Music

James Murphy said no to 'Seinfeld' writing job at 22

by Tyler Munro

image via NY Daily News

This is far from breaking news, but an enterprising redditor posted today about how James Murphy was offered a job writing for Seinfeld when he was 22, but turned the gig down thinking the show wouldn’t be successful. Whoops?

In an article published by the Guardian in 2004, Murphy calls turning Seinfeld down the biggest mistake of his life, but we should probably provide some context as to how it might have happened.

This was 21 years ago, when Seinfeld was transitioning from its iffy early run as The Seinfeld Chronicles and dealing with commercial stuttering and rumours that Larry David didn’t think it was worth renewing for future seasons. Murphy, a newly graduated English major, probably still should have taken the job, which he says was an offer to be the show’s first staff writer. He didn’t think it was going to be successful because at the time, neither did its creators or network. Remember the show Jerry and George create in the show’s 4th season? At this time, Seinfeld was basically that, championed as it was nonetheless by critics and fans.

Obviously he said no. Maybe he shouldn’t have. But then maybe LCD Soundsystem would never have happened. Maybe DFA Records wouldn’t exist.