Reply #63: I saw the 'Seinfeld' finale in a rerun recently

[Seneca]

I was very pleasantly surprised how much it improved with age. Stripped now of the hype and hoopla surrounding it in its time, it played out much like a typical episode. In fact, true to its genre-defying form, it seems now it purposely refused to conform to the typical sitcom formula of making the finale an "event". As someone who had watched it since the "Seinfeld Chronicles" pilot in 1989, I was especially pleased with the 'perfect circle' ending. The last line of the finale was the first line of the pilot, just trading the diner setting for a jail cell. The mantra of the show was "no hugs, no lessons", and true to form, they treated sitting in the cell as a mere inconvenience, with no signs of remorse for the wrecked trail of people's lives behind them.

As for my vote for most disappointing finale, I would have to say "Cheers". Even in reruns, it is remarkably humdrum and anti-climatic. Sometimes, there is something to be said for making the finale an "event."