6 Years Ago in Time

To the dismay of its many fans, the hit NBC sitcom Friends aired its series finale amid much fanfare last week. When comedian JERRY SEINFELD announced that the ninth season of his namesake show would be its last, fans were equally devastated:

Seinfeld, the person, has been even more perplexed and flattered by the outpouring of national grief that came with the Christmas announcement that his show would be pulling its plug even though it is currently the nation's top-rated sitcom, even though it is as popular and lucrative as ever, even though the audience has not yet tired of the self-absorbed lives of Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer ... Aided by the dearth of real news over the holidays, the nation's papers and airwaves filled themselves with pleas from mourning fans for Seinfeld to reconsider and speculation from any media buyers still in their offices about how NBC would survive the loss of the most profitable show on television. SAY IT AIN'T SO! reads the cover of this week's PEOPLE, which goes on to add, with only half-mock portentousness: "A stunned nation prepares for life without Seinfeld." --TIME, Jan. 12, 1998