New York Sign Language U.S. Bids Farewell To Comic New York Icon By BOB YAMPOLSKY	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ニューヨークの人気コメディー ニューヨークを舞台にしたＴＶコメディー『サインフェルド』が、先日最終回を迎えた。7年間放映されたこの番組、全米で大ヒットを続け、最終回の夜には、ニューヨーク中で「お別れパーティー」が開かれる騒ぎとなったー。

"So Bob," said my co-worker Joe, "are you going to watch 'Seinfeld' tonight?"

It was Thursday, May 14, the night of the final episode of the television program "Seinfeld." I gave a noncommittal shrug of my shoulders.

"You know, Bob, you have to watch it," continued Joe. "Everyone is going to watch it, and everyone's going to be talking about it."

Joe was smiling. He is a sarcastic fellow and he was being sarcastic now. He was making fun of me, because I watch little television. But he was also making fun of all the attention that was being paid to this television show. He was, in fact, simply paraphrasing Newsweek magazine, which warned its readers that anyone who did not watch the final episode would be an outcast at work the next morning, since "Seinfeld" would be the only thing that people would be talking about.

"Seinfeld" is a situation comedy ("sitcom," for short) that began airing in 1991. Sitcoms are half-hour shows in which a group of characters — like a family or fellow office workers — finds itself in comic situations each week.

In the case of "Seinfeld," the group is four exceedingly self-absorbed friends, living in Manhattan. It has easily been the most popular sitcom of the '90s.

A few months ago, the star and founder of the show, Jerry Seinfeld, decided that this would be the last year for the show. NBC, the network that airs the show, did its best to change his mind, offering him $5 million (¥650 million) per episode if he would continue for one more year (there are about 20 episodes made in a year). But Jerry Seinfeld has reached a level of wealth where another $100 million (¥13 billion) dollars really doesn't matter all that much to him, and he stuck to his decision to stop making the show. From that point on, the final episode became the most anticipated American cultural event of recent years.

"Seinfeld" interests us here because it is a New York show. It is set in New York and its characters are quirky New York types who are frequently dealing with New York situations.

Ironically enough, however, the show is filmed in California, and every time an outdoor scene is shot, the streets do not look anything like New York streets. For a touch of authenticity, perhaps, shots of actual locations are edited into each "Seinfeld" episode. Typically, these are apartment buildings or restaurants, which tell the audience where the next scene is going to take place. This accounts for our sign for this week — Come visit Mendy's, as seen on "Seinfeld."

In my neighborhood, there is an old diner named Tom's Restaurant. Tom's is a typical diner — cheap, with vinyl-padded booths and undistinguished cuisine. It is almost always packed, and buses full of tourists stop in front of it every day. The reason? In almost every episode of "Seinfeld," there is a diner scene. And before each diner scene, the exterior of Tom's is shown for about two or three seconds.

I find it very odd when I see tourists getting their pictures taken in front of Tom's. After all, these are people who come to New York and take pictures of a restaurant. The significance of this restaurant is that it appears in a fictional TV show about New York that is made in California.

On the evening of May 14, the night of the final episode, I walked in front of Tom's Restaurant on my way home. It was not easy. There were great crowds; there were policemen saying, "Keep moving, keep moving." There were a half-dozen television crews; there were klieg lights and photographers. A certain magazine had rented Tom's for the evening, and was throwing a "Seinfeld" party.

There were "Seinfeld" parties all over town that night. In my office, many people left a lot earlier than usual so that they could be sure to watch the show. And in my building, someone put up a sign urging everyone to watch the final episode together in the lobby. I skipped the lobby party, but I did manage to catch enough of the show to be able to comment on it the next morning. This was a good thing, since everyone at the office did talk about it.

For the most part they were disappointed in the episode itself — it wasn't as funny as they had hoped — but they all seemed satisfied to have participated in one of the most significant events of the decade.

Some 80 million Americans watched the final episode, making it the fourth-highest rated show in history. About this time, riots were breaking out in Indonesia, India was detonating nuclear weapons, and the Mideast peace process had reached a critical point. But in America our hearts and minds were on "Seinfeld."

One of the characters on the show is a loud-mouthed fellow named George, who works for the Yankees. On May 14, on the large sign on the outside of Yankee Stadium, the message, "So Long George" was written. A goodbye message to a fictional person who was never actually present. In America, TV has become more real than reality.

Shukan ST: May 29, 1998

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