How Jerry Seinfeld Has Spent Decades Nursing One Massive Single Regret Over How He Walked Away From 'Seinfeld'
How Jerry Seinfeld Has Spent Decades Nursing One Massive Single Regret Over How He Walked Away From 'Seinfeld'
Aaron Tinney Sun, May 24, 2026 at 9:25 AM UTC
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Jerry Seinfeld spoke out about the controversial 'Seinfeld' final episode.MEGA
Jerry Seinfeld has spent decades wrestling with regret over the divisive ending of Seinfeld, with sources telling OK! the comedian remains frustrated one of television's most celebrated sitcoms became forever linked to a finale many fans hated.
The controversial final episode of Seinfeld aired on May 14, 1998, ending the NBC phenomenon after nine seasons.
Written by Larry David, the finale saw Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine Benes, George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer sentenced to prison after violating a fictional Good Samaritan law in a small Massachusetts town.
Jerry Seinfeld is frustrated over the final episode of 'Seinfeld.'MEGA
The ending divided critics and audiences at the time, with many viewers arguing the cynical conclusion betrayed the spirit of the series.
Now, 27 years later, Seinfeld, 72, has admitted he still thinks about the backlash and believes the show's biggest mistake was leaving its central characters behind bars.
Speaking on a podcast, Seinfeld reflected on the finale and 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."
A source close to the comedian told us the reaction to the finale has stayed with him ever since.
Jerry Seinfeld still thinks about backlash about the 'Seinfeld' ending.MEGA
The insider said: "Jerry knows the show changed television, and he is enormously proud of it, but he has always hated that the conversation so often circles back to whether the ending disappointed people. He genuinely wishes audiences had walked away feeling warmer about the characters."
Another source claimed Seinfeld felt personally bruised by the criticism because the series had been so carefully constructed over nearly a decade.
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The insider said: "He believed the finale was clever and ambitious at the time, but looking back he thinks they underestimated how emotionally attached viewers had become. The jail ending felt cold to a lot of people, and Jerry understands that now."
Seinfeld later revealed the team behind Curb Your Enthusiasm eventually found a way to revisit the controversial ending.
Jerry Seinfeld said the writers from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' revisited the 'Seinfeld' ending.MEGA
Recalling a conversation with David and writer Jeff Schaffer during production on the HBO comedy, he said: "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.'"
He continued: "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."
Jerry Seinfeld proposed fixing the 'Seinfeld' ending.MEGA
At PaleyFest 2024, Schaffer discussed the parallels between the finales of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
He said: "It was just incredible, by the way, getting to bring all that full-circle and then getting to do it one last time in the season finale. As Jerry said, it was a joke 26 years in the making. It's neat that you can stick around long enough to do that."
David, 77, responded more bluntly to years of criticism surrounding the original episode. He quipped: "F--- you! You didn't like the first one? F--- you!"
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
