Why Seinfeld's Ending Is So Hated (& Why It's Actually Great) (2024)

Despite the love fans had for the series overall, few episodes of television have been as controversial as the Seinfeld ending. "The Finale," which originally aired on May 14, 1998, was an hour-long episode that brought back just about every character Jerry, George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), or Kramer (Michael Richards) wronged throughout the show's nine-year run. Anyone who has ever seen the episode has a strong opinion about it, and fans remain in two separate camps over the polarizing Seinfeld ending.

For a show with such classic episodes as "The Contest," "The Soup Nazi," and "The Puffy Shirt" throughout the '90s, it was always going to be difficult to please everyone and end the show on a high note. The consensus is that the Seinfeld finale failed to stick the landing, and similar to shows like Dexter and Game of Thrones, it was a great series with a subpar ending. However, looking past the flood of criticism, the two-part episode still has its merits, and it's far from the disaster that some make the Seinfeld ending out to be.

What Happens In Seinfeld's Finale

The Cast Ends Up Behind Bars

The Seinfeld ending begins with Jerry getting the news that he has finally struck a deal with NBC to create Jerry, the fictional show within a show that was a meta storyline in Season 4. NBC lends Jerry their private jet, and as a last hurrah, the gang heads to Paris to celebrate. But as they are en route, Kramer stumbles into the co*ckpit, causing the plane to crash in the fictional town of Latham, Massachusetts. As they wait in Latham for their plane to be repaired, they witness a man getting carjacked at gunpoint.

In typical Seinfeld fashion, they laugh at the man instead of helping him, as Kramer films it on his video camera. But when the police show up, the victim reports the four of them for not helping, and they are all arrested under the "Good Samaritan Law," which requires bystanders to help out when they witness a crime. They hire Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris), a recurring character who is a spoof of Johnnie Cochran, to represent them, which riles the district attorney and prompts him to dig up as much dirt as he can on them.

The DA calls several witnesses who have had negative experiences with Jerry and his friends: Mabel Choate, the elderly woman who Jerry mugged for marble rye; Sidra, whom Jerry dumped for rumored breast implants; Dr. Wexler, who noted George's jubilation following Susan's death; Leslie, the low talker whose "Puffy Shirt" Jerry ridiculed on national television; the Soup Nazi, who claimed Elaine ruined his business; Babu Bhatt, who believed Jerry got him deported. The damning testimony results in a guilty verdict. The Seinfeld finale shows all four in prison, where Jerry gets heckled while doing standup for the inmates.

Why Fans Hated Seinfeld's Finale

The Show About Nothing Became About Something In The End

​​​​​In addition to the already-massive expectations for the Seinfeld ending, considered the greatest sitcom of all time, co-creator Larry David, who had left the show after Season 7, returned to write the final script. But when 76 million people tuned in, many thought it did not strike the right tone. Seinfeld had a winning formula of getting viewers to root for despicable characters, mainly because their antics were so funny. But in the finale, there were none of the typical Seinfeld antics.

It got a bit overwhelming to recall all the terrible things they had done throughout the series — all in an hour. Some also found that the final episode undermined the show's entire premise. The whole joke of Seinfeld is that it is a "show about nothing," where every episode features the characters getting into comic situations of little significance (deciding which pastry to bring to a dinner party, trying to get a table at a Chinese restaurant), then making some selfish decision that makes everything worse. But no episode had any real consequences.

Even when the characters reappeared, they seemed to forgive Jerry and his friends for whatever indiscretion happened in the earlier episode. So when they were ultimately forced to grapple with those consequences, some felt it to be a betrayal of what made the show great. As USA Today put it, "it may remind viewers of the last episode of NBC's St. Elsewhere, which basically told faithful fans they'd been wasting their time on a child's dream."

Why Seinfeld's Ending Is Great

Seinfeld's Characters Get What Is Coming To Them

TV finales often attempt to be the best episode of the entire series, especially for a show as beloved as Seinfeld, which had so much success throughout its run. Some shows succeed in making everyone happy, but only some can finish great. It's still a funny, well-crafted episode after peeling away all the hype and expectations. The "Good Samaritan Law" is the ultimate Seinfeld joke, a ridiculous, annoying thing from the real world that gets played out to completion. Almost every beloved side character made an appearance, and to comic effect — not just to show face.

George Steinbrenner shows up to testify, and Frank Costanza interrupts to yell, "How could you give $12 million to Hideki Irabu!" — a callback to Jerry Stiller's Frank Costanza's Jay Buhner rant from "The Caddy." Leslie, the Low Talker, talks so quietly that the court can't hear her. After Jackie Chiles sleeps with Sidra, he revives the iconic line by telling Jerry, "by the way, they're real, and they're spectacular!" Most cameos add to the episode's arc, where they could have served no purpose.

While some argue the Seinfeld finale wasn't true to the formula, it was to the characters. Jerry and his friends were never going to have a happy ending. The show famously preached a mantra of "no hugging, no learning," and while Seinfeld could have paired Jerry and Elaine together or given him his NBC show, it wouldn't have fit the show's universe. Larry David told Grantland that he "was not interested in an emotional ride, and neither was Jerry." This attitude was the right one to have. Fans might have wanted something else, but the show stuck to its guns.

