The Real Reason Seinfeld’s Most Obvious Romance Never Happened Makes So Much Sense

Widely regarded as one of the best sitcom TV shows of all time, Seinfeld is just as compelling today as when it started airing in 1989. Starring Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards as the core group of friends living in New York City and getting themselves into hilarious everyday situations, Seinfeld made its mark because there was nothing else like it.

One of the best parts of Seinfeld is the way the show handles romance, and the fact that it doesn’t give too much weight to relationship storylines. The best sitcom romances of all time have gone down in history for the actors’ great chemistry and the slow build of tension throughout the seasons. Developing a serious romantic relationship would’ve completely changed the series.

Jerry & Elaine’s Seinfeld Romance Was Obvious, And That’s Why Larry David Didn’t Want It

Jerry & Elaine Easily Could’ve Had A Will-They-Won’t-They Relationship

For most sitcoms, it takes the audience only a few seconds to single out which two characters have the best chemistry and are the most likely romantic partners. For Seinfeld, this was Elaine and Jerry. However, the show never explored this dynamic any more than it absolutely had to. Plenty of will-they-won’t-they TV relationships go on for too long, but Seinfeld knew to avoid this.

In a conversation with The Times, Julia Louis-Dreyfus opened up about how showrunner Larry David was against focusing on the relationship between Jerry and Elaine:

Oh, the network wanted it! They wanted a will-they, won’t-they, all that crap. But Larry was just immovable on that point. The show was built on doing things that were outside the norm, so doing something stereotypical would have been atypical of the show.

The reason that Seinfeld has stood the test of time is that it never did what was expected of it or followed the well-known formulas of the genre. As one of the driving creative forces behind the series, David was not someone who would cave to network demands, especially when it came to the tone and direction of the character arcs.

Though there are many ways that a TV show can make these brewing romances fresh, using a relationship between Elaine and Jerry as an overarching plotline would’ve been incredibly predictable. There has to be an element of sincerity and a sentimental streak in a TV show for the audience to believe that these slow-burn romances can happen, and Seinfeld doesn’t have that.

Larry David Was Right: A Predictable Romance Wouldn’t Fit With The Rest Of The Show

This Type Of Relationship Was The Opposite Of Seinfeld’s Ethos

The way that Seinfeld typically dealt with the characters’ romantic partners illustrates the true intention of the show. There are a few people who stick around as guests or recurring parts, but the main characters are quick to discard them, or get dumped themselves, which is always mined for hilarious, uncomfortable moments. Seinfeld was about the friendships between the protagonists and their often-bad behavior.

Seinfeld is called the show about nothing, but what that really means is that the series favors the joke of every episode and thrives when the characters don’t evolve. Introducing a genuine romance would disrupt the dynamic of the characters and the structure of a typical episode of Seinfeld. Jerry and Elaine would’ve had to grow and change within this relationship, and that might have ended the series.

Related

Jerry Seinfeld’s Favorite Episode Of His Sitcom Is A TV Masterpiece: “That Was A Big Deal For Us”

Seinfeld has too many classic episodes to count, but Jerry Seinfeld’s personal favorite was one that took something different from the usual to make.

There’s nothing wrong with sitcom romances and the tension they spark within the series’ narrative, but Seinfeld was never intended to have that kind of story. Seinfeld was at its best when it leaned into the situational side of its humor and used its well-understood characters to explore them. Jerry and Elaine make sense on paper, but their relationship was the funniest in the form of friendship.

It’s For The Best That Jerry & Elaine Never Got Back Together In Seinfeld

This Relationship Wasn’t What Seinfeld Was About

When Elaine and Jerry rekindle their off-screen relationship in season 2, but this doesn’t last long, and is only ever mined for comedy about how to handle reconnecting with an ex. There’s little question that Seinfeld and Louis-Dreyfus’ chemistry shone in comedic moments, not romantic ones, so they never started things up again after this.

There are some moments of tension between the characters as Seinfeld progresses. However, they’re never taken any further than some loaded glances or prolonged silences. The fact that the pair were once romantically entangled is simply a layer of their dynamic and serves to illustrate how Jerry behaves with women in general, as well as Elaine’s own tendencies in relationships.

When Seinfeld does bring up the fact that they were together, it’s almost ridiculous to think about it, because few audiences were watching the show in the hopes that Jerry and Elaine would end up together. The fact that Seinfeld became so popular and iconic within the genre proves that romance is fun, but it doesn’t have to be the driving force of a story.

Seinfeld

9/10

Release Date

1989 – 1998

Directors

David Steinberg, David Owen Trainor, Art Wolff, Jason Alexander

Writers

Darin Henry, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Bill Masters, Bruce Kirschbaum, Steve O’Donnell, Tom Leopold, Don McEnery, Greg Daniels, Jon Hayman, Kit Boss, Lawrence H. Levy, Matt Goldman, Matt Selman, Billy Kimball, Fred Stoller, Charlie Rubin, Steve Lookner, Steve Skrovan