Jerry Seinfeld thanked Rob Reiner this Monday for avoiding the rapid cancellation of “Seinfeld” (1989-98), the comedy that launched the comedian to fame.

In an Instagram tribute to the iconic director and actor after he and his wife, Michele, were found dead in their home, Seinfeld shared a photo with Reiner and his father, Carl Reiner.

“Next to [“Seinfeld” co-creator] Larry David and [talent manager] George Shapiro and Rob Reiner had the biggest influence on my career,” Seinfeld wrote. “Our show would never have happened without him. He saw something that no one else could see. When no one at the network liked the first few episodes, it saved us from cancellation.”

“That I was working with Carl Reiner’s son, who turned out to be one of the nicest people in show business, seemed unreal,” the comedian continued. “At the time I was naïve as to what his passion for us meant.”

Jerry Seinfeld, right, credits Rob Reiner with the savings
Jerry Seinfeld, right, credited Rob Reiner for saving “Seinfeld.”

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In a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, Reiner, who co-founded the Castle Rock production company behind “Seinfeld,” recalled begging NBC boss Brandon Tartikoff not to relegate the show to the dustbin of television history.

“We knew we had a great show,” Reiner told Stern. “They wanted to take it off the air.”

“They said, ‘We can’t have this show… What is this show? It’s just people sitting around talking,'” Reiner continued.

Reiner had earned comedy cred as an actor in “All in the Family” (1971-79) and as director and star of the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984). “When Harry Met Sally,” the classic romantic comedy he directed, would premiere just weeks after “Seinfeld” debuted as “The Seinfeld Chronicles” in July 1989.

“I had a crazy shouting match with Brandon Tartikoff at the time and I begged him and said, ‘Please, I promise you there will be stories. You can’t take this show off the air. It’s going to be one of the greatest shows you’ll ever have,'” Reiner told Stern.

The comedy turned Reiner into a prophet, winning 10 Emmy Awards among 68 nominations and becoming the zeitgeist comedy of the 1990s.

“Rob and Michele got married just as our show was starting and they became a blueprint for me of how it’s supposed to work, each expanding on the other,” Seinfeld concluded in his tribute. “Their deaths, together, are incredibly sad.”