During its heydey, Seinfeld was funny, creative and realistic.
The finale, however, was almost universally panned by critics and fans. Featuring the quartet laughing and mocking a man in need of help instead of coming to his rescue, the largely clip-show format, and the highly unlikely year-long imprisonment of the foursome. The finale was not the only bad episode of the season, as there was the infamous "backwards episode" earlier in the year.
The group, sans Jerry Seinfeld, who seemed to enjoy semi-retirement, attempted to find success Post-Seinfeld with unimpressive results. The Michael Richards show, Bob Patterson, Watching Ellie, and Listen Up were all pretty much ignored by critics and fans and all of them would be cancelled within a short period of time. This would lead to the term "Seinfeld Curse", (though the curse was finally lifted in 2006 (8 years after the show ended) with "New Adventures of Old Christine", and Julia also hosted Saturday Night Live around this time.
And then there was Michael Richards rant against African-Americans. After listening to the speech, it was clear that Richards is crazy, and it rightfully signalled the end of his career.
So with all of that being said, I have to wonder if Seinfeld is left with this gigantic stain on its reputation. I'm not trying to excuse the aforementioned mistakes, but it still was a funny, innovative show. And if such a stain exists, should the cast, minus Michael Richards, get together for one final episode, so that we can remember Seinfeld for the good times and not all of the ugliness that is associated with what happened at the end and afterwards? I'm thinking yes.
any thoughts?
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