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

I agree with the original poster that the opposite was the end of their peak. Season 6 was good but not as good as season 5. Season 7 was very hit-and-miss. Once Larry David left the show went downhill. Seasons 8 9 I don't think have any classic episodes in them. There's some funny moments but the episodes did not work like they used to. They were cartoonish and the characters became caricatures of themselves. Kramer became even more buffoonish, George was screaming most of the time, and Elaine became annoying. And they started relying too much on the other characters. The worst had to be the hour-long bottle deposits episode.

 

That show was genius but watching it through I felt it had ran it’s course.

 

The show was usually still really funny up into till the end, but I agree with much of what you said, especially about Kramer and George become caricatures of themselves.

As for classic episodes in the last two seasons, I think The Yada Yada and The Strike (featuring the birth of Festivus) are both major classics. Maybe not on the same level as the top tier classics like The Contest, The Implant or The Boyfriend, but there are so many classic Seinfeld episodes that it's a matter of how you think the list is. Some of their biggest duds ever were definitely in the last two seasons, for sure though. I still maintain that Seasons 3-6 were their sweet spot, with 7 nearly on the level as all of those. Gun to my head, 4 and 5 are the best.

 

Season four was amazing in how every episode of that season was connected. I'm watching five now and finding four to be slightly better. Season two is VERY underrated.


I'm probably overly critical of the last three seasons. But it seemed like no episode hit on all three/four stories. Not only did Larry David leave after seven, but they had new writers over the last three seasons. And one of the biggest changes was between five and six when they went from Tom Cherones to Andy Ackerman directing the show. You can see a change in tone of the show, which they wanted.

Season 7 clearly shows the deterioration of the show with The Pool Guy wasn't that good, nor was The Friars Club. The Bottle Deposits may be the worst of the whole series. Even The Soup Nazi is annoying with the whole schmoopie stuff. It's not that the idea isn't funny, but the way it came off.

We celebrated Festivus for years, but the rest of the show stunk. Kramer was on strike for 12 years (or whatever it was). The two-face would have been funny if they didn't show it. And the guys who were obsessed with Elaine were creepy and annoying, "I'm a man."

I do like the finale. It's a bit long, but I love how they brought back characters. I would love to what percentage of people who hated it were ones who started watching in the later part of the series run because I feel they didn't get what the point was. When the show went into syndication (and the show was still on NBC at the time), they showed the episodes out of order which didn't help tho show the development of the show.

I'm reading the synopsis of The Yada Yada and that sounds like it was probably one of the best from the last two seasons. Like I said, there were funny parts, but I don't find the episodes to be that good.

 

I get the point of the finale, but it seemed like an excuse to bring back all of those characters. Seinfeld was at its best when it was about "nothing," ya know, focusing on the little things, and that episode seemed too big in scope. Plus, it was barely funny. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't a big fan.

Perusing the episodes from S7 again, sure, there a few average ones like The Friars Club, The Secret Code and The Bottle Deposit, but The Soup Nazi (sorry, this episode is awesome), The Hot Tub, The Rye, The Cadillac, The Calzone and The Wink are all top drawer Seinfeld episodes, IMO.

 

I'm watching The Stall right now and the rock climbing part reminds me of the later seasons. Seeing George and Kramer stuck on the mountain without a rope is absurd and not funny. A couple of episodes later is The Marine Biologist. George saving the whale is absurd, but funny because of the speech at the end and the fact that we don't see him saving the whale. That's the difference, for me, between seasons 1-7 and 8-9.

 

Bizarro Jerry and Merv Griffin Show are two of the best episodes they ever did.

From IMDB's rankings, 4 of the top-10 rated shows were from Seaons 8 & 9:

6. The Bizarro Jerry
7. The Abstinence
8. The Chicken Roaster
10. The Merv Griffin Show

 

How anyone could not have the Kenny Rogers or Merv Griffin episodes in their top 10 is beyond me. I thought the final few seasons were fantastic. The only episodes I won't watch if they come on:

1. The Pony episode
2. All the clip shows
3. The finale

They swung and missed at the end, and had one crappy original episode otherwise. Not too shabby.

 

Seinfeld is the only TV show where sometimes I wake up in the morning and think and examine some of the philosophy and relatable life experiences of some of the most trivial things that were presented so simply and succinctly in episodes around the mid '90's.

Elaine falling for The Wiz, a tv commercial pitch man who told her he was a fact checker for a publishing company where she tells Jerry she admires it for its quiet dignity. I would have never described a job in that way but it made complete sense. It's the exact kind of obscure job I had been seeking instead of resorting to working at a fast food place. It's this level of specificity in what they casually address about life situations in their off hand banter between the characters that stick in my memory. They're short and sweet which makes them even funnier like spot cartoons in the New Yorker.

