27 Year Ago Today, ‘Seinfeld’ Aired Its Final Episode: How a Show About Nothing Became Something
I woke up this morning with nothing on my mind. And I wanted to write something about, well, nothing.
On to my morning routine. Oh, it’s my wife’s birthday and of course I wished her a happy birthday and thought wait that is something! But work called, and I was off with my daydreams of nothing.
I got in the car to drive to the office. Lots of fog, lots of “weird” drivers on the road. It took longer than normal but that’s really nothing.
Got to the office and started to think, about, nothing. Don’t tell my bosses, please.
But then someone asked about this nothing that was in my head. They joked with me, “Normal for you, hey?”
My response was simple, “Look, this nothing I’m thinking of, became a big pile of something and it ended some 27 years ago today.”
My coworker stared, almost looking through me as if I was the craziest thing they have ever witnessed.
I just said one word — Seinfeld.
With just that one word, everyone understood.
6 fun random facts about Seinfeld
Joe Del Valle/Castle Rock Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection
1 The ultimate show about nothing became something, and that something resulted in 76.3 million viewers for “The Finale” for the original broadcast. Imagine the countless viewings in syndication, streaming, at home on DVD through purchased copies and the like.
2 Everyone was watching and it was the fourth-most watched series finale in the United States behind only M*A*S*H, Cheers and The Fugitive.
3 Even TV Land aired a still of a closed office door with a pair of handwritten notes that read “We’re TV Fans… so we are watching the last episode of Seinfeld.”
4 Only one cast member in the core four did not appear in all 172 episodes of the show. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) was in 170.
5 After the core four, one other actor appeared in over 100 (101) episodes of the show. Nope, not Newman or the Costnzas or Seinfelds. It was Ruthie Cohen (Ruth Cohen) the cashier at Monk’s Café.
6 Before his death in 2011, Actor Len Lesser who played the recurring role of Uncle Leo (14 episodes) had guest appearances on all of these shows. Castle (2009), Cold Case (2007), ER (2005), Everybody Loves Raymond (9 different episodes), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (2001), Caroline in the City (1998), Boy Meets World (1997), Falcon Crest (1998), Airwolf (1985), The Love Boat (1984), Simon & Simon (1981) and so many more shows. We all knew Uncle Leo, HELLO!
And looking back at that memorable finale episode, we are reminded of the moments that made the show about nothing, something.
From Yada, Yada, Yada to the Junior Mint and Festivus to the Jerk Store, Seinfeld became the water cooler focal point for the better part of a decade during its original airings and continued for parts of 5 different decades from 1989 through today in syndication and via streaming. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Kramer (Michael Richards) elicit fond memories and evoke constant smiles while thinking of all of the “nothing” that went on during the show.
And while that core was our focus, we can’t forget some of the others that were popular. From Newman (Wayne Knight) to The Soup Nazi (Larry Thomas) and from David Puddy (Patrick Warburton) to Library Officer Lt. Joe Bookman (Philip Baker Hall) these were characters that captivated us and related to the world we live in.
Although a show about nothing, Seinfeld will always be something to me. So, feel free to do nothing today, maybe it will become something for you too.
Seinfeld is streaming on Netflix or airs on The CW, TV Land and Comedy Central.
Remind 
Classic Comedy Duos
March 2021
Chuckle at television & films funniest comic duos.
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