The NBC Peacock TV streaming service, which starts rolling out today, has a surprising absence: not one episode of Seinfeld. No Jerry, no Elaine, not even a summer of George. No soup nazi for you either.
Why's that? Well, the series is currently stuck at Hulu. And even after the Seinfeld Hulu contract expires in 2021, Jerry and the gang are moving to Netflix. I can't even imagine all the grievances being aired at NBCU HQ over these deals.
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And how long will the Seinfeld crew will stay at Netflix? That detail is unknown at this time, but these contracts generally last more than a few years. Vox/Recode reports that Hulu's Seinfeld deal lasted for six years and cost the streaming giant $130 million.
The streaming sitcom wars are highly lucrative, as Netflix reportedly paid around $100 million for NBC's Friends (another iconic Must See TV show), which is moving to HBO Max, which launches in May 2020.
As for what shows you can expect from the Peacock TV shows and movies at launch, it's got a mix of current series and classic favorites (which include some retro picks). I'm most looking forward to re-watching 30 Rock and Battlestar Galactica, as well as classic Law & Order episodes. Eventually, the Fast & Furious films will also arrive including (at least) Fast & Furious and one of the best installments: Fast 5.
And by July 15, the adaptation of the Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World should be here, but it might be the only major new show at launch. There's also a new Psych movie coming in July, for fans of the USA series.
Peacock, which begins its preview phase today (April 15), is currently rolling out to Comcast X1 and Flex devices, which get Peacock Premium for free. The full Peacock service, complete with some original shows and availability throughout the U.S. is scheduled to arrive on July 15, though execs told the press that there has been discussion of moving the release date up a bit.
This all reminds us of that episode of 30 Rock where Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) realizes that NBC has enough footage of Jerry Seinfeld that he can digitally insert the comedian into any show airing on the network. If only Comcast had that ability.
