INSIDE MEDIA: Jason Alexander says Seinfeld destroyed television PLUS why TV insiders are leaking against their bosses

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In our column that takes you inside the world of media Seinfeld star Jason Alexander explains how Seinfeld ruined television economics | Nine staff refuse to accept management decisions |And the TV shows that started strong but fizzled out

*To see clips of the quotes used in this article, watch the video in the player above

SEINFELD STAR SAYS SHOW RUINED TELEVISION

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A fascinating interview with Seinfeld star Jason Alexander has resurfaced from April 1998, just weeks before the last ever episode of the classic sitcom aired. In it he blames himself, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards for destroying the economics of television.

After the show become a ratings hit, the cast become locked in a bitter dispute with NBC over their salaries. It was reported the cast were asking for $1m per episode but ended up with a record-breaking (at the time) US$600,000 per episode (US$1,122,000 adjusted for inflation).

“We knew that for the network alone, every episode of Seinfeld generated $14 million of profit, of sheer profit for the network alone,” Jason Alexander (George) revealed the details of the negotiations to Charlie Rose in an eye-opening interview (which you can watch the interview in the player above).

“We had argued that after five years of being in Seinfeld, there was no upside in the long run for the three of us to continue doing the show. It had made us celebrities, it had made us some money, but if we were gonna be actors with careers that extended where we needed to play different roles, continuing to put out the image of George, Elaine and Kramer was actually detrimental to our long run careers,”

The actors told NBC they were happy with their upfront salary (which at that point is reported to have been US$150,000 per episode), but they wanted a cut of the syndication profits (the fees made by selling the show to cable stations in the US and around the world). The network refused but were desperate to make another season.

According to Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus suggested a figure of US$1m per episode.

“They did what they should have done, which is laughed at us,” Alexander continues.

“I and I also knew that it was detrimental to television if they made the deal with us. And it has proven to be detrimental. It is outrageous, upfront money, outrageous. It is bad for television. $13 million an episode for E.R., a million dollars each to Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt for a show that’s number 25 to 30 in the ratings,” he said in a reference to the sitcom Mad About You.

“These are bad prices. You ask for that kind of money when you are producing the kind of profit revenue that we are producing. But we couldn’t ask for it on that side. They wouldn’t give it to us. So we had to take it out front. And I personally feel that we damaged the economics of television and that NBC was foolish to give us what they gave us. But there was no way we were gonna come back for anything less than the six. The six was my bottom line. So I guess I’m guilty of that. I knew that at $600,000 an episode, we would gross a certain amount. I would net ‘em a certain amount and that would pay for the rest of my life.”

There is so much more in this interview worth watching, which you can see in the player above.

Syndication rights aren’t really a thing here in Australia, but the economics of television certainly have changed over the years.

The cost of producing reality TV shows now sits at around $20m to $30m per season for shows like The Voice, Married At First Sight, The Block, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here etc.

Former CEO of Nine Network Australia, David Gyngell.

The big change came in 2012 when Nine’s legendary CEO David Gyngell needed a big format to reenergise his struggling network. Despite being financed by a private equity firm at the time, Gyngell took a punt and bought the rights to The Voice.

The cost of those rights plus production came in at around the $20m mark. No show on Australian television had ever cost so much but all the networks wanted this format, which had taken the US by storm.

Without approval, Gyngell did the deal and a hit was born but it had a flow-on effect with all other shows having to meet the high standard now in place.

Reality shows still bring in huge ratings and are the 7.30pm staple for every commercial TV network. While everyone tries to bring down costs in an economically challenging environment, the horse has well and truly bolted.

SUMMER FILL-INS ANGER NINE STAFF

The great David Leckie once said “Winners throw parties, losers have meetings”.

It was classic Leckie, but in my experience you could also say “Winners unite, losers divide… and leak”.

Such has been the case at Channel 9 where someone has been whinging to the media about movements in breakfast TV.

Week after week it’s been a stream of leaks about staff being unhappy with the fill-in hosts chosen by management to front the TODAY show over the summer period.

First it was the fact Nine put Samantha Armytage in the hosting chair for a week-and-a-half, leading to headlines declaring crisis meetings were being held and feathers were ruffled “with some people critical that loyal people such as Sylvia Jeffreys have been overlooked”.

This week Nine ‘insiders’ have turned their attention to Dr Nick Coatsworth:

“Dr Nick is an awkward host and not a favourite with producers behind the scenes,” one ‘insider’ told News Corp.

“He is never going to get a hosting role in the future so people are scratching heads as to why he has been giving a coveted position given there is no lack of contenders more than willing and able to jump in.”

How do they know he will never get the role?

Presenting jobs are not based on who ‘deserves’ it, executives put in people they think will bring in viewers. Having said that, neither Nick or Sam really moved the dial with Sunrise continuing to be Australia’s number 1 breakfast show, but without solid promotion that was never going to happen.

Nobody ‘deserves’ to be allowed into the coveted hosting position, it is often a mixture of good luck, hard work and subjectivity. It is not a right.

The executives might be proven right — or wrong — with their decisions, but it is their decision to make.

SHOWS THAT BURN BRIGHT BUT FIZZLE OUT

I’m currently rewatching the HBO series Westworld (available on Foxtel/Binge in Australia). How did a show that had an amazing first season plummet so badly so quickly in terms of storyline?

The series got so bad a planned season 5 was cancelled before it could go into production.

And it happens a lot.

Quite often a show knows where it’s going the first season and then doesn’t know what to do with its success. LOST is another example. The show had a great premise that set up so much mystery, but it didn’t actually have answers to its own questions.

And, yes, I understood the ending, I just thought it was crap.

The pilot episode of The New Girl is one of the best things you will ever see, but the series didn’t live up to that pilot.

Having time to refine an idea is a luxury creators don’t get once the show becomes a hit, which is unfortunate because time pressures and audience expectations often kill shows that could have had a lasting impact.

GOLDEN GLOBES LOLs

A big shoutout to comedian Nikki Glaser for her cracker of an opening monologue at the Golden Globes. It was full of zingers and seemed to (mostly) have the room on side as she delivered her punchlines.

Nikki Glaser arrives at the 82nd Golden Globes on Sunday (local time).

Gigs like that are tough but the comedian, known for her stinging attacks on The Roast specials, delivered plenty of laugh out loud moments. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for some other hosts who delivered awkward moments while trying to be funny.

Rob McKnight is the co-owner of TV Blackbox and a television producer.

INSIDE MEDIA is published very Monday and Thursday.

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