Jerry Seinfeld Cops to the 'Only Mistake' in the Divisive “Seinfeld” Finale and His Relief in Getting to Set It Straight, 25 Years Later

Angela AndaloroThu, May 14, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTC

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Phil Morris as Jackie Chiles, Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Elaine Benes, Jason Alexander as George Costanza and Michael Richards as Cosmo Kramer in Seinfeld.
Credit: Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty -

Jerry Seinfeld reflected on the divisive Seinfeld finale, admitting leaving the characters in jail may have been a mistake

Seinfeld and co-creators Larry David and Jeff Schaffer discussed revisiting the finale's themes during the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm

Schaffer called the Curb finale a "joke 26 years in the making," bringing closure to fans of both shows

Jerry Seinfeld got candid about his feelings on the Seinfeld finale and the world's reaction to it.

The Seinfeld series finale, which aired 27 years ago on May 14, 1998, and was written by Larry David, ended with Jerry (Seinfeld), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander) and Kramer (Michael Richards) sharing a jail cell after a jury convicted them for breaking a small-town's Good Samaritan law.

The sitcom's ending was a controversial one, dividing fans and critics alike. Addressing the finale in a 2024 appearance on the Q with Tom Powers podcast, Seinfeld, now 72, 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."

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"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 said.

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Seinfeld 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."

Larry David, J.B. Smoove, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman, and Jerry Seinfeld in the 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' finale.
Credit: HBO

At PaleyFest 2024, David and Schaffer addressed the parallels between the two finales. Schaffer 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 quipped, "F--- you! You didn't like the first one? F--- you!"

Schaffer later told Entertainment Weekly, "We realized that all the buildup of this being the final season of Curb worked for us. As people slowly realized what was happening, it was like our audience was being pranked in slow motion."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”