When you have one of the most successful sitcoms on television, why would you ever want to quit before people asked you to?
That's the central question of why Seinfeld went off the air. The show, of course, was the lovechild of best-buddies Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. The two were the masterminds behind the "show about nothing", but were aided by a team of extraordinarily talented writers and producers. Then, of course, there was Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, and the host of characters that made the series one of the most iconic and profitable sitcoms of all time... Yes... of ALL TIME. This show was (and still is) a juggernaut.
But it ended after only nine seasons...
The truth is, there are an assortment of reasons for this... including one that most fans have absolutely no clue about...
Reason 1: Larry Quit Early And That Set Things In Motion
While it's true that Seinfeld continued on without co-creator for a couple of seasons, his departure was a massive hit to the show. After all, so many of the best ideas came from Larry's terrible real-life experiences.
Larry did about seven years and 134 episodes of the show, according to a behind-the-scenes documentary of Seinfeld.
In this same documentary, Jerry Seinfeld shared that Larry would always threaten to quit about half-way through the airing of each season. This is because he felt overwhelmed by the amount of work and was terrified that he wouldn't be able to come up with more funny ideas. The pressure was enormous... and Larry David marches to the beat of his own drum... Which is precisely why we adore him.
However, every year, Jerry would talk Larry back into it.
"He should actually have a job talking people out of suicide when they're on the ledge because he's very good at it," Larry David shared.
Eventually, Jerry couldn't talk Larry out of it. And Larry said he was hoping that everyone would feel the same way as he did and call it quits, but the series kept going... At least for a short time.
There are a ton of fan theories about Seinfeld, but one thing that is for sure is that Jason Alexander's George was based directly on Larry David himself. So, it makes sense that Jason was concerned that his character would suffer when Larry left... And this is exactly what he felt happened.
Writer Larry Charles claims the show continued without Larry as everyone, including Larry, had some personal goal they needed to accomplish and the only way that would happen is if they kept moving forward... But that eventually changed.
Reason 2: Jerry Wanted To Go Out Before Audiences Disliked It
After nine seasons, Jerry Seinfeld had enough. But the world couldn't understand why he didn't want to carry things on. Even though Larry David was gone, Jerry was making things work. While being interviewed by Oprah, years after a lackluster series finale which Larry did come back for, Jerry explained his rationale.
"From years and years of being on stage as a comedian," Jerry explained. "There's that moment when you're on stage and you just feel... and you learn it, it takes years to learn it, that this is the moment. And you just get off stage then."
Jerry claims that another five minutes can bring an audience to a completely different place. In short, he didn't want the series dragging on for years after losing steam. He wanted to go out on a high and leave the audience wanting more.
Despite the fact that the network offered Jerry and his team $110 million to keep going, he turned them down and ended things before the show became 'tired'.
Reason 3: The Secret Hidden Conflict Of Seinfeld's Ending
We all miss Seinfeld, even the cast. But there seems to have been some conflict behind-the-scenes that may have contributed to the show finishing up. In an interview with Archive of American Television and Emmy TV Legends, Jason Alexander said there was a couple of other things going on.
"One was the integrity of the show itself. That was really the motivating factor for most of us," Jason explained, agreeing with Jerry's explanation to Oprah Winfrey. He added that they could keep writing funny episodes but nothing that would necessarily surprise the audience.
But there was also a bit of "discontent among the ranks".
"I'll even give you a little bit more," Jason started cryptically. "Because Julia, Michael, and I are not partners in the syndication of the show, in which there was an enormous amount of profit to be made, we could no longer root for the longevity of the show. Because we knew, historically, if you play an iconic character on a TV series, your career may be done. So, we were going to have to spend an awful lot of time and energy getting the next gig if we were ever going to work again. And because Seinfeld wasn't going to be the annuity for us that it was going to be for Jerry and Larry and a couple of the other partners, continuing to make more of them was a self-defeating prophecy."
Since Jason, Michael, and Julia all wanted to continue their acting careers, it just made sense to put it to bed when the show felt like it was done and they could still go out on a high.