We offered Jerry Seinfeld $ 5 million an episode, we went in there with a staggering sum and there was tremendous confidence that no one could walk away from it. Jerry Seinfeld came to me and said, ‘ I don’t have a life, I ’m not married, I don’t have kids. ’ We gave it everything we had, Jerry Seinfeld was tempted, but in the end it was a quality of life decision.

Warren Littlefield

Categorized in : Entertainment

When you're still in the broadcast business, you're still trying to reach tens of millions. You're trying to still aim for a broader audience, and I think that's a more difficult task to spread yourself across that audience, connect with them, as opposed to a very, very small, pinpointed audience. Difficult to do.

Warren Littlefield

yourself think you business

My job was to find interesting material that would give us a quality television show.

Warren Littlefield

find job quality television

I believe America wants and needs the shared experience of television. We far too often see in crises how television brings us together.

Warren Littlefield

see experience together believe

At the end of Season 1 of 'Cheers', it was the lowest rated show in all of network television... So we turn to 'Bill Cosby'; when he came to Thursday night, he just exploded. And once the audience was there, we said, 'Hey, by the way, we also have this other great show. It's called 'Cheers'.'

Warren Littlefield

great night television way

In the history of pilot reports, 'Seinfeld' has got to be one of the worst of all time.

Warren Littlefield

pilot worst time history

Innovation comes to you from creators who do have a vision and a passion, and that is how we succeeded.

Warren Littlefield

you innovation passion vision

I fought to make a multiple series commitment with John Wells.

Warren Littlefield

fought make multiple commitment

One way in which 'Friends' did resemble 'Seinfeld' is that it really found its audience over the summer of 1995 in reruns. That's when the main title song, 'I'll Be There for You', by the Rembrandts, exploded, too.

Warren Littlefield

you friends song way

A 'Friends' shoot night could extend well into the small hours of the morning.

Warren Littlefield

small friends morning night

The writers and actors on 'Friends' were notoriously particular about what made it onto the air.

Warren Littlefield

about friends air made

NBC's pilot season of 1994 is legendary in the business. In a world where failure is commonplace, we midwifed the birth of both 'Friends' and 'ER'. While 'ER' came essentially out of the blue, we'd been casting around for a 'Friends'-like show for some time at the network.

Warren Littlefield

failure business blue time

I was the network president. I thought I knew everything.

Warren Littlefield

knew everything thought president

Audiences want and need a shared viewing experience.

Warren Littlefield

audiences need experience want

What Must-See T.V. was all about was one network, one night, for one decade. And a third of the country would come and watch Must-See T.V. And you didn't dare go to work the next day, because if you hadn't watched, you would be left out of the conversation, that water-cooler conversation.

Warren Littlefield

day you work night

Two hundred channel choices in most homes certainly gives you the world of choice. And so slicing it, dicing it, and offering someone their favorite thing - by the way, if it's not good enough, make it yourself and post it.

Warren Littlefield

yourself good you world

Our D.V.R.s make up the schedule of the shows that we're passionate about. You want Jon Stewart? You've got it. Your D.V.R. will give that to you, as opposed to making the destination and the choice to spend that evening with a network.

Warren Littlefield

will you evening destination

My last series was on A.B.C., a one-hour called 'My Generation'. Critics liked it. I was on for two weeks, and that was a tough one.

Warren Littlefield

generation last tough two

'A Different World' didn't have the blazing success that 'Cosby' had, but it was on for seven seasons, and we got a lot of awards, and a lot of faces came out of that show and have had great careers.

Warren Littlefield

great seasons success world

There's no reason that there has to be a fringe network that illuminates an urban or a multiethnic experience.

Warren Littlefield

urban no-reason experience reason

Creating things sometimes is difficult.

Warren Littlefield

things difficult creating sometimes