Last Epidsode was not so bad!

I've heard a lot of carping about the last episode being bad, and perhaps it was, especially as I don't think anyone really wanted it to end with the gang being sent away to prison for a year!

But if you compare the last episode of Seinfeld to the last episode of 'Ellen', or the last episode of 'Murphy Brown', which were truly awful, I think you would have to say, OK, not so great, but at least it was watchable.

I think a better way to have finished (rewrite), the last episode, would have been to make it more like the 'O.J.', verdict. Jackie could have defended them by showing that it was not their camcorder that shot the scene's of the fat man being mugged! Some how Newman could have been 'implicated', as the one making comments on the tape, and Jackies prowess as a defense attorney could have been played for some really good laughs, by having him successfully rebut a lot of the guest stars 'damning' testimony, on cross.

And then, the jury would have to find them, 'not guilty of gross indifference', due to a variety of factors, including, media coverage of the trial, bias of the jury due to improper selection, and/or improper instruction by the judge, (I forget what city they were in), racism by that cities police force, and blemished testimony by most, if not all of the characters, put on the stand.

I know the Seinfeld producer's probably wanted to close off possibilities of a Seinfeld reunion, continuation, or spin-off, by their chosen end, but I don't agree, that they had too!

Lawrence S. Tamarkin

But it was unexpected. Give them credit for that.

Never watched any Ellen episodes, not even the last one. And not because she's a lesbian. I thought her standup routine sucked 5 years ago.

Bad call. OJ is so 'yesterday's news'. Definitely time to move on.

I've mentioned it before, but if only Newman had taken the stand, we may have found out if he even has a first name. He would have had to state it for the record.

But we know those witnesses were right. Every one spoke the truth when they said how the New York 4 screwed up their lives.

I've seen the finale 4 times so far and each time it has gotten better.

I think Larry David had a few things in mind when he set out to write the finale. 1. The idea of using the 'button bit' from the pilot to end the finale. 2. The idea of bringing back many minor characters for one last look. 3. Poking fun at all the "How will it end?" speculation. and 4. Tying up as many loose ends as possible.

On Wed, 20 May 1998 13:07:33 -0400, Dave wrote:

Help us out. Rattle off the four funniest lines in the show. Because other than Newman's shtick, I've yet to find anything I would call "comedy" in the whole 75 minutes. I keep thinking the laughter is due to something funny going on next door.

If only it were DROLL, but its not that either.

Jeesh, what show were you watching?
1) To the soup nazi: "Could you please spell your name?"
                     "NO! NEXT QUESTION!"
2) Jerry: "See you in the Cafeteria"
3) Elaine to Puddy: "Don't wait for me!"
             Puddy: "ok"
4) Jackie Cochrane: (I can't remember the exact wording) "Nobody has to
help anyone. It's the American way" or something similar.
5) When Jerry complained how hard it was to cut down on the milk in his
  cereal.
6) When Jerry wondered if they were going to have to wear those orange
  Jump suits.
7) When Jerry discussed the button ala the pilot (I split my sides laughing
  at that!)
8) Newman's "I'll get you" routine.
9) Babu Bhat shaking his finger at the four.  :)
10) Poppy getting his soup taken back by the soup nazi for asking for salt.
etc. etc. etc.
I've started laughing all over again thinking about it!

I thought the show was funny and ironic and in true Seinfeld form. I think many people who did not like it were either not regular fans or they were expecting something mind-blowing because of the hype. If it were mind-blowing *I* would have thought it sucked, because it wouldn't have been Seinfeld-esque. It wasn't the best Seinfeld ep ever, but it was damn good and a fitting end.

Rob

[email] wrote:

   I agree with all of these:<
   I would add:<
   1) George spelling Kimbrough's name (I knew that was coming).<
   2) George and Jerry ALMOST hugging!<
   3) Jerry's mother and father talking about Xena (She's gotta be at
least 6-6) and Jerry's embarrassed response.<
   4) Finding out who won the DAMN Contest!!!!<
   5) The whole phone ettiquite bit.<
   6) Frank Constanza: ``Why did you give Hideki Irabu $12 million!!''<
   7) Jackie Chiles: ``They jury's probably going to be out a long
time.'' Ring.  ``Damn!''<
   8) Jackie to Jerry: ``They're real and they're spectacular!''<
   The one joke that really fell flat to me was Elaine's near revelantion
``I've always loved ..... United Airlines.'' (Unless that was United
they were flying in The Airport. I need to check that out).<
   Gotta go and watch thre rerun ... I don't think they'll change the
ending, but just in case ...

< So, I find stupid and embarrassing funny (when it happens to someone else). A large part of what made George funny was when he did something stupid and embarrassing.<

On Thu, 21 May 1998 11:55:15 -0400, Heinlein wrote:

Well, this should make it easy for anyone to become a successful comedy writer. You've just named a couple of things that are not the possession of some creative elite. Heck, our entire Congress should retire and start writing comedy scripts!

