Larry David told NBC in an interview aired last night (1/4/98) that the final episode will NOT follow Julia Louis-Dreyfus' sugges- tion of having all the characters literally go out in a blaze of glory by being rammed by a propane truck...in fact they're all probably going to survive the last episode and continue living their nothing lives right up to, and beyond, the final frame. (Kind of like the way Cheers ended its run by creating the illusion that life, for these people, would go on...) That accomplishes two things...one, sat- isfying legions of Seinfelders everywhere who want the show's world to continue turning if only in their own minds, and two, main- taining the value, appeal and ratings of the reruns after NBC airs the final frame of original film.
What Larry David does promise, furthermore, is that the last episode will maintain the basic theme of comedy built on a com- bination of trivial, mundane events and random chance...just like our real lives are built. He'll go for a memorable sendoff, but one completely in character with what the show has been all along.
Incidentally it'll also be followed by a "mockumentary" about the making of the last episode (or some such thing). This raises the possibility, of course, that the finale may really be about Jerry doing a second pilot and finally getting a series from NBC, which would bring us right back to 1989 in real life...
Meanwhile, a couple of other things. Did anyone happen to notice the scenes in the NBC "Dateline" piece shot outside Tom's Restaurant in Manhattan? That group was NOT just a random bunch of Seinfeld fans. It was a group on Kenny Kramer's "Reality Tour." And the guy who suggested that on the final episode, Jerry and George should move in together as domestic partners (not that there's anything wrong with that)? The one with the flying hair, mustache and baseball cap? That was Kenny Kramer himself, sending up the media yet again. Amazing NBC didn't even notice it, or at least acknowledge it...
And what will Jerry do? We know he's going back out on the road after having sold his house in LA (he's moving out the day af- ter the finale wraps) and moved his principal residence back to New York. He says he'd eventually like to return to TV, but with a talk show, not a sitcom series. Hmm...Letterman says he's walking away in mid-1999...Jerry will spend 12 months after his series ends production doing standup and writing, a period which ends in mid-1999...Jerry and Dave are friends...could that be a little more than just a coincidence? Or could the fall 1999 season see the premiere of The Late Show Starring Jerry Seinfeld week- nights at 11:30 on CBS? Bob Smith, afternoons WXXI-AM 1370, Rochester NY