Seinfelds Final Mistake Revealed After 28 Years

Jerry Seinfeld candidly revealed the sole mistake he felt that they made on the polarizing finale of iconic sitcom Seinfeld after the Friends.

Seinfeld, now 72, addressed the ending of the NBC comedy which aired 28 years ago on this day May 14, 1998 as it divided fans and critics.

The final episode saw Seinfeld's titular character sharing a jail cell with main cast pals Elaine (), George (Jason Alexander) and Kramer (Michael Richards) as the series ended its 9-season run with them confined.

The foursome ended up imprisoned after a jury had convicted them for breaking a small-town's Good Samaritan law. 

The star opened up about the controversial ending and even revealed what he saw as a failure during a 2024 appearance on the Q with Tom Powers podcast. 

Seinfeld said 'What we wanted at the time was to see all the great characters that we had had over the years that made the show. 

'And I think the only mistake, if there was one, was leaving them in jail.'

Co-creator Larry David had written the Seinfeld finale as the two found a way to correct the misstep 25 years later which aired on April 7, 2024.

The finale paralleled Seinfeld's as it wrapped up David's court case with Seinfeld going to Atlanta to show support along with David's close friends Jeff Greene [Jeff Garlin] and his wife Susie [Susie Essman], Richard Lewis, his ex-wife Cheryl [Cheryl Hines], Ted Danson and Leon [J. B. Smoove]. 

David is found guilty of violating Georgia's Election Integrity Act and is sentenced to a year in prison but is quickly freed by Seinfeld due to mistrial.

Seinfeld explained the course correction on the podcast: 'When me and Larry David and Jeff Schaffer, who was also one of the Seinfeld writers, were on the set of Curb that late Friday night, we went, "Yeah, that was maybe our only mistake." 

'And I said, "You know, we can fix it now."'

The comedy legend realized that they had a rare opportunity to hit the punchline on a joke over two-and-a-half decades in the making.

Seinfeld said: 'We all just looked at each other like, 'That's an amazing opportunity.' I realized that we set up a joke 25 years ago. 

'The only possible way that could happen is two TV series that run in succession, with each of the creators playing themselves in the series... the mathematics of what had to be in place for that opportunity to even present.

David and Schaffer addressed the parallels between the finales of the two legendary sitcoms.