Jerry Seinfeld dropped a Christmas Eve bomb on NBC by deciding the time had come to end his long-running series. Now the network can only sweat it out as the stars of "Mad About You" debate whether to light their own fuse.
Series leads Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt say that they've yet to determine whether to return next year and that peripheral considerations--including NBC's dire need and Hunt's burgeoning film career--won't sway that decision. Though there's no specific deadline, the two must choose relatively soon if a series finale is to be shaped for May.
At stake are NBC's chances of remaining the top-rated network next season. Most observers agree that NBC still has significant pieces to play with even minus "Seinfeld," using "Frasier," "Friends," "Mad About You" and "3rd Rock From the Sun" as what are known as "tent poles" at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday--that is, hit comedies that prop up the programs around them.
In fact, as negotiations with the "Seinfeld" supporting cast went down to the wire last spring, NBC was said to have assembled a contingency plan that had "Frasier" taking its place at 9 p.m. Thursdays, with the hope that "Mad About You" would hold down the fort Tuesdays.
The problem with that plan now is that "Mad" stars Reiser and Hunt are contemplating joining Seinfeld in the "you deserve a break today" club, in the process eliminating a key NBC anchor and potentially deflating one of those "Must-See TV" nights.
In an interview at the show's production office, Hunt said she is "split right down the middle" in regard to doing another year. According to the actress, the decision ultimately will have little to do with money--which NBC will throw at them in abundance--but rather with a desire to "down-shift a little bit," weighed against whether the show is still attractive to the pair creatively.
"If we sit down and go, 'Let's be honest, we did it,' I think we'll go home," Hunt said. "If we sit down and say, 'Yeah, but next year there's this to work on,' then I'll want to be back."
Reiser added that NBC's current predicament won't be a factor in those conversations, echoing Seinfeld by saying that it's important to him to go out on top.
"It probably makes a difference to NBC, but to us, it's a very human machine here," Reiser said. "It comes down to Helen and I going in a room and saying, 'What do you think?' "
