So long

'Seinfeld' fans bid farewell to sitcom

Web posted on: Friday, May 15, 1998 1:28:05 PM EDT

ATLANTA (CNN) -- In the end, the judge presiding over the trial of Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine in Thursday night's final "Seinfeld" summed up the very reason Americans tuned in every Thursday during nine seasons of the show.

"Your callous indifference and utter disregard for everything that is good and decent has rocked the very foundation upon which our society is built," the judge said, sentencing the gang to a year in prison for not helping a carjacking victim, and sentencing "Seinfeld" fans to the land of re-runs.

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"My Thursday nights will be less complete," said Avery Chappell, a New York real estate agent who was one of millions who tuned in one last time to watch television's most self-centered characters perform their Last Yada.

The parties

Events surrounding the show were held from the Riviera to California.

In Cannes, France, hundreds of Americans who had gathered in the coastal town for the annual film festival crowded into a beach pavilion at 3 a.m. to watch the finale, broadcast there simultaneously with its U.S. East Coast airing.

In New York, which provided the setting for the show, the episode was broadcast on a 35-foot screen in Times Square. In St. Louis, the episode was shown on the side of a seven-story building.

And in Los Angeles, where the show was actually taped, Planet Hollywood hosted an event in which soup was served by, of course, the actor who played the dictatorial "Soup Nazi" in "Seinfeld."

But did the final show live up to the hype after nine years of cutting edge sitcom-ness? Reaction was mixed.

'I live by him'

The show featured the trial and sentencing of the "Seinfeld" characters after they witnessed a carjacking. Instead of helping the victim, they videotaped the crime while making fun of the victim's girth.

A parade of "witnesses" -- actually characters who were once on the show and suffered ill effects from the group's self-centered behavior -- were called to the stand to offer damaging testimony against Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine. The "testimony" offered a chance to relive classic scenes from the show's time on the air.

"I was expecting more," said John Pratt, a computer programmer who watched the show from his New Hampshire home. "But, then again, it was a show about nothing and it really didn't have much to say."

On CNN Interactive's "Seinfeld" message board, one person raved about the finale.

"It is my firm belief that by jailing the New York four, Jerry Seinfeld made the statement that all of us, after all these years of finding folly in the misadventures of the characters, are just as guilty as them," John Joy posted.

TV critic Frazier Moore of the Associated Press said the show suffered from "arrested humor" in its finale.

Yet whether the final verdict on the show's last stand was good or bad, most "Seinfeld" fans are sorry to see the show end.

"I hate the fact that it's leaving," said Luis Diaz, a computer graphic designer. "I think Jerry says a lot of things that a lot of us guys think about. I live by him."

So did million of others. But now they'll live by the re-runs.

Special section:

• Seinfeld: The Last Yada

Message board:

• Yada yada yada

Related stories:

• Just for Kramer, we built a coffee table from coffee table books! - May 12, 1998
• 'Seinfeld' fans: Kramer is favorite character - May 7, 1998
• Who's up for 'Seinfeld' time slot? - May 2, 1998

Related sites:

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• National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
  • "Seinfeld": Countdown to nothing
• Seinfeld - Columbia TriStar Television
• Castle Rock Entertainment
• The Official Seinfeld.com

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

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