In some ways, the inspiration behind The Marriage Ref sounds like a Seinfeld episode.
Consider the plotline: Newlywed couple invites a friend over for dinner. Everything is civilized until the couple revisits a disagreement, which turns into a spat, which turns into a full-tilt argument. The friend naturally feels uncomfortable and tries to leave. Husband insists the friend stay, hear both sides, and declare a winner and loser. The wife and friend exchange puzzled expressions.
"But that's exactly what we did," said Jerry Seinfeld, who has transformed the incident early in his own married life into the new series The Marriage Ref (Sunday, NBC, CITY-TV at 10:30 p.m.). "I said my side, and she said her side. I believe I lost, but that's not the point. The point is it was better, because it was over."
The Marriage Ref is Seinfeld all grown up. For nine seasons, his much-celebrated sitcom explored the complexities of New York single life (the only character even coming close to marriage was George, and he killed his fiancée by accidental poisoning). One year after voluntarily folding the show, Seinfeld wed Jessica Sklar. Now 55 and a father of three, the comedian's perspective has, by necessity, shifted.
"After 10 years of marriage, I realized the comedic potential of this topic is quite rich," Seinfeld told visiting TV critics. "Really, 85 per cent of marital difficulties are ridiculous problems. But the ref idea … really, it was not my idea to do it as a TV show. It was my wife's."
Heavily promoted during NBC's coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games, The Marriage Ref debuts in a sneak preview following the network's coverage of Sunday night's closing ceremonies, before moving into a regular timeslot next Thursday. The concept merges reality, comedy and a panel format - a peculiar TV amalgam, admits Seinfeld.
"No question people are going to watch us and go, 'Well, this is unlike anything I've ever seen'," he said. "That to me is job one if you're going to try and make television. It's got to feel unlike what's already there."
Most likely the promos already have some viewers confused. How it works: A married couple with a dispute allow cameras to pre-tape their bickering (NBC put out the call for disagreeable duos on their website several months ago).
Next, it's game on. The resulting reality footage is shown simultaneously to a studio audience and a celebrity panel - Seinfeld, 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin and talk-show host Kelly Ripa appear in the first episode - who offer up observations and personal reflections for viewer consideration.
The panel is allowed replay clips in slow motion and use the telstrator to point out highlights in the argument. "We felt the simplicity of sports was missing in marriage," said Seinfeld, who serves as as executive producer on the series.
Future guest panelists on The Marriage Ref will reportedly include Tina Fey, Larry David, Matt Lauer, Martin Short and - seriously - Madonna, whose spokesperson has confirmed her future appearance. With two marriages (to Sean Penn and Guy Richie) behind her, the Material Girl is something of an authority on the subject.
But it also raises the question: Why a panel of celebrities instead of counsellors or marriage experts? "Because experts are helpful," said Seinfeld. "And that's not our thing. This is a comedy show."
Working toward that goal, the weighty role of Marriage Ref falls to standup comic Tom Papa, one of Seinfeld's best friends, who presides over the proceedings and considers the panel's observations before declaring a victor.
"The job of the judges is to convince me which way to go, but ultimately I make the call," said Papa. "As comedians, we're always looking for the truth and I have to come up with a real reason as to why this one is right and this one is wrong, and then just make the call. And if people get angry, that's just the way it goes."
Once a winner is declared, a prize is awarded, with veteran sportscaster Marv Albert performing the honours. "The prize will always be completely appropriate to the argument itself," said Papa.
For obvious reasons and TV purposes, none of the arguments presented on The Marriage Ref are of a serious nature. In the first few shows, a man bridles at his wife's insistence on keeping her ex-husband's ashes on the mantel, and his prosthetic leg in their bedroom closet. A woman rails at her husband's habit of parking his Harley in the living room. Or the couple at odds wonders whether or not to have their recently-deceased dog stuffed by a taxidermist.
"Now, a fight like that could go on for a year," said Seinfeld. "And we just end it. It's like in baseball. I kind of like it when the ump blows the call, because that's part of the game. This is a game about human beings and we're just going to make the call. Let's move on."
And very often the laughs become too far apart in a marriage, which appears to be the game plan behind Seinfeld's return to television. The Marriage Ref has sombre network competition in its regular Thursday at 10 p.m. position - specifically, from CBS's crime-drama The Mentalist and the maudlin medical drama Private Practice on ABC - but Seinfeld believes there must be enough married-couple viewers out there to support the real-life concept.
"Anyone who's married, or was married, will be able to relate," he said confidently. "And it is very pro-marriage. The show ends in a way where you can see how we're really rooting for them and want them to hang in there. And you can see that the fight was really just a passing moment in their life."