10 Most Controversial Series Finales In TV History
1. Seinfeld
Seinfeld was massively ahead of its time. The debate in the ‘90s raged on between Friends and Seinfeld, but apart from their New York setting they weren’t all that similar.
The characters were deeply unlikeable, in a way mainstream TV characters would not be for another decade. As George Constanza famously said, it’s a show ‘about nothing’, and in lots of ways Seinfeld opened the door for shows which came after it.
Like a few other episodes here, The Finale is not bad by any stretch. However, the decision to spend the second half of the episode focussed entirely on minor characters like the Soup Nazi was a poor one in hindsight, and having the central cast end the series in jail was asking a little too much of audiences in 1998.
Like the show itself, the ending has gotten better with time. Though many felt it was deflating at the time, fans views on it tend to have softened over the years. US Today famously gave it a measly one and a half stars, while 20 years later many view it with fondness. TV shows were supposed to have happy endings, especially sitcoms. Seinfeld bucked that trend, and it had everyone talking.