Rick Ludwin
American executiveWikipedia
7
MENTIONS
2
EPISODES
2
PODCASTS
Search complete. 7 mentions across 2 episodes found for "Rick Ludwin".
Oct 19, 2026
David RosenthalHOST
So on November second, 1988, at 5:15 PM local time in Los Angeles, NBC finally takes the meeting.
David RosenthalHOST
And Jerry shows up, George Shapiro, his manager's there, Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Entertainment, Warren Littlefield, who's head of prime time for NBC, and then Rick Ludwin, who heads the specials department, the variety and specials department that they're thinking about Jerry for.
David RosenthalHOST
So Jerry says of the meeting, "We sat in there, we chatted about, 'Oh, what do you think you wanna do? Would you be interested in a talk show?' And we kinda settled on doing a special in the Saturday Night Live time slot one week when Saturday Night Live wasn't airing." So NBC says, "Come back with a script for what you wanna do for the special and we'll make it."
Ben GilbertHOST
I always like when they ask Jerry, "So what, what do you want out of this meeting?" And he has some comment like, "Oh, I actually hadn't really given that thought.
46 MINS LATER
Ben GilbertHOST
This is what we need to do.
Ben GilbertHOST
We need to be in business with Jerry Seinfeld and this brand of comedy."
David RosenthalHOST
And it was Warren Littlefield in primetime and Rick Ludwin in specials.
David RosenthalHOST
And so the two of them come together, and they hatch a last-ditch plan to give their little baby another chance.
Scott BrickNARRATOR
And ultimately, most damning of all, the report determined that no segment of the audience was eager to watch the show again.
Scott BrickNARRATOR
Amazingly, however, due to a strange confluence of events and the support of Rick Ludwin, NBC executive vice president of late night and special programming, Seinfeld was ultimately renewed, but only for four more episodes.
Scott BrickNARRATOR
It's in the Guinness Book of World Records, I think, for the shortest order of any series in history, Seinfeld producer and legendary talent manager George Shapiro told me, before he died in 2022.
Scott BrickNARRATOR
And guess what? Larry barely even made it through those four episodes.