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NBC is delaying the scheduled March return of Jerry Seinfeld’s The Marriage Ref, which had been set to air Sundays at eight this spring. Instead, new reality competition America’s Next Great Restaurant will air in that slot starting March 6.

Source: NY Mag

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Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”) is going to guest star on “The Marriage Ref,” 9 p.m. Thursday on NBC, along with Martha Stewart and Cedric the Entertainer.

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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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Jerry Seinfeld explains The Marriage Ref might just be history in the making. Premieres Thursday, March 4 10/9c.

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In preparation for the show “The Marriage Ref” Jerry Seinfeld gave an interview to StarPlus, here are the highlights:

Q: What do you and your wife fight about?

Jerry Seinfeld: There’s only one thing. I don’t think it’s a good enough issue for the show but whenever we go to the theatre I get very nervous about being late because I’m a well-known person I hate to go into the theatre late. I get very anxious about getting out of the house on time.

Is she habitually late?

No, she’s not, but I get anxious and if she’s just a couple of minutes late, I always go, “It’s the theatre. Why do we have to do this?”

How do you keep the bickering of couples from just getting annoying in this show?

We pick out the ones, you’ve never seen a couple fight over “The dog’s dead. Should we stuff it or not?” I want to see how that works. I think there’s an unlimited supply of this. Well, here’s the most interesting thing about the show to me. Maybe not to anybody else. Couples in fights perform. Regular people that are so boring you’d never want to spend ten seconds with them. When they are fighting, they are hilarious. They say funny things in funny ways like the way you want, you would want an actor to do it. That’s what’s been the most discovery of the show is these couples are funny.

Why do you think that is?

Because emotion drives comedy. Emotion and conflict is the essence of comedy.

Don’t you think that some couples won’t want to watch this show because they can see people fighting at home? Like it’s a little too close to the bone?

No. It’s a relief. It really is a relief. It’s a relief to go, “Well, at least we don’t have that one.” Or, “We do have that one. Let’s see who’s right and who’s wrong.” So either way it kind of pulls you in.

How many celebrity judges are on the panel at a time?

Three. They’re not judges. They’re just advisors.

Almost like lawyers in a way, making a case for either side?

Yeah. We just really want to get some conversation going. That’s why to me it’s really a talk show. I really want to create interesting conversation. I am one of those comedians who is hopelessly stuck on the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show where the guests would stay on the couch and would interact with each other. I’m trying to create that here because I want people to engage with each other, not just with Tom and not just through some boring monologue about how their basement flooded and they couldn’t find a plumber.

Have you disagreed with the outcomes at all?

Yeah, sometimes. Yeah.

What fight subjects are off limits that you won’t touch?

Anything to do with kids, anything that makes you uncomfortable, that seems like the marriage might be in any real trouble. You know what the fights are? You ever go out with another couple for dinner and before the appetizers get there, one starts talking about, “You know what he did the other day?” And you talk about the things that annoy you about your husband, and they start doing the same? All of those subjects at dinner that you would feel comfortable talking to your friend, your couple friends with, that’s what we deal with. That’s really 85 percent of marital difficulties is ridiculous problems.

What about gay marriages?

Oh, yeah, they’re in.

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Some pictures of Madonna on the set of The Marriage Ref with Jerry Seinfeld coming from Madonna’s World:

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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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Jerry Seinfeld goes over The Facts with Natalie Morales, in preparation for The Marriage Ref.

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From executive producer Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Papa is The Marriage Ref, Thursdays after the Olympics on NBC