Salary Increase Brings Seinfeld Cast Back

Even by the richer-than-Midas standards of the entertainment industry, the news out of Hollywood over the weekend was dazzling.

Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards - best known to TV viewers as George, Elaine and Kramer - agreed to return to NBC’s hit sitcom “Seinfeld” for at least two more years.

Although they were threatening to leave the show if they weren’t paid $1 million an episode, the trio settled for $600,000 each (up from $160,000), according to network sources here. Though that totals an astounding $13.2 million a year - each - for appearing in 22 shows that air for no more than 22 minutes on Thursday nights, industry executives say it’s a good deal for NBC.

“If you’re faced with paying exorbitant amounts of money to the (actors) or damaging your entire position in the marketplace, it’s not such a big stretch to pay off the actors,” said Bob Flood, a network TV buyer with DeWitt Media Corp. of New York.

The show’s starring actor, Jerry Seinfeld, has not committed past one more season.

“Seinfeld” is an unusual property, industry experts said, because it is not only - week in and week out - the top-rated comedy on the air, but because it has become a cornerstone of NBC’s lineup, from which the network launches other hits.

Because of the comedy’s unique position, few in the television industry expect the “Seinfeld” trio’s rich payday to spark a dramatic escalation in salaries paid to other network stars.

NBC, which will share the costs of the stars’ salaries with the program’s producers, was certainly crowing Monday. The network played the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s “The Messiah” as it announced the return of “Seinfeld” to its fall lineup during its annual presentation to ad agency buyers here.

All told, those 22 minutes of “Seinfeld” will cost more than $3 million to produce each week, a record for a situation comedy.

“Seinfeld” is the secondhighest-rated regularly scheduled program on the air - after NBC’s “ER” but is perhaps the most important show on TV. NBC has not only built its powerhouse “must-see TV” Thursday night lineup around the quirky sitcom but has used the show to solidify its position as the leading network for the past two seasons.