Every Time Jerry Seinfeld Has Defended ‘Seinfeld’ Against Criticism

As one of the highest rating sitcoms of all-time, Seinfeld left a lasting legacy beyond its initial run.

The “show about nothing”, which was co-created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, starred Seinfeld in the lead role alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards and ran from 1989 to 1998.

Given his instrumental role in the 90s sitcom, Seinfeld, 70, has long been outspoken against those who dare to criticize it. Us Weekly takes a look at some of the times the comedian has hit back at those who took aim against his show.

WFAN radio show, November 2024

When sports radio host Chris McMonigle joked about Seinfeld having only a “few good” episodes, little did he know the comedy’s creator and lead star would be listening in  – and the actor took things into his own hands to defend his show’s honor.

Calling up the radio show, WFAN, in November 2024, the actor told McMonigle he was unfazed by his disparaging comments about the comedy series.

“I’m not arrogant enough to think that everybody should like what I do,” the comedian said over the airwaves. “I just wanted to let you know it doesn’t bother me. I’m OK with it. One out of two is fine for me.”

Referencing the NFL’s New York Giants, Seinfeld went on to joke, “Well look, we made 180 episodes. Three good ones. We’re like the Giants.”

The New Yorker, April 2024 

Seinfeld made headlines in April 2024 when he told The New Yorker the 90s sitcom couldn’t get away with some of the jokes that aired then, because they weren’t politically correct and defended that style of comedy.

Referencing a specific episode that featured Kramer (played by Richards), Seinfeld insisted the scenes wouldn’t wash in 2024.

“We did an episode of [Seinfeld] in the nineties where Kramer decides to start a business of having homeless people pull rickshaws because, as he says, ‘They’re outside anyway,’” he told the outlet. “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today? … We would write a different joke with Kramer and the rickshaw today. We wouldn’t do that joke. We’d come up with another joke.”

AMA reddit, 2014

Like many finales of popular, long-running shows, a lot of viewers have strong views on whether they loved or hated how things wrapped up.

Seinfeld was no different – its ending was polarizing for fans. However, Seinfeld defended the way things wrapped up when he was asked in a Reddit AMA session in 2014 if he was happy with the finale.

“I was happy with the Seinfeld finale because we didn’t want to do another episode as much as we wanted to have everybody come back to the show we had so much fun with,” he wrote at the time, as reported by Digital Spy. “It was a way to thank all of the people who worked on the show over the years that we thought made the show work. I don’t believe in trying to change the past but I’m very happy with it.”

The Larry King Show, 2007

Back in 2007, Seinfeld appeared on The Larry King Show and was almost lost for words when host King, who died in 2021 aged 87, questioned whether his show had been canceled.

“You gave it up, right? They didn’t cancel you? You canceled them?” King asked.

An incredulous Seinfeld paused before responding, “You’re not aware of this? You think I got canceled? You’re under the impression I got canceled? I thought that was pretty well documented.”

Doubling down, Seinfeld made sure there was no doubt who pulled the plug on the show – and it wasn’t the network!

“When I went off the air, I was the No. 1 show on television, Larry,” Seinfeld said. “Do you know who I am? Seventy-five million viewers [for] the last episode.”