The (superstitious) curse put on the cast and crew of Seinfeld, that disabled them from being able to start new shows.
Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Micheal Richards have each attempted to launch new sitcoms as title-role characters. Despite decent acclaim and even some respectable ratings, almost every show was canceled quickly, usually within the first season. This gave rise to the term Seinfeld curse: the failure of a sitcom starring one of the three, despite the conventional wisdom that each person'
s Seinfeld popularity should almost guarantee a strong, built-in audience for the actor'
s new show. Shows specifically cited regarding the Seinfeld curse are Julia
Louis-Dreyfus' Watching Ellie, Jason Alexander'
s Bob Patterson and Listen Up!, and Michael Richards' The Michael Richards Show. Larry David once said of the curse, "It'
s so completely idiotic... It'
s very hard to have a successful sitcom."
However, the
Emmy award-winning success of Julia
Louis-Dreyfus in the
CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine has led many to believe that she has
broken the 'curse'. In her acceptance speech,
Louis-Dreyfus held up her award and exclaimed, "I'm not somebody who really believes in curses, but curse this, baby!" With Louis-Dreyfus playing Christine, the show has been on the air for four seasons with above-average ratings as of 2008.