And how many of you folks ever came across an A-hole disabled person like the Bubble Boy? They're out there, believe me! But how do you deal with it and not end up being the bad guy like George did? I laugh every time I think of that episode. MOOPS?! A misspelling of Moors in a trivial pursuit game?! Who would think like this? Where are the writer's heads at?

I found this kind of life introspection lacking in the final episodes. It was a good time to check out on top before it got too stupid and ridiculous like the Frogger video game episode.

 

The first 2 seasons are more hit-or-miss than 8 and 9, IMO. It took them a long time to find their groove -- Jerry was still in "observation mode", George was still oscillating between "Woody Allen" and "Larry David", Kramer was more eccentric than wacky, Newman was still a black guy. "The Chinese Restaurant" was interesting as an act of experimental theater, but it didn't have very many laughs. There was a lot of great material in Season 2, but Season 3 is when they finally started hitting on all cylinders.

 

Some people love the Larry David years more.....I like the later episodes, but really like them all, especially when they bring all of the stories together. So, in that sense, the marine biologist episode is also a top 10 all time.

 

Depends upon people's taste. The earlier seasons had a different type of humor that doesn't have as broad of an appeal as the latter.

1. The Outing
2. The Contest
3. The Bubble Boy
4. The Fire
5. The Hamptons
6. The Puffy Shirt
7. The Red Dot
8. The Library
9. The Boyfriend
10. The Junior Mint

Those are my top 10, not necessarily in order.

 

I liked The Bizarro Jerry, but that one was more clever than funny. I love the Kenny Rogers roaster episode, so I will defend that one, but while the Merv Griffin one has a lot of great moments, one of the best? No way.

 

All 10 of those are awesome, and I have a hard time quibbling with any, although I have to have The Conversion and The Cheever Letters in my top 10.

 

There's 180 Seinfeld episodes. Kinda' tough to keep track of and remember I suppose. This thread is reminding me there's others that have much better memory. I can say I've never binge watched all 180 episodes. Don't have access to all of them. I rely on which ever Fox Network reruns and they seem to skip quite a few and rotate others too often.

It's easy to pick the good ones, but really which one "Jumped The Shark" in your opinion? George's obsession with the Frogger video game is my pick. Completely out of character seeing not once did he indicate in all 180 episodes he was into video games.

 

My personal favorite is "The Soup"

 

I really like the darkness (picture wise) of the earlier seasons. Just felt more realistic

 

I loved the George's nickname storyline of The Maid storyline (which followed The Frogger episode), but the rest of the episode was pretty blah. All in all, I would agree that The Frogger would be the obvious pick if we want to assume that Seinfeld did jump the shark.

 

I think the backwards episode is the closest to a Jump the Shark episode.

 

And strangely I first learned of the term "Jumping The Shark" about six years ago in a photography forum. It was of course in reference to the cringe worthy episode of Happy Days when Fonzi water skies and jumps a ramp to get away from a shark wearing his leather jacket. Happy Days was another favorite series I watched back in the '70's.

But I stopped watching Happy Days when it went to a live audience with multiple cameras, so I never saw Fonzi jump the shark. I guess I got out before it went that bad. After watching a YouTube video it made complete sense why it's now used as part of the TV culture vernacular to describe when a favorite TV show series MUST for the love of God come to an end!

I guess us TV folks have developed our own language now.

 

Even if Seinfeld jumped the shark it was still worth watching

 

Is the Jump the Shark site still around? There was criteria for JTS:

• Have a baby
• Age the baby
• Bring back a dead character
• The season was a dream
• Add Ted McGinley to the cast

I don't remember the others.

 

Add cousin Oliver

 

Don't doubt you there but no series can bat a thousand, but Seinfeld came real close where there's far more good than bad episodes.

Just saw the episode last night where George wants his girlfriend to get a nose job but doesn't know how to suggest it in casual conversation without insulting her. Out comes Kramer's honesty is in full bloom. How he just slips it into casual banter concerning the number of beautiful women there are in New York is just brilliant. He basically complemented her on her beauty and insulted her by saying she needs a nose job. But you can't judge him due to his quirky behavior that suggests he's not all there.

I saw that happen to friends and family in reunions and holiday visits but not as obviously as in Seinfeld.

 

The thing about Seinfeld is, even if the episode wasn't that great it still had at leas 1 or 2 great moments