Jerry Seinfeld Finally Corrects A Big Seinfeld Ending Error, 26 Years Later

Summary Jerry Seinfeld rectifies Seinfeld's divisive ending in Curb Your Enthusiasm's parallel finale twist.

Curb Your Enthusiasm's finale has Larry David's character found guilty but freed by Jerry.

Curb Your Enthusiasm should have taken it one step further and had Jerry testify during the trial.

One of the biggest (and only) gripes that many have with Seinfeld is its series finale, but more than 20 years after it aired, Jerry Seinfeld appeared on a different show to rectify the mistake. The NBC sitcom, created by Seinfeld and Larry David, premiered in 1989 and ran for nine seasons before its series finale in 1998. Throughout its 180 episodes, Seinfeld became one of the most popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms. To this day, many regard it as one of the best television shows of all time. However, it's difficult to discuss Seinfeld without mentioning its controversial ending.

During the disastrous two-part Seinfeld series finale, written by David and directed by Andy Ackerman, NBC picked up Jerry and George's pilot as a series. Unfortunately for Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer, the fun was short-lived after they decided to use NBC's private jet to fly to Paris to celebrate. The pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in a small town in Massachusetts, where the friend group got arrested because they violated the Good Samaritan law. Ultimately, Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer were all sentenced to one year in prison, which was frustratingly how Seinfeld ended.

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Jerry Seinfeld Actually Works To Save Larry David From Jail In Curb Your Enthusiasm's Ending

Jerry Seinfeld Guest Starred In The Curb Your Enthusiasm Series Finale

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Curb Your Enthusiasm, created by and starring Larry David, ended in April 2024 after 12 seasons, and its series finale perfectly parallels Seinfeld's ending. During Curb Your Enthusiasm season 12, episode 1, Larry was arrested for giving water to someone in line at a polling station in Atlanta. Consequently, the season was building up to Larry's eventual trial, which finally arrived in episode 10, aka the finale. By the episode's end, Larry had been found guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison, but the finale concluded in a twist that fixes the damage done in Seinfeld's ending.

Even though the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale corrected Seinfeld's misstep by featuring Jerry actually working to free Larry, the sitcom could have taken it one step further and had Jerry testify during the trial.

Jerry Seinfeld showed up at Larry's jail cell and gave him great news — Jerry saw one of the jury members at a restaurant before Larry's trial, violating the jury sequestration and resulting in a mistrial. Unlike the Seinfeld series finale (which featured Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer doing nothing to help themselves at their trial), Jerry worked to get Larry out of jail, and his efforts paid off. David and Seinfeld seemingly wanted to correct their previous mistake, and they even addressed it in Curb Your Enthusiasm's ending when Larry told Jerry, "This is how we should've ended the finale."

Seinfeld Where to Watch *Availability in US stream

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buy Not available Not available Not available Cast Jerry Seinfeld , Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Jason Alexander , Michael Richards Release Date July 5, 1989 Seasons 9

Related 10 Great Shows Like Curb Your Enthusiasm That Will Fill The Larry David-Shaped Hole In Your Heart As Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm finally comes to an end, here are 10 more TV shows that deliver the same type of cringe-worthy comedy.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Still Should Have Put Jerry On The Witness Stand For Larry David

The HBO Show Could Have Had More References To Seinfeld's Ending

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Even though the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale corrected Seinfeld's misstep by featuring Jerry actually working to free Larry, the sitcom could have taken it one step further and had Jerry testify during the trial. All the witnesses spoke negatively of Larry (sometimes rightfully so), and he had no one on his side. Instead, Jerry (or Leon Black) would have been an excellent character witness for Larry, but at least he showed up when it counted and was the reason behind Larry's freedom in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Over 76 million people watched Seinfeld's final two episodes on May 14, 1998, making it one of the most-watched television series finales of all time.