The Finale

"The Finale" is an episode of the American television sitcom Seinfeld. As the two-part series finale, it comprises the 179th and 180th episodes of the show and the 23rd and 24th episodes of the ninth season. It aired on NBC on May 14, 1998, to an audience of 76 million viewers. Its initial running time was 1 hour and 15 minutes. In this episode, Jerry and George's Jerry pilot is finally picked up as a series by NBC. However, when their private plane is forced to land in a small town in Massachusetts, Jerry, George, and their friends Elaine and Kramer unknowingly violate a local duty to rescue law (referred to as a Good Samaritan law in the episode's dialogue) and are put on trial. Co-creator Larry David, who departed from the series after the seventh season, returned to write the script for this last episode. Plot Elizabeth Clark calls Jerry and George from the office of NBC President James Kimbrough, offering a deal to produce their pilot Jerry as a series. Jerry and George will be moving to California to begin work. Jerry is given use of NBC's private jet and he, George, Elaine, and Kramer decide to go to Paris for "one last hurrah". Elaine calls her friend Jill to ask about the health of Jill’s father. First, she cannot get any reception with her cell phone on the street. Then, Jerry calls her with news of the pilot pickup and Elaine ends her call with Jill to take Jerry’s call. On the plane, Kramer desperately tries to get the water out of his ears from a trip to the beach by jumping up and down. He stumbles into the cockpit, causing the pilots to lose control. They make an emergency landing in the town of Latham, Massachusetts. While waiting for the airplane to be repaired, they witness an overweight man named Howie getting carjacked at gunpoint. They make fat jokes while Kramer films the theft on his camcorder. Howie tells an officer nearby, who arrests the group on a duty to rescue violation that requires bystanders to help out in such a situation.