20 years ago tonight, “Seinfeld” aired “The Finale.”

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by AKA, May 14, 2018.

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  1. cboldman

    cboldman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hamilton, OH USA
    The premise was good, but the execution fell flat.
    The show was a comedy of manners — The characters were endlessly agonizing over the proper way to handle situations. An episode about them getting their comeuppance from the people they’ve managed to offend along the way was the logical ultimate conclusion. But it just wasn’t done well. For instance, having Susan’s parents give George one last shot about him killing their daughter wasn’t funny, even though they gave the laugh track button a tap.
     
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  2. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    LD burned out, but by then the show was well established as the greatest sitcom on TV, possibly ever. More specifically George and Kramer were purely derived from LD alter egos (or not so alter). CYE was Seinfeld on steroids with no commercial network regulations or attractive front-men holding it back.
     
  3. kreen

    kreen Forum Resident

    LD came up with a lame "big idea" concept for the finale and had to force all 4 characters to "fit" into the big idea. But with the possible exception of George (and even he could feel empathy, like with the security guard who had to stand up), the charwcters were not the uncaring, selfish monsters LD turned them into. Elaine was sweet and gentle for most of the seasons, only becoming "Flanderized" in the last seasons. Kramer was mostly a good guy with a heart of gold. Jerry helped his friends and cared about his parents.

    The writing was lame (all of their jokes at the fat guy being mobbed were terrible), and it was basically a clip show dressed up as a trial.

    They should have made a regular episode, with regular jokes and situations, and then thrown in a special send-off at the end.
     
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  4. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    Like a lot of people I wasn't a fan of the finale. I have only seen it in full once all the way back in 2007 when the Season 9 DVD was released (I was 5 when the finale originally aired)

    I think in theory what they wanted to do with the finale was fine but the way they executed it was poor.
     
  5. MRamble

    MRamble Forum Resident

    I'm dumbfounded that Larry could have written such an ineffective episode.

    Thankfully he redeems himself in the Seinfeld reunion season on Curb Your Enthusiasm
     
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  6. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    Even including the clips in the finale was odd as there was a whole clip show done that preceded it. BTW the clip show is really good. I rewatched that as well a couple days ago along with the finale.
     
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  7. Ringmaster_D

    Ringmaster_D Surfer of Sound Waves

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Yeah, the out-of-character mugging scene is my biggest issue with the episode. If they were all played as cowards in the scene it would have at least been more palatable. To have them standing by mocking a mugging was awful.
     
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  8. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Pretty much the same reaction here. Two lazy clip shows in a row?
     
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  9. I thought the final episode stunk. It was a lame idea that just underlined all the worst tendencies toward forced humour and inconsistent characterization the show had displayed over the previous three years or so.
     
  10. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    [​IMG]
     
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  11. GLENN

    GLENN Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kingsport,TN, USA
    As far as what I would like to have seen, Seinfeld was at it's funniest when they had multiple plots which somehow converged at the end of the episode. I was hoping the finale would be like this but to the nth degree, maybe even referencing finales from other TV series. After all, pop culture references were another strong part of the show's humor. I didn't really need "closure" on anything in the series, just some good laughs.
     
  12. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    Loved that about the show. Like how they did it when Jerry finally found his father's wallet in the couch. I think that was right before they were all getting ready to watch his TV pilot (or was it Melrose Place?).
     
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  13. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    No hugging. No learning.
     
  14. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia

    I think it was to show living in NY how normal it was to see a mugging
     
  15. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Yeah, those last two seasons were stinkers. I was hoping they had saved something good for the end, but no such luck.
     
  16. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    Bad Seinfeld is still much better than most sitcoms at their best though. But yes the last two seasons do have a fairly notoiceable quality drop compared to the previous 7.
     
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  17. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    There is no doubt that Seinfeld was a lesser entity the last 2 seasons without LD's input. I liked the new character of Puddy, though. That's right....
     
  18. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    Feels like an Arby's night
     
  19. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    Puddy is probably my favorite of the side characters and was good he got much more screentime during Seaosn 9.
     
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  20. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    I’ll tell you one episode I’ve grown to like from the last two seasons—the one about the jerk store. The “His wife is in a coma” line kills me every time. :D
     
  21. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Classic episode. George 'forgets' his briefcase after leaving a meeting early, with a running tape recorder inside of it, to hear what his co-workers say about him.
     
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  22. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Yeah? Well, the jerk store called...
     
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  23. AirJordanFan93

    AirJordanFan93 Forum Resident

    They weren't really his co-workers just part of the board on the foundation named in Susan's honor in Season 8.
     
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  24. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I love the last two seasons. "The Van Buren Boys" is my single favorite episode of the entire series.
     
  25. Remurmur

    Remurmur Music is THE BEST! -FZ

    Location:
    Ohio
    How could you? That was one of the most brilliant things that I think that I have ever seen on television ! :):agree:

    I'm laughing about it now as I reminisce ...
     
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