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Mr. Seinfeld spoke with The New York Times about “The Marriage Ref” , here are some of the highlights:
Q.
You’ve just started taping the earliest episodes of your first new television series in more than a decade. How does it feel so far?

A.
That aspect of television is a lot of fun for me. We think of something, and then a week later it’s in front of an audience. There’s a complexity in solving the basic problem of “What is this show?” But having solved that, there’s a simplicity now to doing it that I’m really enjoying. My body was like “You’re making another television show?” All those sensations of doing it from 12 years ago and the previous nine come back. But because it’s all in such a different way, it’s fun.

Q.
You weren’t necessarily angling to get back onto television, but you got swept up in the idea for “The Marriage Ref”?

A.
Yeah. If an idea’s good, you become its servant. If you’re pushing it, working it, fixing it, whipping it like a racehorse that’s going too slow, it’s probably not that good an idea. A good idea has a — what’s the word? — a draft suction, that you get pulled into it. It took years for the American public to get into our universe when I did “Seinfeld.” It was like “Oh, now I understand what they’re doing.” This has none of those aspects. This universe is known already. There’s still a strong flavor of misanthropy here, that you will not mistake. Even in this most important institution, this most romantic subject, you’ll feel the flavor.

Q.
Who are some of the people you’re planning to have as celebrity panelists?

A.
Of course my pal Larry David. Matthew Broderick. Alec Baldwin was my No. 1 get, because to me, he’s just such a funny thinker. Last night, there was this issue, and Kelly Ripa had to decide, whose side are you on? You’ve seen her on talk shows, you can watch her every day on her show. You’re not going to see her face a dilemma like this and watch her sort it out. So you learn a little bit about her. It’s interesting.

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Following the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Sunday, Feb. 28, after 16 days of competition involving figure-skating judges, ski-jumping judges, hockey referees and officials of all sorts, NBC has determined that what viewers want to see is more refereeing – this time of marital disputes.

But NBC could use a winner right now, and it’s betting on a proven champ. Jerry Seinfeld is executive producer of “The Marriage Ref,” and it comes from his Columbus 81 Productions, along with Ellen Rakieten Entertainment.

As for calling it “The Marriage Ref,” Seinfeld says, “We’re going to make a call in favor of the husband or the wife, very similar to the way it’s done in sports, because we felt the sports simplicity is what’s missing in marriage.”

In each episode, candid video is shown of a couple having an argument, very likely an argument they’ve had many times before. The topics vary, but according to Papa, they won’t be the sorts of things that lead to marriage counseling or divorce court. Nothing “hurtful,” in other words.

After the argument is shown, Papa throws it to a rotating panel of actors, comedians and sports stars who weigh in with their opinions. But there are no experts. You may ask, why not?

Weighing in are Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin and Kelly Ripa. After they deliver their opinions, Papa makes the final call. The winning spouse then gets a prize, and Papa believes that no prizes will be later hurled in the losing spouse’s direction.

Read the full story on The Daily Herald

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The Marriage Ref (NBC, 10:30pm, Sunday Feb. 28th): Series premiere. “Panelists Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin and Kelly Ripa weigh in on couples marital grievances before host Tom Papa makes the call deciding which parties are the winners of the tiffs.” One of these marriage experts just doesn’t belong here.

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One of the celebrity judges on Jerry Seinfeld’s new reality show, ‘The Marriage Ref’ will be Madonna. It’s a big time booking for Seinfeld’s new show. And when you consider that Alec Baldwin is another choice for marriage judge, the requirement for appearing on the show is not personal success with marital relations.

Sounds like ‘The Marriage Ref’ might be the new ‘Gong Show.’ In addition to Madonna and Baldwin, Kelly Ripa, Matt Lauer, Matthew Broderick, Martin Short, Sarah Silverman, Larry David, Ricky Gervais and Cedric the Entertainer have all been slated to appear as the refs.

There’s a special showing on Sunday, February 28, but the show begins for real with the premiere on Thursday, March 4.

Source: TV Squad.