'Seinfeld' finale can't match classic humor

By ERIC DEGGANS

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 15, 1998

nd so it ends: not with laughs, but with the whimper of a 75-minute show that truly was about nothing.

America has said goodbye to its top-rated TV comedy, Seinfeld, and it wasn't nearly as funny as we might have hoped.

Which is no surprise. No finale could have matched the months of hype that led to this final bow.

Bay area fans say goodbye

Besides, Thursday's 75-minute goodbye episode violated a cardinal rule of all Seinfeld episodes: It was trying way too hard.

Think about it: Some of the best Seinfeld classics seemed to spring from nowhere -- from our quartet's efforts to master their domain in "The Contest," to Elaine's goofy dance steps in "The Little Kicks." One writer admitted in an interview that he thought "The Soup Nazi" was a horrible script until it was filmed.

But when Seinfeld writers began to realize the show's importance and tried to create classics -- heavily hyped episodes such as "The Yada Yada" and backward-playing "The Betrayal" -- they fell flat.

So is it really any surprise that the funniest moments in Thursday's finale came when flashing back to previous episodes?

For the three or four readers who didn't see Thursday's show: Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer went on trial for failing to help a portly fellow during a mugging, prosecuted in an out-of-town court under the same type of Good Samaritan law that French paparazzi faced in the death of Princess Diana.

In proving how socially stunted this quartet of pals really are, prosecutors called on a cavalcade of guest characters wronged by the foursome -- Babu Bhatt (Brian George), who was deported when Jerry accidentally mailed his citizenship papers; Marla the virgin (Frasier's Jane Leeves), who discovered their unique "contest"; Sidra (Teri Hatcher), the well-endowed woman who kept the gang guessing as to whether her physical attributes were real.

It's also no surprise that, when character was made an issue, our intrepid heroes failed with flying colors.

Hangers-on such as Geraldo Rivera also dropped in (gotta justify those millions NBC paid to keep him on CNBC) to no avail. And the next-to final scene, with the foursome facing a year in prison, went down like the awkwardly callous death of George's fiancee Susan Biddle Ross.

The pain was only made worse by a preceding 45-minute best-of show filled with priceless outtakes that truly were great, sidesplitting television.

It's an irony any real Seinfeld fan can appreciate: in trying so hard to make this show mean something it really did turn into nothing.

Jerry was right. It's time to let go.

And in a strange way, Thursday's largely humorless exercise made it easy. Anybody know what's coming up on the next Frasier?