Ho ho!
He's short, bald, chubby and neurotic,
but now he wants to be the master of his own domain.
Yes!
No not George Costanza, Mike Costanza,
a struggling actor and real estate broker
who was Jerry's buddy from his Queen's College days.
My name is Mike Costanza and I'm here to announce
that I am the real Costanza.
That's right, Mike says when Jerry
was working on creating the show, he called him
with some exciting news.
Jerry said out of our friendship,
he was naming the best friend on his show after me
and I was very touched.
Oh.
He's been with Jerry to the movies,
to Chinese restaurants, to the airports,
on vacation, they've double dated together.
Those are most of the things Jerry and I did together.
But Mike wants everyone to know
that there are differences too.
George is a neurotic, self absorbed loser
that we all know, and he's a wimp.
You know, Mike Costanza is a stand up guy.
And you can read all about it
in Mike's new book, The Real Seinfeld,
As Told By The Real Costanza.
I just really wanted to distinguish between
Mike Costanza and George Costanza.
But when it comes to saying good-bye
to Seinfeld, Mike Costanza is a lot like the rest of us.
I consider myself Jerry's number one fan.
And I'm sorry to see the show go.
I'm happy for Jerry.
All right. (laughs)
There you go.
He's not a soup Nazi,
but he played one on TV.
What? No soup for you!
The classic Seinfeld character
was actually a take off on this guy.
This notoriously surly real life New York,
soup slinger, Al Yeganeh.
Get out of here!
But now life is imitating art,
as Larry Thomas the actor is going into the soup business
for real.
Our April Wilson caught up with the man
who calls himself the Soup Maestro.
My father was a chef, so it was actually
the last thing I ever wanted to do was be a chef.
That's why I went into acting.
So here I am, followin' in Dad's footsteps
and life is funny.
We though it would be funny to have Larry
bring a batch of his soup around the corner
to the guy who inspired his TV character.
You're pushing your luck little man.
(laughing)
So in an ideal world, we would exchange soups.
Yeah, I would give him this.
He would let me taste some of his.
You know, but I don't think it's gonna be an ideal world.
I think he's been angry ever since,
you know I did that TV show.
Of course I've never met him.
When we arrived, Al was none to anxious
to leave his soup kitchen, but after some coaxing,
he broke the ice, well sort of.
I just want to tell you I really feel sorry for you.
I swear to God.
You should come talk to me.
My shoe did not come in.
I didn't understand a word he said.
Neither did we.
But he was back soon enough. I really feel sorry for you.
You keep came to me, I would give you a job.
But Larry wasn't looking for a job.
He just wanted Al to do a taste test.
Easier said than done.
Come on please for me?
I don't want to put my life in danger, it's poison.
But eventually they parted with a handshake.
It's nice to meet you.
He was very nice.
He was very concerned with my welfare
that I was getting myself in trouble
with an inferior soup product.
That tastes like a donkey meat.
I cannot give that to my public my customer.
Adios muchacho.
Ma. Jerry?
Ma. Jerry.
Ma it's not true.
Those damn culottes you made him wear when he was five.
They're not the first TV mom and dad.
There were the Brady's, the Bunker's, the Cosby's,
and the Cleaver's.
But these particular parents don't compare to them.
Compared to the Cleaver's?
I mean we steal batteries.
(laughs)
They didn't.
And unlike other sitcom couples,
their TV son is Jerry Seinfeld,
the quirkiest comic ever to hit prime time.
No question about it.
Jerry Seinfeld here.
Barney Martin has earned his trench coat,
autographed by the cast of Seinfeld.
For nine years, he's played Jerry's penny-pinching
dad, Morty.
Liz Sheridan plays Jerry's smothering mother Helen,
and together they brought an added comic dimension
to the Seinfeld cast.
Jerry you're getting your father too excited.
Now that's it's all over,
there feelings are mixed.
Feeling share by the entire cast,
especially Jerry, Julia, Jason, and Michael,
on the last day of shooting.
Those four, they were breaking each other up
for hours and hours and hours,
laughing hysterically at each other.
Before that, an hour before that,
somebody would break down and cry.
Before that something funny would happen.
I mean it's not just one emotion.
Liz and Barney wouldn't give us
any secrets about the finale, other than they think
it's really funny.
I can be bought.
How much and I'll tell you the whole thing, the whole plot.
Mega hit show finales, Cheers comes to mind.
You people are as dear to me as my own family.
And M*A*S*H as well, are bitter sweet
for the adoring public, but can be a double edge
for the cast.
David Wilde is the author of Seinfeld,
The Totally Unauthorized Tribute,
and he says Jerry Seinfeld may have a hard time
after his finale.
My sense of it is that these people
have really had a life changing experience.
The next stage is what do you do after being part
of the greatest show, arguably,
in the history of television?
Seinfeld may be ending, buy Barney and Liz
will go on in reruns as Jerry's parents
and in real life, as a pair of veteran actors
with lots of work behind, as well as ahead of them.
I'll play your father, you'll play a young girl.
I would like to see that.