Seinfeld is one of the greatest shows of all time, and there are few that rival it. It became the flagship show for NBC during the 1990s, and once it reached the top, it never looked back.
As great as things were, the truth is that the cast had struggles behind the scenes, as some ideas were too offensive, and some episodes were seemingly going nowhere. Through it all, the series was able to remain a force on television until its end in 1998.
Seinfeld has plenty of elements that fans still love, and unbelievably, some of these moments were totally unscripted.
Let's take a closer look at the show and see which iconic Elaine moment was unscripted.
What Did Julia Louis-Dreyfus Invent On 'Seinfeld'?
If you were told that the TV show you were about to watch was about nothing, would you tune? Unbelievably, Seinfeld, the show largely about nothing, became one of the biggest and most popular TV shows of all time during it storied run in the 1990s.
The series, which was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, had a lack of overall premise, but thanks to its writing, its amazing cast, and being in the right place at the right time, it dominated television sets everywhere.
Few could have predicted that the show would have been a hit, and even members of the cast had their doubts.
"From the moment I saw the script I thought it would be the most brilliant thing I’d ever be part of, and that it would not run for even a day. Why? “Because the audience for this show is me, and I don’t watch TV," said Jason Alexander.
The show was filled with amazing and iconic moments, some of which were totally unscripted.
Some Of Its Best Moments Are Unscripted
Not unlike other amazing shows, Seinfeld, which was largely scripted, had plenty of hilarious and iconic moments that were completely unscripted.
One of the best examples of this is none other than Kramer's famous slide into Jerry's apartment. This slide became extremely popular, and it was all done off the cuff by Michael Richards.
"In fact, Kramer was so popular with fans that when he entered Jerry’s apartment — iconically flinging open the door and, often, sliding in — the studio audience would applaud his arrival for several minutes. That’s right — minutes. It got so ridiculous that fellow actors complained that the applause breaks were ruining the pacing of the scenes and jokes. Eventually, showrunners instructed studio audiences to refrain from clapping for so long. As for Kramer’s now-legendary slide entrance into Jerry’s apartment? Totally improvised," Ask writes.
Another popular unscripted moment came when Bryan Cranston's character, Dr. Whatley, took a hit off the laughing gas in a hilarious scene. This moment was even funny enough to make Jerry Seinfeld laugh, which is no easy feat.
These are just a few examples, and if we take a look at Elaine Benes, we see that one of her most famous moves was totally improvised.
Elaine's Famous Shove Was Unscripted
So, which famous Elaine Benes move was unscripted? Unbelievably, Elaine's famous shove was unscripted by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In fact, it was something that she was known for doing in real life.
According to Jezebel, "It was a move that Louis-Dreyfus brought to Elaine, but it predated the character by at least a decade. “The way that she would shove guys—that’s the way she had to treat us,” Paul Barrosse, who cast Louis-Dreyfus in a comedy show when they were students at Northwestern University, said. “That kind of physicality was on display very early.”
The same source would also reveal, "There was a day when Julia brought everything to a halt in rehearsals,” he recalled. “We were teasing her in some way, and she just said, ‘That’s over. We’re not doing that anymore.’ We all just went, ‘Whoa, holy s***.'"
After the move got a good reaction with the audience, the shove remained part of Elaine's character for the remainder of her time on the series. As fans got to see, the shove became more exaggerated as the years roll, and it was something that they look forward to seeing on the show.
"Lol I like how they exaggerated Elaine's shove more over time. From a spontaneous push to an aggressive shove strong enough to throw someone out of the room," a fan commented.
It's amazing to see that something from her real life became an iconic part of one of the most amazing television shows of all time.
