We’re guessing that Jerry and pals will gather at their favorite diner table one last time Thursday. The bigger question is. . . Where Will You Be?

In St. Louis they’re broadcasting the final episode of “Seinfeld” on a seven-story downtown building.

“I’ve been told by NBC that we have the coolest event going,” said Dennis Orton, project director with City Image, the downtown revitalization group that organized the outdoor viewing party, which includes a Kramer “entering the room” contest and an Elaine Benes dance contest.

If events planned around Thursday night’s “Seinfeld” conclusion on NBC are any indication, much of the nation will pay tribute--often quirky tribute--to a sitcom that began life as a scheduling afterthought and is leaving nine television seasons later at the forefront of the American consciousness.

There are viewing parties, look-alike contests, online memorabilia auctions, TV homage and people eating an unnatural amount of black and white cookies. Cable’s TV Land channel is programming an hour of dead air from 9 to 10 p.m. Thursday, in tribute to the series about nothing.

Many restaurants are reporting light bookings for Thursday night, while others are expecting an onslaught of takeout requests.

“The reservations have been a little less than usual. It is off by about 20%,” said Carl Del Ponte, general manager of Carmine’s, a popular Italian restaurant in New York City.

The Dodgers are home Thursday for a 7:05 p.m. game with the Philadelphia Phillies, but Dodgers public relations director Derrick Hall remains optimistic that fans will choose to come out to the ballpark.

“There’s always something going on in L.A.,” he said. “We’re gonna hope that people just turn on the VCR.”

So where will the show’s stars hang out? According to NBC and Castle Rock, the production company behind “Seinfeld,” there are no official bashes planned. The principal cast members--Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards--will be watching the final episode privately, Castle Rock said.

Some restaurants and clubs, however, are taking advantage of the “Seinfeld” mania with theme parties.

And the stars will be out. No, not A-listers Tom Cruise and Kevin Costner. We’re talking about Uncle Leo (Len Lesser) and Puddy (Patrick Warburton).

Both “Seinfeld” regulars will be on hand in New York at Tom’s Restaurant for a party sponsored by Maxim magazine. Tom’s is used as the establishing shot of the coffee shop where Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine hang out.

Ian Abercrombie (a.k.a. Mr. Pitt) will be among the dignitaries at the Palace in Hollywood, where “An Evening About Nothing” will be held to benefit the Family Assistance Program, on whose board “Seinfeld” producer George Shapiro sits. Cost is $60 per person. The evening features an auction of “Seinfeld” scripts, autographed Kramer T-shirts and tickets to see Seinfeld’s upcoming Broadway stand-up show (the auction can also be found online at https://www.ten97.com/seinfeld.htm).

Lumpy Gravy in Los Angeles and the Corner Bakery in Costa Mesa are among those tailoring their menus to offer “Seinfeld”-ian cuisine Thursday night. The event at the Corner Bakery includes the black and white cookie, muffin tops, Elaine’s big salad and George’s marble rye.

Surprisingly, however, “Seinfeld’s” home city of New York nixed plans to have a free public viewing party, despite repeated efforts to figure out a suitable place.

The Fuji film company tried to sponsor an event in Times Square and Bryant Park but was rejected by the city.

“There were public safety issues . . . based on the crowd estimates,” said Colleen Roche, press secretary for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Fuji film spokeswoman Mindy Kramer understood the concerns but couldn’t contain her disappointment that the city isn’t heralding the departure of “Seinfeld” in a more public way. “There is something ‘Seinfeld’-esque about it,” she said. “It’s the show about nothing--and New York’s doing nothing.”

Hoping to capitalize on the viewing frenzy, NBC and other networks are tweaking their schedules this week to reflect the end of the “Seinfeld” era.

Tonight at 8, for instance, Court TV will revisit “The Seinfeld Firing: Mackenzie v. Miller Brewing Company,” a documentary about the Miller beer executive who was fired for sexual harassment after discussing with a female co-worker the “Seinfeld” episode in which Jerry tries to rhyme a girlfriend’s name with a female body part. MacKenzie later sued Miller and was awarded $26 million in damages.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

ABC’s “Dharma & Greg” (8:30 p.m. Wednesday) is cannily lampooning the “Seinfeld” mania by having Dharma and Greg search San Francisco for a public place to have sex, since they assume everyone’s inside watching the “Seinfeld” finale.

Other “Seinfeld”-ian TV highlights include Katie Couric interviewing the “Seinfeld” cast on “Dateline NBC” (tonight from 10 to 11) and KTLA-TV Channel 5’s continuing top 10 countdown of favorite episodes, which have been airing weeknights at 7:30. On Thursday, KTLA airs a two-hour block of episodes from 6 to 8 p.m.

And if you want to see the pilot for “Seinfeld,” originally titled “The Seinfeld Chronicles,” the Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills is showing it every half-hour between 12:30 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Meanwhile, to those who think the world has gone a tad mad, there are these signs that civilization will continue to operate normally Thursday night:

* Spago in Beverly Hills only has tables open at 5:30, 6 and 10 p.m.

* The Lakers and Seattle SuperSonics have no plans to postpone a potential Game 6 of their NBA playoff series, which would be held Thursday night at the Great Western Forum if the if the Lakers lose tonight--and which would be televised opposite “Seinfeld” on cable beginning at 7:30.

* The House of Blues is expecting a sellout for a 9 p.m. rap show featuring the Roots and Goodie Mob.

A projected 75 million others, of course, will be making plans to gather around the set at 8 p.m. (5 p.m. if you own a satellite dish and can watch the East Coast feed) to say goodbye to a show that became master of the viewing domain.

* The final “Seinfeld” telecast airs 8-10 p.m. Thursday on NBC (Channel 4). The program will start with clips of previous episodes, then will feature the last episode at 8:45 p.m.

Times staff writer Jane Hall, Times special correspondent Lisa Meyer in New York and freelance writer Angela T. Pettera in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

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