ABC Greenlights Seinfeld's 'Nut' Show

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday May 30, 2002 11:00 AM EDT

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Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and now, ready to re-enter the weekly TV show fray again, one Jerry Seinfeld. Maybe. Variety reports that ABC has given the go-ahead to a half-hour comedy pilot based on the 1999 book "Letters From a Nut" and its 2000 sequel, "Extra Nutty! Even More Letters From a Nut," by the pseudonymous Ted L. Nancy. The books contain intros by Seinfeld, 48. Only thing: There has been widespread speculation that the unknown Nancy is, in fact, Jer himself, notes the trade paper. The books contain really crazy letters to really serious people, who often respond with business-like replies, as was the case with the message that offered Mickey Mantle's toenail clippings to the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is also a letter of appreciation to the L.A. Lakers from a fan who must wear trousers with a see-through rear end "for medical reasons," just as there is another missive that claims the writer has discovered an ear of corn that looks like Shelley Fabares. (Sounds like Seinfeld humor, all right.) Seinfeld has never replied to questions about his being Nancy. Adding to the enigma, notes Variety, is the fact that Seinfeld was at recent pitch meetings for the TV project based on the books. One of the show's executive producers, Rob Lee, told Variety: "He's very supportive of the project . . . But right now, we don't have any idea of how or if he'll be involved." In the introduction to the first "Letters," Seinfeld likens his relationship to Nancy to that of "a Clark Kent figure . . . I may not have been Superman himself, but it became known that I was able to contact him."