Jerry Seinfeld promises no-gimmick TV

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld addresses the audience after accepting a 2009 Ellis Island Family Heritage Award in New York May 19, 2009.

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Feel-good comedy is the way to reach mass audiences, Jerry Seinfeld said Tuesday.

Seinfeld, visiting the French resort to promote his new show "The Marriage Ref" at the MIPCOM television market, said he had "had enough" of humiliation television.

"I don't watch it," he told reporters, accompanied by fellow "Ref" executive producer Ellen Rakieten.

"Ellen and I have become allergic to the word 'reality' -- these are shows where you basically see people tortured," he added. "In our show you will see people irritated, but then see them happy at the end. You'll be left with a good feeling."

"The Marriage Ref," which will premiere next March on NBC, will offer a quirky look at modern relationships, featuring in-home footage of a series of couples, as a nominated marriage referee adjudicates on their persistent domestic niggles.

The nature of marriage and the character quirks that husbands and wives are doomed to confront in one another will give the show universal appeal, the comedian hopes. International versions are expected to follow in 2011.

"This is in no way an exploitative show, there's no million-dollar prize, no gimmick. This is a comedy show about marriage," said Rakieten, a former producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Seinfeld restricts his own TV viewing to baseball playoffs, "Mad Men" and Letterman monologues. He said the embattled talk show star was providing riveting television.

"Dave is such a master of television," Seinfeld said. "I'm sure he never dreamed of being -- and probably didn't want to be -- the subject of it, but his skill is quite interesting and, personally, I'm impressed."

(Editing by D Goodman at Reuters)