Netflix Sets Debut Date For Hit Comedy Series ‘Seinfeld’

WASHINGTON — Netflix has set a debut date for the classic American sitcom “Seinfeld” two years after the global streamer paid $500 million to secure international rights with the distributor Sony.

The popular sitcom will make its debut on Oct. 1, 2021.

Talking about the show, Jerry Seinfeld, who has both acted and served as one of the writers for the show, expressed his excitement.

“Larry [David] and I are enormously grateful to Netflix for taking this chance on us,” he said.

“It takes a lot of guts to trust two schmucks who literally had zero experience in television when we made this thing. We really got carried away, I guess.”

“I didn’t realize we made so many of them. Hope to recoup god knows how many millions it must have taken to do. But worth all the work if people like it. Crazy project (sic).”

Netflix’s deal for “Seinfeld” marks the first time global streaming rights to the show are with a single platform. For six years, the show’s home was streaming platform Hulu, whose deal for the comedy series only covered domestic streaming, while Amazon held rights in a number of international territories, as per reports.

“This is the first time we’ve taken a risk of this nature, going all-in on nine seasons at the jump (sic),” said Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-Chief Executive Officer.

“But Jerry has created something special with this sitcom that nobody has ever done. I truly think he and Mr. David have enormous futures ahead of them, and I’m thrilled Netflix could be the home for them to grow their fanbases.”

“Seinfeld” will also move to a new on-air home in October 2021 as ViacomCBS takes over cable rights to the show from WarnerMedia. It’s slated to run on Comedy Central, TV Land, and Paramount Network, as per reports.

The show stars Seinfeld as a fictional version of himself and has Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, and Jason Alexander in pivotal roles.

“Seinfeld” is centered around four friends residing in New York City and the misadventures around their daily and love lives.

During its run, the show won 10 Primetime Emmy Awards, of which three “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series” trophies were bagged by Richards; Louis-Dreyfus won one.

“Seinfeld” also won three Golden Globe Awards — “Best Television Series — Comedy or Musical,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical,” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television” in 1994, apart from several nominations over the years.

The show ran for nine seasons from July 1989 to May 1998. Created by Seinfeld and Larry David, the series is jointly produced by West/Shapiro Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment.

(With inputs from ANI)

Edited by Ojaswin Kathuria and Nikita Nikhil