No 'Seinfeld' Curse, Insists Alexander

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday September 26, 2002 11:25 AM EDT

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Michael Richards and Julia Louis-Dreyfus can breathe easier: Their fellow "Seinfeld" costar, Jason Alexander, insists that there is no "Seinfeld" curse.

This pronouncement, of course, comes despite the quick cancellations of his "Bob Patterson" sitcom by ABC, not to mention "The Michael Richards Show" by NBC and the quick ratings fade and disappearance of Louis-Dreyfus's "Watching Ellie." (NBC announced plans that a retooled version may be a midseason replacement ... at some point.)

Still, "I don't think it's a curse at all," George Costanza's alter ego, 43, tells Time Out New York. "I think it is an unfortunate comparison that the critical world holds up. First of all, nothing we do is going to be 'Seinfeld.' When I was trying to do 'Bob Patterson,' our reviews weren't reviews of the show as much as comparisons to 'Seinfeld.' When in point of fact, we weren't doing 'Seinfeld.'"

Alexander calls the situation, "occasionally hurtful. I don't think there is a curse. I think it's a manufactured media thing."

He also says that his being rich as Croesus is "not that case at all. In fact, one of the biggest misconceptions is that Julia, Michael and I benefit from syndication (of old 'Seinfeld' episodes). We do not. But them's the breaks."

To make ends meet, Alexander opens next May in the Nathan Lane role for the Los Angeles stage production of Broadway's "The Producers" and continues to serve as pitchman for a certain finger-lickin' fried fast-food chain.

"Sure," he insists, "KFC is not the lowest-fat food, and that may add to the obesity problem, but it is a smarter choice than most fast food."