I have been following the discussion about the season finale and Susan's death with great interest. People have either loved the show or hated it, but nobody's been indifferent. I think right there that says something!
I for one love the episode and consider it another Seinfeld breakthrough and milestone. Let's look at some other Seinfeld milestones, outrageous storylines never before attempted on network primetime broadcast television.
Naturally "The Contest" is the first to come to mind. In this one Larry David wrote a script in which the cast of the prime time sitcom make a bet that they can refrain from "jerking off". Tell me that isn't television history. It even earned Larry an Emmy. How about the episode with Poppy in which the abortion issue is totally trivialized? The AIDS ribbon, the blabber mouth rabbi who can't keep a secret, and what about the saxophone player that blew out his lip by giving Elaine oral pleasure? Well this time they've really done it. Here is Susan, a perfectly nice person, whose tragic demise made normally sensitive people laugh. When I first saw the episode air (I've watched it 3 times since) after I recovered from really serious laughter, I thought to myself how great that she's dead, if for no other reason than to piss off that guy at AOL who kept posting those asinine messages campaigning for Susan to have an even larger part on the show than Jerry.
FYI Larry David has been in NY the past week and we got to spend some time quality time. It was the first time in seven years that we have been together and he didn't have to run off to do something related to the show. From my Power-Mac I took him on a tour of the internet, it was the first time he had ever seen it. Neither he nor Jerry own a modem or a computer for that matter. I showed Larry the alt.tv.seinfeld newsgroup. He was impressed by the depth of knowledge and the insightful and articulate comments of many of the posts. However, he had no tolerance of the negative posts Re: Susan's death. His instinct was to write back telling these people to *please* never watch the show again. I talked him out of it. People have continually wondered if Jerry and Larry read the newsgroups, well now you know. To give you some insight into Larry's view of how the show is received, he doesn't care what the fans and the general public think. The only audience Larry David cares about or is out to win is his peer group of comedy writers.
Incidentally LD took the Reality Tour this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He gave me a few notes on some minor factual things that I didn't have quite right. Now I can boast that the information contained in the tours content is "absolutely actual and factual." My deal with Larry was that when he went on the tour it was to be with complete anonymity. I kept my end of the bargain however a reporter and cameraman from a San Diego newspaper happened to be on the tour that day to do a story. The reporter recognized Larry and after the tour Larry gave him a mini interview in which he generously praised and endorsed the tour. When the story is published (probably the second week of June) I'll post it in the "Print Slut" section of my home page.
In conclusion (I hope I'm starting to sound like Professor Irwin Corey) For all you Seinfan who were appalled by the death of Susan I say to you...lighten up. Seinfeld has always been about dark comedy. So this episode was a little darker than usual, to my way of thinking it was also a little funnier than usual.
Regards,
Kenny Kramer