Does Jerry Seinfeld Regret “Seinfeld” Success?

It made him the master of many a domain, but sitting before the cameras for the new Showtime series Inside Comedy, Hamptons resident Jerry Seinfeld reveals that the stratospheric success of his eponymous sitcom may not have been the greatest thing in the world.

“There’s nothing better for a comedian than being penned in, closed off, shut out, not welcome, that’s nutrition. That’s what you want as a comedian. Acceptance is a very dangerous thing for a comedian,” Seinfeld says. “I had success, I had a lot of open doors, and I saw this as a very dangerous thing,” he admits. “So I left L.A. and I tried to break back into the middle…and that’s made me feel comfortable.

“To be honest with you,” Seinfeld continues, “I never felt great being at that pinnacle. There was a point where the show was really at a very high level of, it was a thing. It was the thing for a period of time. And I thought, This is not good, because it’s not where I belong. This is not comedy. I always thought comedy and star are mutually exclusive.”