Jerry Seinfeld Says Money From Saturday Night’s Main Event Helped Seinfeld Get Made

Jerry Seinfeld recently revealed that Seinfeld’s origins have a connection to WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. The comedian was a guest on The Rich Eisen Show and in a clip from the episode, he talked about the origins of the show and how while NBC didn’t like the pilot, NBC executive Rick Ludwin took money from the WWE Saturday night specials in order to pay for the first episodes.

“So they gave us the pilot,” Seinfeld began. “They didn’t like the pilot, and then Rick Ludwin said, ‘You know what, I think this show isn’t that bad.’ Everyone disliked it. And Rick Ludwin said ‘I’m gonna take some money from Saturday Night [Main Event].’ In those days professional wrestling replaced Saturday Night Live once a month. And he took the money from one of those, and it was enough money for us to make four episodes.”

He continued, “We made four episodes, they still didn’t like it. And then FOX said, ‘We want the show,’ and then NBC said, ‘Okay we’ll make a few more.'”

Seinfeld premiered on NBC in July of 1989 and of course went on to become one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event shows ran on NBC from 1985 through 1991, and was revived for five episodes between 2006 and 2008.