Jerry Seinfeld Called into a Sports Radio Show After the Producer Dunked on ‘Seinfeld’
Despite the fact that he’s been busy performing stand-up dates and making terrible movies about breakfast pastries, Jerry Seinfeld still somehow finds the time to randomly call into AM radio shows that have disparaged his work.
It all began when New York sports radio station WFAN host Chris McMonigle recently raised the subject of Seinfeld while discussing the NBA. The league’s color-coded regular season tournament courts have been somewhat controversial, with a number of fans comparing the look of the red Chicago Bulls court to the neon sign from Kenny Rogers Roasters. You know, the one that messes up Kramer’s rods and cones.
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The episode, “The Chicken Roaster,” had already spawned countless memes, thanks to that blazing red chicken sign’s effect on Kramer’s apartment.
The Seinfeld comparison became a frequent joke among basketball fans, thanks to the intensely off-putting vibe of the blood red court.
When McMonigle brought this up on the air, his producer, Paul Rosenberg chimed in, and referred to “The Chicken Roaster” as “one of the few good Seinfeld episodes.” Naturally, this shocking claim sparked a debate that found McMonigle defending the legendary sitcom. The subject was dropped until one of the show’s callers turned out to be Seinfeld himself.
Seinfeld, a “big fan” of the station, was apparently listening to the show. But he didn’t seem too upset about it. “I’m not arrogant enough to think everyone should like what I do,” Seinfeld told McMonigle. “I just wanted you to know it doesn’t bother me, I’m okay with it. One out of two is fine for me.”
Seinfeld also joked about Rosenberg’s claim that there were only a “few” good episodes of the show. “We made 180 episodes, so we made 3 good ones. We’re like the (New York) Giants. We’re 3-177.”
The comedian stuck around to chat about his beloved Mets, and their impressive year. “You could make a pretty good argument that this season was the most magical Mets season, not counting the two World Series wins,” Seinfeld argued. “It was a chemistry and it was an energy and it was an emotional thing of guys that weren’t supposed to be that good. I don’t know what can beat that.” (Although Seinfeld neglected to credit the unholy powers of Grimace in his assessment of the season.)
Before hanging up, Seinfeld again made it clear that he wasn’t pissed off, telling the host: “I just want you to know that my feelings were not hurt. Because I’m happy I can make even one person happy.”
McMonigle responded by praising Seinfeld as the “greatest comedy in the history of television” while also taking a shot at his more recent work. “I’m a huge Seinfeld fan, I’m a huge fan of you,” he proclaimed. “I even labored through your Pop-Tart movie, that’s how much I liked you.”
“My Emmy-nominated, number one Netflix movie?” Seinfeld fired back.
Perhaps he's a little touchier about Unfrosted.
