\n<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when we started to tell people that this was going to be the final season, because redoing the \u201cSeinfeld\u201d finale only works if it\u2019s the \u201cCurb\u201d finale. So the comedy of the story forced the ending.<\/p>\n
ESSMAN<\/strong> So when you started working on Season 12, you weren\u2019t aware that it was going to be the final season?<\/p>\n SCHAFFER<\/strong> He was talking about that it was going to be, but I wasn\u2019t sure I believed that. <\/em>I mean, every season, we\u2019re writing together, he\u2019s looked at me: \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll only do eight [episodes] this year!\u201d That was the normal cosmic wave background of Larry realizing that writing is hard. None of that really registered. But when we did this, this is planting the flag for the right reason, a comedy reason.<\/p>\n Then we went back \u2014 just to answer your question, which I rarely do; I\u2019m sorry \u2014 we went back and started seeding things about the finale, about \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d I think not realizing that once we said the word \u201ctrial,\u201d everyone was going there anyway. And that was OK. It was OK for people to go, like, \u201cThey\u2019re really doing this!\u201d It was like watching any scene of the show: Oh my God, I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s doing this. He\u2019s going to talk to the gay guys about whose semen it is. Oh my God, he\u2019s going to talk about the suicide. Oh my God, oh my God. Same thing, just writ large for the season. I like that we got people all the way to the edge.<\/p>\n One thing Larry has talked about, as his comedy philosophy, is taking something big, like death, and treating it like a minor thing, and blowing something small way out of proportion. Is that a philosophy that you can see others getting attached to?<\/strong><\/p>\n ESSMAN<\/strong> I would not recommend that people use Larry as a role model.<\/p>\n SCHAFFER<\/strong> Larry always says that it\u2019s more fun to play Larry David than it is to be Larry David. Because if the real Larry David did what the TV Larry David does, the real Larry David would be in jail and have a broken jaw from getting punched repeatedly in the face. That\u2019s why he does the show.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n