Why Elaine Is Missing from Two Seinfeld Episodes in Season 4

The hit 90s sitcom Seinfeld was ostensibly a fictionalized version of comedian Jerry Seinfeld (played by himself), but it was actually one of the most dysfunctional friend groups in television history. Each of the four members of the core group was absolutely essential to the success of the show as they balanced each other out. The dynamic does not work without their individual characteristics. Conceptualized as “a show about nothing” by series creator Larry Davidthe characters became the real attraction, and it made it especially noticeable when one of them wasn’t there.

Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, was the only woman in the main four, but that wasn’t the original plan. in fact, a waitress named Claire (Lee Garlington) was originally slated to be the fourth leadbut the writers ditched her after the pilot because they wanted someone more involved with the core group. Elaine, Jerry’s ex-girlfriend from episode four, was a perfect fit, and the rest is television history. Elaine has been in every episode of Seinfeld since the pilot…except for two. She’s notably absent from the two-part Season 4 premiere, but what happened?

Aside from the pilot, Elaine is only absent from the two-episode season 4 premiere of The Trip. In the episode, Jerry and his best friend George (Jason Alexander) decide to track down their friend and former neighbor Jerry Kramer (Michael Richards) during a visit to Los Angeles, as Kramer had just moved there at the end of Season 3. there they discover that Kramer is a suspected serial killer, and strange hilarity ensues. Elaine didn’t take part in the L.A. adventure or the episode because she was 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 the duration of filming, Louis-Dreyfus suffered complications and was forced to take time off, meaning Elaine was ruled out of The Trip.

Luckily, Louis-Dreyfus went through a second pregnancy in season 8 and they managed to hide her growing bump with baggy clothes. It’s a common occurrence in sitcoms when there’s no way to fit pregnancy into the story, and everyone from Monica Courtney Cox on Friends to waitress Mary Elizabeth Ellis on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has sported peasant blouses, baggy sweatshirts, and carefully placed handbags to hide their changing bodies. Honestly, it almost feels like a plot from a second Louis-Dreyfus film the insanely popular comedy “Vep”, though Selina will never be ever wearing those big sweaters.