The hit ’90s sitcom “Seinfeld” was ostensibly about a fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld (played by himself), but in reality it was about one of the most deeply dysfunctional groups of friends of television history. Each of the four main gang members was absolutely essential to the success of the series, as they balanced each other out. The dynamic doesn’t work without their individual quirks. Conceptualized as a “show about nothing” by series creator Larry David, the characters became the real draw, making it especially noticeable when one of them was missing.
Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, was the only female member of the group of four, but that wasn’t the original plan. In fact, a waitress named Claire (Lee Garlington) was originally supposed to play the role of the fourth protagonist, but the writers dropped her after the pilot because they wanted someone more active within the main group. Elaine, Jerry’s ex-girlfriend character in episode four, was the perfect fit, and the rest is television history. Elaine was in every episode of “Seinfeld” after the pilot… except two. She’s notably absent from the two-part season 4 premiere, but what happened?
Elaine was not present in the season 4 premiere because Louis-Dreyfus was on maternity leave
Aside from the pilot, Elaine is only absent from the two-part Season 4 premiere, “The Trip.” In the episode, Jerry and his best friend George (Jason Alexander) decide to search for their friend and Jerry’s former neighbor, Kramer (Michael Richards), while visiting Los Angeles, after Kramer had just moved there in the end of season 3. there, they discover that Kramer is suspected of being a serial killer, and strange hilarity ensues. Elaine didn’t go on the LA adventure and isn’t in the episode because she’s apparently on a trip to Europe, but the real reason was that Louis-Dreyfus was on maternity leave with her first child. Although they managed to hide her pregnancy for much of filming, Louis-Dreyfus suffered complications and was forced to rest, which meant Elaine was written out of “The Trip.”
Fortunately, Louis-Dreyfus had an easier time with her second pregnancy, during season 8, and they managed to hide her growing belly with baggy clothes. It’s pretty common in sitcoms when there’s just no way to write a pregnancy into the story, and everyone from Courteney Cox’s Monica in “Friends” to Mary Elizabeth Ellis’ waitress in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” used peasant blouses, loose sweatshirts. , and handbags carefully placed to hide their changing bodies. Honestly, it almost seems like a plot taken from Louis-Dreyfus’ other incredibly popular comedy, “Veep,” even though Selina would never do it, Never wear these big sweaters.