John Ford wrote:

<snip>

<snip>

You could see almost every "joke" coming from a mile away, just one of the reasons the finale was so lame.

Did you catch the line that went something like this?: Kramer - "Don't worry, Jackie will get us off. Did you see how he had that cop sweating when asked him if he had ever had a black person over to his house?

Hallelujah!! SloGait found something mildly humorous...we are honored!

Quoting Elaine: "Kiss my a" Do you remember how much he liked cereal in the past? Do you realize he's worried about *milk* when he could be sent to prison? Do you realize that he's being very petty? Do you realize that someone could find this funny if they understand his past?

First of all, it was *NOT* a flashback, it was a new shot for this episode. It was in the same vein as a previous episode, by NOT a flashback.

Besides, we're not talking about whether it was a flashback or not, we're talking about what was funny. If *one* person found it funny, it's funny, no matter what you think.

You really don't get it do you? It's not what he said, it's how he said it and what he was responding to. Do I have to explain the elements of humor to you? There is more to humor than subtlety!

Sheesh, what an ego! Why don't you just lighten up a little and not expect that every episode will cater to your standard of humor. Some people find certain things funny, others don't. Don't insult us for finding something funny!

Oh well, too bad you couldn't just enjoy it instead of whining about it here.

In and of itself it was unsentimental as far as what ultimately happened to the 4; however, there was a certain nostalgic appeal that I felt while watching it. I was reminded of the great memories created in past episodes while watching all the characters from the old show interact, but they did not write anything that would make you weepy in the end. I thought it was very karmic that all the characters joined together in the end much like how the New York 4 always wound up together in each episode after going through their own separate adventures.

Correction: it reminds you of how bad *YOU THINK* it was, because by my estimation it was funny. So who's wrong? Answer: neither, but you could have lightened up about the whole thing though and not tried to insult the people who did enjoy it by claiming they don't know what's funny or have low standards...it seems like you were expecting the second coming of the Marx Brothers.

On 21 May 1998 13:17:58 GMT, [email] wrote:

Uh-huh. And by your standards, that is so funny it would dissolve you to tears.

With some people, it just doesnt take much. I recommend the comic strip Fred Basset for you....but make sure your will is up to date before you look.....just in case!

With this post you have confirmed my suspicions, you ARE an egotistical idiot! Are you going to use your stupid little Fred Basset joke in every post from now on?

Good day. Oh, and go to hell.

On 21 May 1998 17:03:41 GMT, [email] wrote:

Nope. Only when it seems appropriate. I take it you DO get the point!

[email] wrote:

Slo (me) wrote stuff after "> >"

I really don't have a big ego and I'm not insulting you for likeing the show. I'm merely stating my opinion.

Is not a newsgroup for opinionating or 'whining' as you call it?

I felt nostalgic during the 45 minute clip show but the final episode struck me as a self referential wankathon. The show had little of the appeal found in an average, not even classic, Seinfeld episode. ...Oh, IMO.

I thought this was more of a brain game than something you could call touching.

How many "I think"'s and "IMO"'s do I need to insert before it's clear that I'm stating my opinion?

I'm not insulting anybody. Well, maybe LD a little. If you thought it was funny, that's great and I'm happy for you.

At their best I think Seinfeld at least equalled the Marx Bros and I was a big Marx fan in my teenage impressionable years - I'm about a year younger than Seinfeld (it hurts too much to key in that number).

We cool?

no matter what you think.

It's funny to that one person.

that every episode will cater to your standard of humor.

Each of us has our own standards. Why lower them? Humor cant really be explained tho it's fun to try. Humor definitely cant be PROVEN. It is my take, however, that this show was brilliant and that most TV humor is boring, predictable, definitely erasable. I will never erase any of this series, EVEN the last one. Can't bear to part with any of them. cc

[email] wrote:

The last Seinfeld was simply a poorly crafted episode, much in the tradition of the whole 9th season. It was disjointed, it tried to hard to be about "something" and most of the people I know thought it was really lame.

led me to Seinfeld in the first place.

Exactly. I never watch TV but Seinfeld caught my imagination. Even worthy of rewatching several times. How much TV can one say that of? And many of my friends watch little TV but tuned in to Seinfeld. It was so damn smart. I often wondered how can this show be so popular. I can still reember when Gilligan's Island was the number one show in America. My finale version also sits unrewound. cc

The only funny line I can think of that made me laugh out loud was Puddy's reply when Elaine asked him not to wait for her. "Okay," he says and walks away. I loved it. It's so "Puddy".

On Wed, 20 May 1998 08:32:53 -0700, "Lawrence S. Tamarkin" wrote:

I never cared for either one of those, so I can't say you're wrong. But what does that say? That the GENERAL level of comedy is not very high these days. There's nothing in that comparison that necessarily establishes Seinfeld's finale as good.