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.

The jury finds Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer guilty of criminal indifference, and the judge sentences them to a year in prison.

[3] Utmost secrecy was maintained around the production: the table read was held on one of the sets; immediately after the read, all but one copy of the script was destroyed; and the extras and studio audience were selected from among the producers' and cast's family and friends, all of whom were required to sign a legally binding agreement not to reveal the episode's details.

[3] A fake working title for this show, "A Tough Nut to Crack", was created to keep outsiders from discovering it was the finale.

George actor Jason Alexander and Elaine actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus both recalled this speech in interviews decades later.

David and Seinfeld decided at the last minute that this was the wrong note to end the series on, and came up with the closing stand-up scene, which was filmed after the wrap party had already taken place.

[3] The top price for a 30-second commercial during the U.S. broadcast was approximately $1 million, marking the first time ever on American television history that a regular primetime television series (as well as a non-sport broadcast) had commanded at least $1-million advertising rate (previously attained only by Super Bowl general telecasts).

He also found closing the series with a stern lesson in morals to be both misguided and unnecessary, pointing out that the characters had already suffered for most of the wrongdoings brought up in the trial.

[9] Although Larry David has consistently stated he has no regrets about how the show ended,[5] a 2010 Time article reported that most viewers considered the episode "downright awful" and noted that the Seinfeld reunion during the seventh season of Curb Your Enthusiasm "was viewed by many as his attempt at a do-over.

"[11] Co-creator Jerry Seinfeld has had more reservations about "The Finale" than David did, commenting that while bringing back all their favorite guest stars and crew was a fun thing to do, it did not make for good comedy.

Beverly Hills fire chief Mike Smollen attributed the especially fast response time to the streets being empty, as many people were watching the episode.