Close To Half The Country May Watch Final Episode Of "Seinfeld"

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, N.J. -- With the final episode of "Seinfeld" less than a week away, the highly rated situation comedy is poised to go out with a proverbial "bang." According to the latest Gallup poll, 44% of all Americans expect to watch that episode next week, with another 6% who are not sure. The poll also shows that about half of Americans think of themselves as "Seinfeld" fans.

Long rated one of television's most watched shows, the comedy easily wins the public's rating as the "funniest show on television today." Almost three times as many people mention "Seinfeld" as any other comedy currently on TV.

Cosmo Kramer emerges as the undisputed favorite among the four leading characters in the show. More than half of the show's fans -- 58% -- cite the klutzy eccentric as their favorite, compared with 15% who choose Elaine, and 12% each who choose Jerry and George. Although the real life Jerry Seinfeld described the four characters toTV Guideby saying "there's nothing really likable about them except that they remind you of yourself," fans of the show apparently disagree. When asked to assume the characters were real and then to indicate whether they were mostly likable or annoying, fans chose the "likable" characterization by 54% to 39%.

Given a choice of four NBC shows as possible replacements for "Seinfeld" in the 9:00 p.m. Thursday time slot, the top preference of "Seinfeld" fans is "Frasier," chosen by 39%. "Mad About You" comes in second with 29% of the vote, followed by "3rd Rock From The Sun" (16%) and "Just Shoot Me" (10%).

The Characters' Sex Appeal
Among all Americans, men and women are equally attracted to "Seinfeld," but among the show's fans these two groups express distinctly different preferences for the characters. As the one female among the major characters, Elaine appeals much more strongly to women than men: three times more women than men choose her as their favorite. George, on the other hand, appeals more to men than women, with twice as many men as women choosing him as their favorite character. While Kramer is the favorite of both sexes, his popularity is clearly stronger among men than women. Jerry, on the other hand, is the sole character to find greater appeal among fans of the sex opposite to his own.

"Seinfeld's" Appeal Among the Young
The fans of "Seinfeld" tend to come disproportionately from younger than older people. Among Americans under 30, almost two in three say they are fans, compared with 59% in the 30-49 age group, 34% among the 50-64 age group, and only 22% among those 65 or older.

Although Kramer is the most popular character among all age groups, fans under 50 are somewhat more likely to name him than those who are older. Six in ten younger fans choose him as their favorite, compared with half of the older viewers.

METHODOLOGY
The current results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,007 adults, conducted April 17-19, 1998. For results based on a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

What do you think is the funniest show on television today?

Do you plan to watch the last episode of "Seinfeld" when it airs on Thursday, May 14th?

Which of the following phrases better describes you -- you are a big Seinfeld fan; you are somewhat of a Seinfeld fan; you are not a Seinfeld fan.

Which one of the main characters on "Seinfeld" would you say is your favorite - Jerry, George, Kramer or Elaine?(RANDOM ORDER)

For the next question, assume that the "Seinfeld" characters were real people. Aside from how funny you think they are, would you generally consider them to be likeable people or annoying people?

Which one of the following TV shows would you most like to see replace "Seinfeld" in its timeslot on Thursday nights: Frasier, Just Shoot Me, Mad About You, or 3rd Rock From the Sun?(RANDOM ORDER)