Jerry Seinfeld admits that the ending to his popular comedy wasn’t the best. He also talks about how Mad Men learned from it for their finale.
Recently, Deadline revealed he spoke with GQ about all things Seinfeld.
Seinfeld’s finale influenced Mad Men
Much of the discussion was based on finales, in which he shed some light on the influence that Mad Men took from his own comedy’s ending that didn’t land the best with fans.
“I don’t believe in regret,” the comedian said. “I think it’s arrogant to think you could have done something different. You couldn’t. That’s why you did what you did.”
“But me and Jeff Schaffer and Larry [David] were standing around, talking about TV finales and which we thought were great,” he added. “I feel Mad Men was the greatest. A lot of people like the Bob Newhart one. Mary Tyler Moore was okay.”
He then revealed that Mad Men studied his sitcom’s finale to find out exactly how not to do it.
“I think Mad Men was the greatest final moment of a series I’ve ever seen,” Jerry revealed. “So satisfying. So funny. And they said that they had sat and watched the Seinfeld finale, trying to figure out what went wrong. And it was obviously about the final scene, leaving them in the jail cell…”
The series ended with Jerry, Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards) locked up. They were found guilty of unknowingly violating a small-town law.
Seinfeld was asked if the final scene bothered him, and he replied, “a little bit, yeah.”
The comedian said that the people behind the show were affected by the finale to some degree. Some even claimed they were selfish.
“And looking back on it, I think they were great!” he said. “I love them. First of all, you’re not doing comedy without self-directed individuals. That’s an essential element of comedy since Shakespeare and forever. You can’t do comedy with selfish people. That’s what people relate to.”
Meanwhile, he’s moved on from his sitcom days. A new movie based on Pop-Tarts called Unfrosted is coming out on Netflix on May 3. It’s about the roots of Kelloggo’s breakfast treat in 1963’s Michigan.
“[Co-writer] Spike Feresten and I, as a joke, would say to each other, ‘Let’s make a movie about Pop-Tarts,” Seinfeld told Netflix. “And then when the pandemic happened and we had nothing to do, he said, ‘Let’s really write this as a movie.'”
Regarding how to eat them, he has his own preferences.
“I do not like Pop-Tarts untoasted,” he continued. “The flavors come together in the toaster. There’s something sad about a cold Pop-Tart. It’s soulless. It’s devoid of emotion. Incomplete.”
The new film stars the comedian, and he’s also the director.
As for Mad Men getting influenced by Seinfeld’s ending, it seemed to work well for them. Many, like Jerry, believe it was one of the greatest finales ever.