Jerry Seinfeld Reflects on the Controversial Seinfeld Finale
Jerry Seinfeld, now 72, has shared his candid thoughts on the polarizing finale of the iconic sitcom Seinfeld, which aired on May 14, 1998, marking the end of its nine-season run. The episode left fans and critics divided, with the main characters—Jerry (Seinfeld), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards)—imprisoned after being convicted for breaking a small-town’s Good Samaritan law.
Seinfeld Regrets the Jail Twist
During a 2024 appearance on the Q with Tom Powers podcast, Seinfeld reflected on the ending and admitted what he saw as a mistake. “What we wanted at the time was to see all the great characters that we had had over the years that made the show,” he said. “And I think the only mistake, if there was one, was leaving them in jail.”
Co-creator Larry David later addressed this misstep in the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale, which aired on April 7, 2024. The episode mirrored the Seinfeld finale, with David’s character facing legal trouble and Seinfeld stepping in to help. The story involved David’s court case and his friends, including Jeff Greene, Susie, Richard Lewis, Cheryl Hines, Ted Danson, and Leon.
Seinfeld explained the course correction on the podcast: “When me and Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, who was also one of the Seinfeld writers, were on the set of Curb that late Friday night, we went, ‘Yeah, that was maybe our only mistake.’ And I said, ‘You know, we can fix it now.’”
Creators Call Finale Payoff a “Long-Term Punchline”
The comedy legend realized they had a rare opportunity to deliver a punchline that had been set up over two-and-a-half decades. “We all just looked at each other like, ‘That’s an amazing opportunity.’ I realized that we set up a joke 25 years ago,” Seinfeld said. “The only possible way that could happen is two TV series that run in succession, with each of the creators playing themselves in the series… the mathematics of what had to be in place for that opportunity to even present.”
David and Schaffer discussed the parallels between the finales of the two shows. Schaffer noted, “It was just incredible, by the way, getting to bring all that full-circle and then getting to do it one last time in the season finale. As Jerry said, it was a joke 26 years in the making. It’s neat that you can stick around long enough to do that.”
David humorously added, “Expletive you! You didn’t like the first one? Expletive you!”
Curb Your Enthusiasm Ends After 12 Seasons
Curb Your Enthusiasm concluded after 12 seasons and 120 episodes, nearly 24 years after its premiere in October 2000. The decision to revisit the Seinfeld finale proved successful, with fans and critics praising the ending.
Seinfeld originally premiered on NBC in July 1989, and its final episode aired in 1998. The original broadcast was the fourth-most watched series finale in the US, with 76.3 million viewers.
Jerry Jokes Friends Was Inspired by Seinfeld
Seinfeld recently took a jab at Friends, suggesting the show was inspired by Seinfeld. During the Netflix Is a Joke festival at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, he teased the beloved series starring Jennifer Aniston.
“Here’s my theory on Friends,” Seinfeld said. “My show came on ’89, ’90. Friends came on a few years later. I think NBC was watching my show and went, ‘Hey, this is working pretty well. Why don’t we try the same thing with good-looking people?’ And that was a pretty good idea. I think that kind of worked.”
The topic came up when Seinfeld asked the crowd to guess his all-time favorite television show. One fan shouted out Seinfeld, but Seinfeld jokingly questioned, “Seinfeld? I am Seinfeld. Why would I watch Seinfeld? Would you go up to your bathroom mirror and go, ‘This is fantastic. I love this show. I’m in every episode’?”
Seinfeld co-created Seinfeld with Larry David, who later created and starred in HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. When asked about his favorite shows, Seinfeld suggested Curb Your Enthusiasm and Breaking Bad as good guesses, though he never explicitly named his favorite.
