Not P but DFW: Seinfeld’s retirement

[Mike Jing]

The following excerpt is from David Foster Wallace's *Big Red Son*:

(Harold Hecuba and Dick Filth, by the way, have heard Max hold forth many
times before and are now outside the circle of discourse—D.F. in the
bathroom for what seems like a peculiarly long time, H.H. on the couch with
the actresses hashing out the implications of Seinfeld’s retirement for
NBC’s ’98 lineup.)

Alone and in a place of conspicuous honor on a wood-finish shelf above the
suite’s minibar is an actual AVN Awards statuette. The trophy resembles an
Oscar/Emmy/Clio except that the figurine’s arms are up and out (making it
also look a bit like Richard Nixon at the climax of the ’68 GOP
convention), and something slightly blurry about the casting gives it a
sort of cubic-zirconium aspect. Whether the statuette is heavy and solid
vs. hollow and Little Leaguish remains unknown—there is no invitation to
touch or heft it. One of the B-girls on the couch is now either laughing or
weeping into her hands at something Harold Hecuba has said; her bare
shoulders heave. It would be totally fantastic if the *Seinfeld* rerun on
the huge TV were the episode about everybody trying to refrain from
masturbating, but it isn’t.

The name "Seinfeld" appears twice in this passage. My understanding is that
the first instance (unitalicized) refers to the actor and comedian, while
the second (italicized) refers to the long-running TV show. However, some
proofreader insists that the first one refers to the show as well, reason
being (a) Jerry Seinfeld the comedian didn't actually retire after doing
the TV show, (b) his full name is not given here, (c) the word "retirement"
actually refers to the non-continuation of the TV show. Of course, I don't
think that's correct at all, and I need some confirmation from native
speakers in order to convince my editor, who hasn't yet changed that part
back to my original translation.

Not sure if attachments would get through on the list, but I included a
screenshot of the relevant page as well.