While both shows are hilarious and textbook ‘90s comedy, they both had very different ways of execution. Seinfeld unapologetically killed off one of its only redeemable characters, while Friends boosted its ratings by randomly adding Joey into the Ross and Rachel love story. Seinfeld was a show that did things its own way, whereas Friends appealed to what audiences wanted to see. That’s probably one of the biggest differences between the two classic shows. What’s most frustrating was that for a show that was pretty original (lesbian weddings, surrogate babies to your brother), it used the cliche romantic comedy ending, which 30 Rock ended up doing better (“I was about to do the whole run to the airport thing, like Ross did on Friends and Liz Lemon did in real life”). The only surprises were pleasing ones ( Twins! She got off the plane!). Everything that was expected to happen, happened. (There’s a reason why a Rutgers professor is teaching these characters.) Maybe in some way, audiences felt like they, too, were being punished.įriends took the easier way out, the crowd-pleasing one. Larry David’s ending served almost as a punishment for the personalities that collectively represented America’s uninhibited id. Elaine and Jerry didn’t get together (although who really wanted to see that?). Why is that?įor one thing, there was no happy ending. It did everything a good finale should do, and yet that particular episode is much more divisive than the weaker Friends finale. It took risks, it garnered laughs, it wrapped things up. In fact, in a recent Grantland podcast with Bill Simmons, Larry David addressed how much grief he got with the finale from 1998, saying, “I thought it was clever.”Īnd it was clever. After all, how many times did Ross and Rachel almost get back together only to break up? What made us think they didn’t break up once they got to Central Perk after the final “key” scene? Surely, they were going to argue over whether to move to Paris or not.Īnd yet, the Friends finale from 2004 has remained relatively unscathed from fans compared to NBC comedy comrade Seinfeld. True Friends fans know this was kind of a cop-out. However, as a huge Friends fan, there’s one thing that’s always bothered me about the series-that being the over-the-top saccharine ending with a chase to the airport and three cliffhangers in a matter of 10 minutes ( Will he get to the airport? Will she get on the plane? Will she get off the plane?). They’ve surely passed “We were on a break!” and are well on their way to Ross’ red-sweater paternity test. It probably didn’t help that the Seinfeld finale is largely considered one of the worst of all time - even Jerry Seinfeld himself regrets it.By now, Netflix bingers are well into Friends, after the series was released in its entirety on Jan. That’s something I will never forget, let alone forgive.” She’s since called the ordeal her “greatest sadness,” saying, “Now, I know that in order to live a happy life you’re supposed to let go of your anger and move on, but I was five minutes down the road watching TV while my dad was dying. Nancy didn’t get the call until after her father had passed. The ambulance arrived on the scene in mere minutes - the streets were reportedly empty because everybody was at home watching Seinfeld - but unfortunately Sinatra died in the hospital later that day. Half-way through the episode, a 9-1-1 call was placed from Frank Sinatra’s home in Los Angeles - Ol’ Blue Eyes was suffering a heart attack. Little did she know, five blocks away, her father, Frank Sinatra, was approaching his end.Īs reported in the “Back Story” section of the New York Time’s daily briefing, Nancy had planned on visiting her famous father, then 82, that day, but instead got sucked into the momentous finale, along with 76 million other American viewers. (“Last time,” of course, being relative the show has a notoriously successful syndication deal.) Among those who dropped everything to find out how the “show about nothing” would end was Nancy Sinatra. Twenty years ago, the world stopped spinning when Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer graced the small screen for the last time in the series finale of Seinfeld.
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