October 24, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET
If there’s ever a “Seinfeld” reboot, count Larry David out.
“Seinfeld” launched the comedian’s career in the ’90s, earned him two Emmy Awards and cemented his status as a Hollywood mainstay, but he’d rather go to jail than do another season.
The classic sitcom has become agony for the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star, 79, who co-created “Seinfeld” with Jerry Seinfeld. In “Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David,” biographer Blake J. Harris explains how the pressure and tension on set made the show unbearable.
On an Oct. 23 episode of “Obsessed: The Podcast,” Harris said that before the show’s fifth season, which began airing in 1993, David “would rather spend a year in prison than do another season of Seinfeld.” Harris said running the show was “tortuous” for the comedian.
“A lot of that torture came from the pressure he put on himself to come up with good ideas, which is a constant theme in the book,” Harris said.
USA TODAY has reached out to David’s rep for comment.
Larry David’s biographer says directing ‘Seinfeld’ was ‘torture’ for comedian
According to Harris, David’s stress came from his “affection” for the show and his desire for it to remain great.
“For him, every second of every episode had to reach a certain caliber of quality and trying to clear that bar – day after day – seemed unsustainable,” he added. “Or, to be more succinct, as one of Larry’s future ‘Seinfeld’ colleagues later told the Hollywood Reporter, ‘(Larry) is so consumed with perfection that doing episodes is as painful for him as kidney stones.’
Harris also recounted that David had read a draft of the biography and said, “I think we’ve done too much – that I’m anxious and worried about coming up with ideas.”
“No, we didn’t, because that’s all anyone talks about,” the writer replied.
In the biography, Harris recounts David’s comedy career and the internal and external factors that shaped his success.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus says there was ‘tons’ of tension on the set of ‘Seinfeld’
David isn’t the only “Seinfeld” alum to talk about the pressure to maintain the sitcom’s success.
On a September 1 episode of the “Friends Keep Secrets” podcast, Julia Louis-Dreyfus confirmed that there was “of course” tons of tension on the NBC series.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s hard to do something really well, and it takes a lot of work, and you’re going to struggle,” she said.
The “Veep” star said that although everyone on set was working toward a common goal, the team often had creative differences and “sometimes there was an argument.”
“We had our own idea and (the creators) had their own idea of what they wanted to do, which wasn’t the norm at the time in terms of structured television. So I think there was an air of freedom because of that. We had a lot of fun doing it,” she added.
The series stars Jerry Seinfeld as the neurotic comedian, alongside Kramer (Michael Richards), his insecure best friend George (Jason Alexander), and Elaine (Louis-Dreyfus), his ex-girlfriend. The series ran for nine seasons from 1989 to 1998 and won 10 Emmy Awards.
Contributor: Paris Close, USA TODAY
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