Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus said Elaine and Jerry’s friends with benefits storyline ignited a behind-the-scenes blowup with the show’s production company.
Louis-Dreyfus, 65, who played Elaine in the series, revealed that Larry David, 78, the show’s co-creator, got into a “big fat argument” with Castle Rock Entertainment over her and Jerry Seinfeld’s characters’ unconventional relationship.
“There was a big fat argument on set about that,” she said recalled on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, recalling the fallout from the Season 2 episode, “The Deal.”
“Because Jerry and Elaine sleep together in that episode and they sort of make a deal about it,” she continued—which wasn’t what the network envisioned for the big moment.
In the 1991 episode, Jerry and Elaine attempt to form a drama-free friends-with-benefits relationship. The episode was David’s attempt to compromise with the network, which had wanted to see the characters rekindle their romance. “There was tension between creatives—actually, it was Castle Rock and Larry—about whether or not to turn this into a will they, won’t they?” Louis-Dreyfus explained.
“Larry was livid. He did not want anything to do with the idea of romance, the cute, the sexy.”
According to SlashFilm, David said during the episode’s DVD commentary, “I remember everybody saying, ‘There’s no heat, there’s no heat,’ and I said, ‘That’s the point, there’s not supposed to be any.’” Ultimately, the network dropped the matter, as Seinfeld grew its audience without the requested change. Its series finale is among the ten most-watched TV broadcasts of all time (excluding Super Bowls).
The show separated itself from other sitcoms by dodging genre conventions, which was what made it appealing to Louis-Dreyfus.
“The comedies on television had a familiar rhythm to them, and this—I’m not saying anything negative, it’s just what was the case—this show did not,“ she said. ”This show was sort of almost an anti-joke in a way.”
“I recognized the difference on the page, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is wild. It’s like my friends have gotten into the system and fooled everyone,’” she added.
The actress said she was “grief-stricken” when Seinfeld ended.
“When you’ve given your life and your brain and your heart to a project for a long period of time, to say goodbye to it, even if the timing is right to say goodbye, which it was,” she explained, “There’s a deep sadness and loss.”
