Posted in: NBC, TV, YouTube | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, david mandel, Democrat, Newman, PACRONUM, seinfeld, streaming, television, tv, US Postal Service, usps, veep, Wayne Knight

Seinfeld Star Wayne Knight Reprises Newman for USPS Political Ad

It turns out Cheers' John Ratzenberger isn't the only famous TV mailman who had to say something about the current state of affairs, you can add Seinfeld's Wayne Knight into the mix. The actor who played Jerry Seinfeld's greatest rival…Newman donned the U.S. Postal Service uniform one more time despite his character not being identified by name, rather "Your Friendly Local Mail Carrier". We all know who Knight's evoking here. The ad comes courtesy of Democratic super PAC PACRONYM. The video begins with Knight coming out with his satchel to start his PSA.

The Newman Ad

"Hello zip codes and you plus fours – you know who you are," Knight said. "According to this month old issue of uh Dr. Roberta Greenburg's Time magazine subscription, there's been a systematic, premeditated assault on the U.S. mail by President Trump and his so-called Postmaster General. That guy's never even licked a stamp. They've had the unmitigated gall to try to slow down the mail. When everybody knows that the only person who can slow down the mail is a mailman. They've shortened working hours. They've got missing mailboxes. They're decommissioning sweet, sweet sorting machines to try to delay voting by mail. And it's not just your mail-in ballots you got to worry about."

The mailman proceeds to fit a turkey leg in his satchel as he starts to stress eat. "Oh-ho, no, no, no, no. You've got to worry about your grandma's blood pressure medicine, your social security checks, military benefits, and millions and millions of Crate and Barrel catalogs," he continues. "They're just piling and piling and piling up. They're not getting delivered anywhere. It's a disaster! When the mail stops, the world stops!" Knight gets to the cusp of the message. "Look, I'm not a political person. Last time I voted was for 'flavor of the month' at Baskin Robbins. But take it from me – a postman. If you want to vote early and in person, do it. You want to vote from home? Apply for your ballot and get it in as soon as possible. My brothers and sisters and I in blue will do our solemn best to make sure your ballot is delivered."

Knight gets interrupted mid-thought trying to quote from the Constitution as two men in black take away a physical public blue mailbox and he goes into a "Newmanism". "Hey! You picked the wrong government employees to mess with," he declares. "Alright Donnie, you know those tax returns? The ones you don't want anyone seeing? You should have never mailed those."

How Wayne Knight and David Mandel Brought Back "Seinfeld's" Newman

The actor spoke to Entertainment Weekly about how it came together. "It's been my studious attempt to let Newman die," Knight said. "I've been so associated with the character that it became somewhat of a lodestone in my mind." The actor knew he had to do something as Trump started attacking the institution. "Having played one of the most iconic postmen knew that something would happen. And I began getting contacted by various different people about reawakening Newman for this purpose." Knight reunited with Seinfeld producer-writer David Mandel, who went on to become the showrunner for Veep and work with alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Knight resisted previous attempts to reprise the character before Mendel approached him. "If we could capture the voice, if we get it funny, and we could get the message out, I felt like it would be disseminated in a way that would reach people, and that was what was important," the actor said.

The actor closed by complimenting the work the USPS does on a daily basis. "Newman has been trying to subvert the Postal Service for his entire career," he said. "He has not been able to do it. It is a well-oiled machine with a couple of bad cogs in it that every now and then gets caught. But in general, the thought that you can deliver something to a one-room post office in Alaska for 55 cents is pretty incredible." You can check the ad below.

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