The Ending Of Seinfeld Won't Be Followed Up – Which Makes It Better

Jerry Seinfeld Says It Won't Return

Several television shows are getting reboots, but Seinfeld isn't one of them, making the ending better even if it was divisive. Unlike popular shows like Sex and the City, Charmed, or Gilmore Girls, the Seinfeld ending was the definitive end of the series. It was great to finally see that the gang got some comeuppance for their self-centered behavior throughout the show, ultimately bringing closure to the long-running TV series. Bringing Seinfeld back would cheapen the ending of the TV show, rendering all of their antics and punishment insignificant.

Jerry Seinfeld Knew When To End The Show

Seinfeld Cares About His Show's Legacy

One reason people didn't like the Seinfeld finale might have been the confusion over losing the popular television show. Seinfeld changed a lot from season 1, when it struggled to find its footing and was constantly afraid of being canceled. However, by season 9, it was a massive hit that showed no signs of slowing down. Nevertheless, Jerry Seinfeld (via Esquire) admits the decision was easy and mutual among the cast when they all met in his dressing room as season 9 began. Seinfeld recalls discussing with the others:

"We've had a lot of good fortune here. Maybe we shouldn't push our luck too far. And we all agreed that this was the right moment."

Looking at Jerry Seinfeld's career and his approach to the show, coming to this conclusion is not all that surprising. Seinfeld has always been interested in the legacy of what he leaves behind rather than seeing how long he can continue. His obsession with his joke rewriting reflects his determination to get it right, and the idea of going on and possibly tarnishing the once-great show doesn't appeal to him at all. As much as fans can debate the Seinfeld finale, Jerry Seinfeld's lesson in when to walk away is perhaps something other shows should learn from.

Jerry Seinfeld Hinted At A Second Ending

Jerry Seinfeld Is Working On Something With Larry David

While it has been well-documented how adamant Seinfeld is about not returning to the series and how he has no interest in a revival, his stance on the matter might have changed. During a stand-up comedy performance on October 7, 2023, footage leaked of the comedian discussing an upcoming project with Seinfeld co-creator Larry David. Jerry Seinfeld commented:

"Something is going to happen that has to do with that ending. And just what you are thinking about, Larry and I have also been thinking about, so you'll see… you'll see."

Something of a meta Seinfeld reunion happened in David's HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm season 7, which aired in 2009. The overarching narrative involved Larry developing a Seinfeld reunion to win back his wife, who left him in the previous season. That season of Curb Your Enthusiasm heavily featured the Seinfeld cast together acting like their characters, but even that meta-reunion was well over a decade ago. Given that both Seinfeld and David are working together on a project that could retcon the Seinfeld ending, while it isn't necessary, it'll be great to see the characters back together again.

What The Seinfeld Cast Said About The Finale

Some Loved It, And Some Not So Much

Despite saying he was "happy" with the Seinfeld ending in a 2014 Reddit AMA, Jerry Seinfeld seemed to walk those comments back in a 2017 interview at the New Yorker Festival. "I sometimes think we really shouldn't have even done it," he said. "There was a lot of pressure on us at that time to do one big last show, but big is always bad in comedy." Seinfeld even said that he thought the judge should have declared a mistrial and freed all four of them, letting them off of their crimes (via CBC)

"We thought that would be fun and it was fun. I think the only mistake, if there was one, was leaving them in jail. We didn't really have to do that."

For his part, Jason Alexander said it was "a good episode, not a great episode" in an interview with Emmy TV. Julia Louis-Dreyfus made an infamous joke on David Letterman's final episode, saying, "Thanks for letting me take part in another hugely disappointing series finale." However, that was a joke, and Louis-Dreyfus has since said she is happy with the finale. "Absolutely not. We made a great show," she said about the criticism (via CBR). "That was my big takeaway. That’s what stuck with me."

Jerry Seinfeld has also been adamant that Seinfeld will not return, despite shows like 30 Rock making gags about the series returning through Seinfeld-vision. While discussing Seinfeld's transition to the streaming service Netflix with ET, the comedian stated that a return to the small screen would "seem sad to me. It would seem like we couldn't think of a new idea." Even though not everyone loved the Seinfeld finale, it was a great way to close out the show and ensure that the series wouldn't make a return.

Seinfeld

Comedy

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Seinfeld stars Jerry Seinfeld as a stand-up comedian whose life in New York City is made even more chaotic by his quirky group of friends who join him in wrestling with life's most perplexing yet often trivial questions. Often described as "a show about nothing," Seinfeld mines the humor in life's mundane situations like waiting in line, searching for a lost item, or the trials and tribulations of dating. Co-starring is Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Jerry's ex-girlfriend and current platonic pal, Elaine Benes; Jason Alexander as George Costanza, Jerry's neurotic hard-luck best friend; and Michael Richards as Jerry's eccentric neighbor, Kramer.

Cast

Jerry Seinfeld , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Jason Alexander , Michael Richards

Release Date

July 5, 1989

Seasons

9

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Showrunner

Larry David