Although the sitcom was known for tackling edgy subjects, Seinfeld had two episodes that were deemed too controversial by cast and executives alike. This is surprising because, generally, creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David seemed like they were able to make jokes about anything in their "show about nothing". Among some of the envelope-pushing comic situations across Seinfeld's nine seasons were Jerry being caught making out with his date during a screening of Steven Spielberg's Holocaust drama Schindler's List, and George Costanza (Jason Alexander) getting into a fight with an immunocompromised "bubble boy".
One of the most notable examples of Seinfeld pushing the envelope in terms of what network television would allow is the masturbation storyline in "The Contest" from Seinfeld's best season. To avoid the censors, writer Larry David got incredibly creative in how he discussed the subject without ever actually using the word. Given David and the Seinfeld writing team's dexterity at sneaking taboo subjects into a network sitcom, it's surprising that two episodes of Seinfeld were deemed too controversial. However, there were two very good reasons that the controversial Seinfeld episodes never made it to air.
Seinfeld's "The Bet" And Another Episode Were Scrapped
Larry Charles, who wrote, among others, the classic George Costanza-centric episodes "The Bubble Boy" and "The Fire", wrote two Seinfeld episodes that were scrapped prior to filming. Larry Charles is known for his darker sense of humor, but it didn't always make it through to the finished script. In the case of Seinfeld's "The Airport" episode, a dark joke was removed entirely. However, in the case of "The Bet", the episode was scrapped entirely. The plot of the episode revolved around Elaine Benes (Julia Louis Dreyfus) buying a gun from a criminal associate of Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).
Both Dreyfus and Richards objected to the storyline, with Dreyfus citing a joke about dead US Presidents as the reason for her refusal. The network and director Tom Cherones backed up the cast, and the episode was scrapped. Reflecting on the episode in an interview with Screen Crush, Larry Charles stated that including such a controversial storyline in what would have been Seinfeld's ninth-ever episode would have been "maybe too much too soon." According to the book Seinfeld Reference: The Complete Encyclopedia, another episode involving a Seinfeld's George Costanza was also scrapped by the network, over concerns about racial insensitivity, due to it "joking about the dietary habits of African-Americans".
Seinfeld's Cut Episodes Would've Been Its Most Controversial
Seinfeld had tackled racial insensitivity before, in season 5, episode 10, "The Cigar Store Indian", in which Jerry offends Elaine's Native-American friend by buying a racist statue as a gift. Seinfeld also got into hot water when Kramer was seen stamping on a burning Puerto Rican flag during Seinfeld season 9, episode 20, "The Puerto Rican Day". However, it's likely that "The Bet" or George's salad episode would have proved even more controversial, for their own respective reasons.
Gun ownership is still a hot-button issue in contemporary America, so an episode in which Elaine bought a gun and made light of the Kennedy assassination would certainly have divided Seinfeld's small audience back in 1991. Many popular sitcoms of the 1990s, like Friends and Seinfeld, were criticized for its lack of Black characters. As such, a Seinfeld episode involving George making a racially-insensitive observation would never have worked satirically if he was making the observation while being surrounded by his white friends.