The best sitcom of all time is a hotly debated topic, but NBC’s Seinfeld is the show that tends to get mentioned the most in this conversation. The nine-season fictionalization of the New York comedian’s life has become the benchmark for modern TV comedy, thanks to its hilariously inane observations and idiosyncratic storytelling style.
Yet, Seinfeld is one of many hit shows to have narrowly avoided cancellation after one season. In fact, the sitcom almost didn’t get that far, as it almost bit the dust after a pilot episode was produced. As strange as it might seem in retrospect, NBC very nearly scrapped a show that finished with 76 million viewers watching its finale.
When ranking Seinfeld’s seasons, most people would place the show’s five-episode first season at the bottom. Indeed, season 1 is so unlike the golden age of the sitcom that streaming audiences tend to skip straight past it. On the basis of this season’s first episode, network executives were weighing up whether to cut Seinfeld from their programming altogether.
Seinfeld Was Almost Canceled After Its Pilot Episode
In a 2023 interview for showbusiness podcast The Town with Matthew Belloni, a former NBC executive described how a test screening of Seinfeld’s pilot episode went back in 1989. Warren Littlefield recalled it being “unbelievably disastrous”, and the sitcom came very close to being hooked.
Many of those who rewatch Seinfeld’s pilot today will understand why that test audience didn’t take to it. The episode feels incredibly staged and off-kilter, as though Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were trying too hard to impress NBC. In the end, they were financed for four more episodes, somehow secured a second season, and the rest is history.
After A Slow Start, Seinfeld Became A Huge Hit In Season 4
It wasn’t until Larry David’s favorite Seinfeld episode, three seasons later, that the sitcom secured its place in the pantheon of TV greats. Throughout seasons 2 and 3, the show continued to struggle for ratings, and its producers never felt totally secure about their future at NBC.
Then came a turning point, with an episode that still defines Seinfeld to this day. “The Contest”, which follows a wager between the show’s four main characters about who can last the longest as a “master of their domain”, isn’t just Larry David’s favorite. It’s a cultural phenomenon that’s changed what it’s possible to joke about on television.
Seinfeld Wouldn’t Have Survived More Than 1 Season In 2025
If it were up to today’s small-screen executives, however, Seinfeld would never have gotten past its first season. Take Netflix, for example, the streaming platform that holds the show’s global syndication rights. As of 2025, Netflix’s trigger-happy cancellations are beginning to have a major impact on the quality of their output.
The level of impatience they and other streaming giants are showing towards critically acclaimed and beloved shows such as GLOW, Mindhunter and The OA, suggests that Seinfeld wouldn’t have stood a chance. “The Contest” wouldn’t exist, and the entire sitcom landscape would have been fundamentally different from what it is today.
Thankfully, Warren Littlefield and others decided to take a chance on Seinfeld, even though they had good reason to be concerned. Their gamble more than paid off, and arguably the greatest sitcom of all time grew into the triumph it eventually became.
Source: The Town with Matthew Belloni
