Elaine Didn't Appear in the First Episode of SEINFELD and May Have Been Brought in After Another Character Got the Boot

The four stars of the quintessential ‘90s comedy series Seinfeld really made the series. The show about nothing followed the character Jerry Seinfeld, and it was based on the comedian’s real life. In the series, he was joined by core cast-members Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), George Costanza (Jason Alexander), and Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and while we can’t imagine the show without any of them, it almost happened with a different female character in Elaine’s place.

In the pilot episode of the show, titled “Good News, Bad News,” which aired on July 5, 1989, Jerry was introduced along with George and Kramer, but the female lead on the episode was a waitress named Claire, played by veteran character actress Lee Garlington. She has a great dry sense of humor, and holds her own in the presence of the comedic men on the series.

But when the show was picked up and returned 10 months later, Claire was gone, and the world was introduced to Elaine. So what happened to Claire, the waitress?

According to Alexander, during an appearance on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (via /Film), the actor said:

"There was no Elaine in the pilot. It was Kramer, George, Jerry, and a waitress. A waitress at the coffee shop. A very fine actress who made the critical error of suggesting to Larry [David] that she, she'd looked at the scenes overnight and made a few tweaks that she wanted to share with him ... A few ideas, a few ideas. In the spirit of community and collaboration."

So he thinks she made a few too many suggestions to the show’s creator, Larry David, and he decided to let her go! But however it went down, I’m glad Elaine was added to the story. While she played Jerry’s ex-girlfriend, she fit right in as “one of the guys.” She was successful, liberal, progressive, beautiful, hilarious woman, and a completely new kind of female lead on network TV. She was at time outrageous, and such a beacon for up-and-coming comedians looking for roles outside the typical box.

It’s too bad it didn’t work out for Garlington, as there was definitely room for another strong female character in the cast. But the series is history, and it worked out great for everyone who did end up involved.