Seinfeld's success is partly credited to an amazing writing staff that churned out classic episodes for nine seasons. A television show's writer's room is full of writers throwing ideas against the wall and seeing which stick.
While 180 Seinfeld episodes were produced, there were likely many never-used storylines that quadruple that number of episodes. Over the years, many of the Seinfeld writers have shared some of these pitched storylines that were either rejected or held for another episode that never came. Some of them were silly, some controversial, and one even came close to airing.
Tales From The Seinfeld Reference Book
According to Dennis Bjorklund's book, Seinfeld Reference: The Complete Encyclopedia, there were several ideas conceived that were ultimately nixed. One idea, considered too gimmicky, was to have an entire episode in claymation.
Another episode idea, conceived by the musically-inclined Jason Alexander, was to do an episode featuring a musical number. And finally, the book mentions a nixed Paul McCartney cameo, who is discovered hiding in Newman's apartment for no apparent reason.
Jennifer Crittenden's Nixed Storylines
Writer Jennifer Crittenden joined the writing staff for Seinfeld's final two seasons and contributed great episodes, like "The Millenium" and "The Burning." However, there was one episode she couldn't get past the writer's room.
In the episode, Kramer, instead of exercising, decides to run everywhere. In an Entertainment Weekly print article from May 4th, 1998 titled "Behind The Scenes," the writer said: "the rest of the writers insisted it was insane, but I know somebody who does that."
Carol Leifer's Nixed Storylines
Carol Leifer was one of Seinfeld's most acclaimed writers, working on Seinfeld from season five through seven, and during her time on the show wrote classics like "The Rye" and "The Hamptons."
A nixed Leifer storyline had Kramer suing for discrimination over a bar's ladies' night, and another where Kramer becomes a guinea pig for medical experiments. She told Entertainment Weekly (in the same print article mentioned above) that these plotlines ultimately didn't fly with creators, Seinfeld and David.
The Soup Nazi Experiments
David Mandel, Jeff Schaeffer, and Alec Berg joined the writing staff in the later seasons and wrote many great episodes, like "The Butter Shave" and "The Voice," and they've been very vocal about their nixed ideas.
They've even revealed the original ending to the classic episode, "The Soup Nazi." The episode ends with Newman telling Jerry the Soup Nazi is moving to Argentina. His move to Argentina is a nod to the fact that many real nazis fled to Argentina after the war. So, in the original ending, a parody of The Boys From Brazil, the soup nazi meets up with other real nazis in Argentina where viewers see boys with blue eyes: a result of nazi soup experimentations.
Racist George
Writer Larry Charles wrote for the show's first five seasons and contributed classics like "The Library" and "The Subway." Perhaps the writer with the darkest sense of humor, Charles would push the envelope several times on the show. In one controversial (and racist) instance, he suggested a storyline where George remarks, "You know, I've never seen a Black person order a salad."
NBC censors considered the comment too controversial so they nixed it. Given that Seinfeld was often criticized for its lack of diversity, despite being set in a very diverse New York City, nixing this line was very smart.
The Prompter
The episode "The Secret Code," written by Berg and Schaeffer, features Jerry doing some ads for Leapin Larry's appliances, where Jerry gets accused of mocking Larry's limp. However, there was an unused element to the script involving what the writers called "a prompter." Schaeffer told Entertainment Weekly:
"There would be another comic and she was a prompter. Jerry would be at lunch with her and she would say, 'You know, I only had one bit that killed.' Then she would wait and he'd have to go, 'Which one?' In The Secret Code, Jerry ignores a prompter who tells him, 'If you're going to meet with Leapin' Larry, there's one thing you should know about him.' After Jerry insults Leapin' larry, he asks the prompter why she didn't tell him he had a prosthetic leg and she replies, 'I tried. You didn't take the prompt.'"
Frank Becomes A Pothead
Another idea had George's father Frank taking medical marijuana for his cataracts. "We thought the idea of Jerry Stiller on pot just seemed like comedy gold," Mandel told Entertainment Weekly. However, they nixed it after seeing another show with the same premise.
While this storyline didn't make it onto Seinfeld, it would later appear in Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, where David gets his father pot for his glaucoma and, memorably, winds up sharing a joint with a prostitute.
Kramer's Skeleton Business
During the show's run, Kramer had many failed business attempts, from making-your-own pie to the "bro" brassiere for men and, of course, selling Morty's raincoats. But refurbishing skeletons for medical hospitals could've been another crazy Kramer business.
In the proposed storyline, as explained to EW, Jerry would once again get in trouble with Leapin' Larry after he brings in his washing machine, which Kramer had used, to be fixed, only to discover a tibia bone inside. Leapin' Larry would then exclaim, "This is the worst practical joke ever to a guy who's missing a leg!" Ultimately, Larry David thought the idea was strange and creepy, so he nixed it.
Mexico Vacation
Seinfeld's later seasons featured many meta episodes and jokes playing on the show's formula. If a tenth season had happened, writer David Mandel wanted to do an episode set in Mexico, and the hotel room dynamic would be the same as Jerry's NYC apartment, with Kramer right across the hall.
"The entire episode would have taken place in Mexico but everything would have been the same. There would have been a Mexican diner that they sat in." Mandel explained to EW that when Jerry Seinfeld decided to end the show after the ninth season, he was disappointed he never got to write the episode.
The Bet
Perhaps the most infamous episode of Seinfeld was a second-season episode that was written, cast and sets were even built, but never happened. Written by edgy writer Larry Charles, the episode involved two bets, one between Jerry and Elaine over whether she would buy a gun to protect herself in the city, and one between Jerry and George over whether Kramer really had sex with a flight attendant, mid-flight.
Eventually, when they confront the flight attendant at the airport about the claim's validity, Elaine accidentally pulls out the gun, so the security guards swarm. According to Seinfeld Reference: The Complete Encyclopedia, the storyline didn't sit well with the cast and crew, especially Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with most taking offense to a joke where Elaine refers to being shot in the head as "The Kennedy." Ultimately, producers deemed "The Bet" too dark and "The Phone Message" was produced at the last minute, instead.