Why Elaine is missing two Seinfeld episodes in Season 4

The hit 90s sitcom “Seinfeld” was ostensibly about a fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld (who he played), but it was actually about one of the most deeply dysfunctional groups of friends in television history. Each of the four members of the main group was vital to the success of the show 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.characters became a real draw, and it made it especially noticeable when one of them was missing.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Elaine Benes was the only female member of the foursome, but that wasn't the original plan. Actually a waitress named Claire (Lee Garlington) was originally planned as the fourth hostbut the writers dropped him after the pilot because they wanted someone more active with the main group. Elaine, Jerry's ex-girlfriend character from series four, was the perfect fit and the rest is television history. Elaine was in every single episode of “Seinfeld” after the pilot… except two. She's notably absent from the season 4 two-part premiere, but what happened?

Other than the pilot, Elina is only absent for the Season 4 two-part premiere, “The Trip.” In the episode, Jerry and his best friend George (Jason Alexander) decide to look up their friend and Jerry's former neighbor Kramer (Michael Richards) while visiting Los Angeles, as Kramer had just moved there at the end of Season 3. there they discover that Kramer is suspected of being a serial killer and some strange hilarity ensues. Elaine didn't show up for the Los Angeles adventure and isn't in this episode, apparently because she's on a trip to Europe, but the real reason was that Louis-Dreyfus was on maternity leave with her first child. Although they had managed to hide her pregnancy in order to make time for filming, Louis-Dreyfus suffered complications and was forced to rest, which meant Elaine was written out of The Journey.

Luckily, Louis-Dreyfus had an easier time with her second pregnancy in season 8 and managed to hide her growing baby bump with baggy clothes. It's pretty common in sitcoms when pregnancy just can't be written into the story, and everyone from Courteney Cox's Monica on Friends to Mary Elizabeth Ellis' waitress on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia have embraced peasant blouses and soft sweatshirts. , and carefully placed handbags to hide their changing bodies. Honestly, it almost sounds like another Louis-Dreyfus plot insanely popular comedy “Veep” although Selina would never do that, ever wearing those big sweaters.