Why is Elaine missing from two episodes of Seinfeld in season 4?

The hit 1990s 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 dysfunctional groups of friends in television history. Each of the four core gang members had a very vital role in the success of the show, as they balanced each other out. The dynamic doesn’t work without their individual quirks. Imagine it as “A Show About Nothing” by series creator Larry DavidThe characters became the real attraction, which made it especially noticeable when one of them was missing.

Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, was the only member of the core four, but that wasn’t the original plan. In reality, A waitress named Claire (Lee Garlington) was originally slated to be the fourth captainBut the writers dropped her after the pilot because they wanted someone more active with the main group. Jerry’s ex-girlfriend character in episode four, Elaine, was the perfect foil, and the rest is television history. Elaine was in every episode of “Seinfeld” after the pilot…except for two. She’s noticeably absent from the two-part Season 4 premiere, but what happened?

Other than the pilot, Ellen is only absent from the two-part season four premiere, “The Journey.” 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) during a visit to Los Angeles, where Kramer had just moved at the end of season three. There, they discover that Kramer is suspected of being a serial killer, and strange hilarity ensues. Elaine did not come along for the Los Angeles adventure and was not in the episode because she was apparently on a trip to Europe, but the real reason was because Louis-Dreyfus was on maternity leave with her first child. Although they were able to hide her pregnancy for a fair amount of filming, Louis-Dreyfus suffered complications and had to rest, meaning that Eileen was cut from The Voyage.

Fortunately, Louis-Dreyfus had an easier time with her second pregnancy, during Season 8, and they were able to hide her growing bump with baggy clothing. This is very common in sitcoms when there’s no way to write pregnancy into the story, and everyone from Courteney Cox’s Monica on Friends to waitress Mary Elizabeth Ellis on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has used peasant blouses and loose T-shirts. And carefully placed handbags to hide their changing bodies. Honestly, it almost sounds like the plot from another Louis-Dreyfus story Insanely popular comedy, “Veep”, Although Selena would never do that, never Wear those big jackets.