When we ran into Jerry Seinfeld yesterday at the 2012 Baby Buggy Bedtime Bash, we asked him about the speculation that he might be appearing on the next season of Louie. “I heard that rumor. I cannot confirm or deny it,” he told us. “I am a big fan of Louis C.K.” There’s just one hitch, though: “I’ve never seen the show,” Seinfeld confessed. “I have them all recorded though.” Is there any show he does manage to watch every week? “Mad Men. Even though I have major issues with it.”
Turns out, Seinfeld has the same quibble with Matthew Weiner’s period drama that we do. “I’m just trying to figure out why he blew up the suburban family,” said Seinfeld. “People didn’t blow up families in ‘63. They cheated and they presented a phony image … I’m still trying to figure out what happened there. I don’t get that. But I love the show.”
In fact, the comedian thinks Mad Men has one important thing in common with his landmark sitcom, Seinfeld. “He’s got what we call the good universe,” Seinfeld said. “That’s the essence of success; you create a universe, and it’s got to be more than a couple of people. Here’s the secret of a TV series: So, a writer comes in the room and they pitch a story, and you like the story, and now you’ve got to find what character [will fit that story]. That’s what we got to towards the later years of the show: We had this fantastic universe, so no matter what the idea was, it would fit somebody that we have. Or you can find them. But you want to have the universe.”
