including...

"The Wire."

He was, of course, the sneaky beady-eyed managing editor at the Baltimore Sun, who was always screwing over Gus Haynes - Clark Johnson. He was also "Doug" in "Flight of the Conchords."

Okay, kids. That's it. No more TV Zone spot quizzes today.

Jerry Seinfeld...CANCELLED??!!

Umm....I'm not sure (sorry) but you will note that today, those ads featuring him and Bill Gates will end after just two weeks of saturation bombing on an unsuspecting and entirely blameless American viewing audience.

It seems abrupt. It seems sudden. It seems like a bad thing for Jerry - but not for a few million football fans who threw empty beer cans at their sets this past weekend when "Shoe Circus" came on for the 18th time.

It seems...like...gulp...the world's most...famous...and...richest...guys....just got the hook.

At least that's what the blogosphere is exploding over.

Of course, you know those ads - the "Shoe Circus" and the "New Family." They've been everywhere, and I do mean everywhere, though football fans have REALLY been swamped with 'em on Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN. They're supposed to be humorous, and because I'm supposed to be a TV critic, I'll offer you my expert opinion on both. Here goes:

1.) "Shoe Circus:" It stinks. A true embarrassment for two of the most prominent guys on the planet. Rome is burning. Banks are imploding. Wall Street is sinking. And Jerry's joking about his fabulous wealth and explaining why he takes a shower in his shoes, while Bill is doing a peculiar little jig on the street. These two - Gates in particular - are symbols, not mere buffoons.
Grade: D -

2.) "New Family:" Considerably better and considerably odder. (And you be the judge - plus a special bonus, see if you can guess who plays the actor in this one. He's a real veteran...) There are a couple of funny lines here, even if the conceit - two household names living with the "average American family" - is a non-sequitur. Why would Gates live in a split-level in a suburban subdivision, and what would this fish outa water discover about the average American family? Yuk, yuk. That's the whole joke, but because there's a certain Munster quality to this clan, the director (who I believe is another world-beater, Michel Gondry) nearly pulls it off.
Grade: B -

In any event....I got off the phone with Elizabeth Clark-Zoia (Jerry's longtime spokeswoman) who insists that the blogosphere buzz - that the ads were yanked because they were embarrassing to Gates and one of the world's largest corporations - is wrong. The ads, she says, were NOT "canceled," and "Jerry was contracted for three commercials and that was it. In no way are they pulling them off the air. My understanding is that [they're going] into phase two, and that was always going to happen, and we were not involved [with that] in any way."

She adds, "Jerry was very happy with them and he had a great time. He thought they were really fun."

And...Tom Pilla, general manager of corporate communications for MS told me, "Jerry was fantastic and we appreciated the value he brought to the campaign...This was the plan the entire time...These are teaser ads to start a conversation and get the buzz going which they basically did [and] very shortly we'll transition into the next phase which will be more focused on the Windows brand."

That second phase, BTW, starts today. Eva Longoria will star in one of 'em...

Adios, Fidel.

With the news that the Cuban dictator is bowing out, many folks’ thoughts surely turned to such memorable moments as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I thought about “Seinfeld.”

Specifically the episode in which George Steinbrenner sends his flunky George Costanza to Cuba to look for baseball talent. As luck, would have it -- the episode airs tonight at 7:30 on WNYW/Ch.5

In Havana George ends up being invited to a party thrown by Castro (a nod here to Woody Allen attending the San Marcos’ dictator’s bash in “Bananas").

Fidel (played by Michael Sorich) is in a chatty mood and tells George why he doesn’t like parties:

“The problem with parties is that you have to eat standing up. Once at a party, I put my plate on someone’s piano. I assure you if I had not been the dictator, I could not have gotten away with that one.”

Fidel continues to rant and it’s even too much for George, who backs out of El Jefe’s office.

... What can I say, this is how my mind works.

We have TV news of the first magnitude: Jerry Seinfeld has shipped a set of "Seinfeld" DVDs to Eli Manning - deprived of his favorite show this weekend by a dunder-headed station manager in the arctic village of Green Bay.

At least that's what "Good Morning America" reported during the first half hour of this morning's edition. Other news sources - we don't need to name them here, but the initials are TNYDN - reported that Sony actually shipped the DVDs.

If it's actually Jerry who sent the DVDs, then this is a good story. If it's Sony, then it sounds like a clever promotional stunt by a very big and very clever conglomerate. That's not such a good story. Either way, both can afford it: If shipped by Amazon, so that Eli can get it by tomorrow morning, then Sony/Jerry are eligible for the super-savings rate! Total cost for "Seinfeld - The Complete Series:" $205.99.

Now, if someone will talk to Eli about that idiotic Oreo commercial...