The worst part is...

The saddest thing about the series finale will be the impression the non-Seinfelders will have of the show. By this, I mean that with all of the hype surrounding the final show, many non-viewers will have tuned in to see what it was all about. Upon watching the show, many will say "big deal". Even though the clips were good, there are always many little details that lead up to the funny parts that were missing. Only the long time fans of the show will know why most of those clips were funny to begin with.

Of course, many of the longtime viewers will find it easy to run the finale into the ground because it somehow did not live up to their high expectations. How sad of you who would do this, to put down the show that for so many years made you laugh so easily. The cast did go out under a cloud of bad news as it was reported that Jerry was mad at Jason Alexander for slamming the show during a PBS interview.

The show was great for many years, and to measure it by the last episode (as many will) is simply sad. Only the true fans will appreciate that the hype (furnished by the media, not the cast) would raise the expectations to a level that would be impossible to meet. This show was given more attention than the Superbowl. Rarely can an event of this magnitude deliver what the consumer wants. If you cannot view the program for what it is, a TV sitcom, then the joke is on you.

it didn't have to be great, but it totally sucked. i would have been happy if they could make just one last REGULAR and FUNNY episode and call it quits. instead we get a waste of 75 minutes (except jerry's jokes in the jail). one half hour with some laughs is not that high of expectations.

Which of Jerry's jokes in the jail made you laugh? Or was it just Kramer rolling on the floor over them?

Dave Gates ([email]) wrote:

The idea that someone convicted of violating a "Good Samaritan" Law would, with no previous convictions, be sent to a high-security prison with murderers and other violent felons.

Many millions of people saw it AND liked it. I would say that if you found it not to be funny, well, you can't please all of the people all of the time. Get over it, the world is still here and so are the re-runs.

Seinfeld has always rewarded it's faithful viewers while keeping non-fans and casual viewers 'out of the loop'. Our understanding of the self-referential stuff and inside jokes was our reward for having seen every episode.

80 million people watched it.

So why show us the flashbacks at all?.......they were trying to do exactly the opposite of what you describe....they wanted people to know who Mrs Choate was....the hardened viewers would have known the characters without the flashbacks......

Rick Streeter wrote:

I agree with you Rick. And that is why I think the final ep. did NOT work with so many loyal and 'true' fans. A joke is not funny when it is 'explained'. They did not have to explain the jokes to US!

And the flashbacks did not have the nostalgic effects they were designed for because:
        (1) The retrospective was a better collection of clips and it was seen before
The Finale
        (2) we have been watching the syndicated shows for years and have seen the
scenes time and time again.

I think this was a miscalculation by Larry David - he was two years behind the wave - much like Ford's Edsel - it was a good idea at the time - unfortunately it came out two years after its time.

good point, Rick. Maybe, while all of the old bit parters returning was done for the sake of the long time fans, they had to make some sort of concession to the 50 million or so casual viewers?

But forget the courtroom scene for now. Who, if they hadn't seen the first time "Jerry" almost became a hit, would have understood the self-references during the 'Pitch the show to NBC' scene?

Meeting James Kimbrough for the first time. George: "Kimbrough?" Jerry (under his breath): "Don't spell." George: "K-I-M-B-R-O-U-G-H." Kimbrough: "That's right." Jerry (sigh of relief)

Ratboy is quite correct. Even after becomming a series hit it always retained the sensibilities it had when it was only a cult favorite.