Jerry Seinfeld On ‘Leno’ Situation: ‘I’m Proud NBC Had The Guts To Try Something Different’

Jerry Seinfeld has weighed in on NBC’s decision to move “The Jay Leno Show” to late night.

Seinfeld, who was the first ever guest on Leno’s show when it premiered late last year, told a group of reporters at NBC’s Television Critics Association panel in Pasadena on Sunday that he actually thought the primetime comedy program was a bright idea, but one with bad timing.

“I was kind of thinking about the… AOL/Time Warner deal. Everybody goes, ‘What a horrible deal that was for Time Warner! What a screw up that was. It really wasn’t, it was just bad timing,” Seinfeld said while promoting his upcoming comedy reality judging competition, “The Marriage Ref.” “If that deal happened today, and you replaced AOL with Google, it’s a great deal and they’d go on to great success. But that deal was the right idea at the wrong time. I think [‘The Jay Leno Show’] was also the right idea at the wrong time and was not a bad idea.”

In fact, Seinfeld, whose own self-titled series ran for nine seasons on the network, praised the Peacock for trying out something new.

“I’m proud of NBC that they had the guts to try something so different and original and now you can go on and do something else,” he said. “That’s show business. You’ve just gotta try things.”

NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin announced on Sunday morning that “The Jay Leno Show” would be cut down in length from an hour to a half an hour, and moved to 11:35 PM. Gaspin also said NBC wants to shift “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” to 12:05 AM and “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” to 1 AM.

He said he presented the schedule shift to Leno, Conan and Fallon on Friday, but it hasn’t been agreed to.

“As much as I’d like to tell you we have a done deal, that’s not true. The talks are still ongoing,” he said

One reporter asked Seinfeld if he would stay with NBC if he were Conan O’Brien considering the latest twist, which less than a year after O’Brien learned that despite taking over “The Tonight Show,” he’d still follow Leno.

“I don’t think anyone’s preventing people from watching Conan,” Seinfeld answered. “In my business, you know, I’m a stand up comic. There’s no rules. Once they give you the cameras, it’s on you, so I can’t blame NBC for having to move things around. I mean, Conan has a chance to destroy everybody. Go ahead. You’re out there. I don’t think anyone’s done anything to Conan. I hope he stays. I think he’s terrific and Jay and Conan were great. They should keep them.”