Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t feel “vindicated” by the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” series finale, but he’s tickled to death by the “comedic glory” of how Larry David’s HBO series ended.
The show riffed on the divisive series finale of “Seinfeld” by putting David in prison, but in the final moments, a freed David, joined by Seinfeld, walked out of jail and mentioned this is how “Seinfeld” should have ended. It was a nod to that show’s series finale, which put all the main characters in prison and kept them there.
“Larry and I had dinner last night,” Seinfeld told TheWrap on Tuesday, “and everybody at the table wanted to know what it was like and how we thought of that final bit and how it felt.”
Seinfeld revealed that he and David hatched the “Curb” ending “very late on a Friday, like midnight” and felt like it was the “perfect joke.”
When asked if he felt vindicated by reworking the “Seinfeld” ending years later, Seinfeld said no. Instead, he views it as the perfect punchline. “It’s not vindication. It’s more executing a joke with a 25-year lag between the setup and the punchline. That’s just a comedic glory.”
“Seinfeld,” of course, ended with George, Jerry, Elaine and Kramer locked up for violating a “Good Samaritan” law, essentially putting the quartet in prison for being terrible people throughout the show’s run. The episode, which was watched by millions but proved divisive, was written by David and has been the butt of many jokes throughout the run of “Curb.” The HBO comedy’s entire Season 7 arc focused on Larry staging a “Seinfeld” reunion and defiantly pushing back on others – including cast members – who told him the finale wasn’t good.
The “Curb” series finale wasn’t without its detractors either, as some were dismayed by the meta nature of the HBO show’s ending. Not that it bothered those who made the show.
“We’re giving you the ‘Seinfeld’ finale on steroids. We’re owning that Larry’s learned nothing, so if you don’t like it, too bad, we don’t care,” executive producer Jeff Schaffer told TheWrap the day after the episode aired. “There was never hesitation not to do it, because it felt right.”
