Random Dramatic Stories From Behind The Scenes Of 'Seinfeld' (14 items)

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  (#12) An Episode About Guns Was Cut From The Series Because It Was Too Controversial

  During a Reddit AMA, Jerry Seinfeld revealed there was only one episode ever deemed "too much" for the show. In one episode, Jerry bought a handgun. But as writers were trying to make the topic funny – and not controversial – they found it was nearly impossible. "We did the read through and then canceled it," Seinfeld said. "A lot of other stuff happened, but trying to make that funny ended up being no fun."
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  (#11) Julia Louis-Dreyfus Cried At A Suggested Storyline Involving Elaine Getting Fat

  Julia Louis-Dreyfus was pregnant twice during the run of Seinfeld. Her first son, Henry, was born in 1992, and her second son, Charles, arrived in 1997. She hid her first pregnancy with pillows, well-placed props, and other strategic set feng shui but when she was four months pregnant with Charles, Jerry Seinfeld proposed another way of working with the pregnancy: "I have an idea for how to play this out. What if Elaine gets fat?"

  Louis-Dreyfus cried in response. She said later that it may have been a workable storyline and even expressed regret about turning it down, recalling that she

  Burst into tears. Automatic. It was like a death sentence. So there are two things I have to say about that. One is you have no interpersonal communication skills. The second thing is, it was a great idea and we should have done it. It would have been a great storyline… I regret it.
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  (#8) The Real-Life Costanza Sued The Show

  George Costanza's character was based on Michael Costanza, a former friend of Jerry Seinfeld. The two had met in college in New York. But after Seinfeld aired, the real Costanza thought that George's character portrayed him in a negative light.

  In 1998, Michael Costanza sued Jerry Seinfeld for "slander, libel and unauthorized use of his name, likeness and persona for the character George Costanza." His contention was that Seinfeld stole his identity. Costanza maintained: 

  George is bald. I am bald. George is stocky. I am stocky. George and I both went to Queens College with Jerry. George's high-school teacher nicknamed him "Can't stand ya." So did mine. George had a thing about bathrooms and parking spaces. So do I.

  His civil suit asked for $100 million in damages but was thrown out by a judge in 1999. 
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  (#13) Few Were Happy With Their Air Time

  Jason Alexander was known to be vocal about not getting scenes and jokes he thought he deserved. Aside from almost quitting at a table read, he worried that with the introduction of Elaine as a main character, George wouldn't be as important to the show.

  At the same time, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was worrying about the same thing. She complained her male counterparts were getting better storylines and jokes. 
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  (#1) The Cast Killed Off Susan Because She Was An 'Impossible' Coworker

  George's fiance on Seinfeld, Susan, was played by actress Heidi Swedberg. In an interview Jason Alexander gave to Howard Stern in 2015, the actor retold the story of how Susan's death came to be written. Alexander had a difficult time getting his comedic timing to sync with Swedberg's style, and complained about it. She was, according to Alexander, "'f*cking impossible' to work with."

  It wasn't until Seinfeld and Louis-Dreyfus experienced the same type of struggle when playing opposite Swedberg that the cast got together with writer Larry David to try to find a solution to the problem. According to Alexander, "Julia actually said, ‘Don’t you want to just kill her?’ And Larry [David, the series’ co-creator] went, ‘Kabang! Now we gotta kill her!’"

  Bring on the deadly envelopes. In the show, George buys cheap wedding envelopes that turn out to be poisoned — and Susan licks them, sealing her fate.

  Alexander has since apologized to Swedberg, clarifying that no one wanted to kill her; it wasn't entirely her fault; and she was a "kind, lovely person who undoubtedly worked really hard to create Susan." He also emphasized that the relationship was never going to work between George and Susan so the comment about "killing her" merely gave an end to a doomed engagement.
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  (#7) The Original Leading Female Role Might Have Been Cut After The Actress Gave Too Much Input

  In the pilot of Seinfeld, the main female role was a character named Claire, the waitress at the diner where George and Jerry frequently ate. Claire, played by Lee Garlington, was supposed to be "the girl" on the show but, according to some, she gave Larry David too many suggestions, and he didn't like her contributions. Supposedly, Garlington told David that she "could write something better than he had," which infuriated him. So Garlington's contract wasn't renewed, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was brought in.

  Another version of the story behind why Garlington only appeared in one episode involves the network wanting a stronger female presence, one that Louis-Dreyfus brought to the table. 

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