“But she really looks like a Lily!”- Kramer
TV’s best-known sitcom Seinfeld became a world sensation for many reasons. Most notably, the incredible chemistry between cast members Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The characters bounced off each other and turned a 30-minute episode about a soup shop into legend. Other actors also found ways to mesh with the “Big Four” and made their own name. Who can forget Wayne Knight’s “Newman?” Or the hysterically un-funny “Kenny Bania?”
However, not all of the actors made it to the end of the show. “Susan Ross,” played by Heidi Swedberg, was one of those members. Swedberg performed on the show for 28 episodes during the show’s pinnacle. Her character bounced all over the place, from dating George to becoming a lesbian and back again, and she may have been one of the more well-known “minor” characters on Seinfeld. Unfortunately for Susan, George purchased some cheap envelopes for Susan, and she did not survive the toxic glue that held them together.
According to CNN, Jason Alexander took a few minutes to speak on the Howard Stern Show and came clean about what happened with Swedberg’s stay on the show. Alexander told Stern that “her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was and mine were always misfiring.” Other characters also attempted to work with her and found the same thing. Swedberg’s chemistry did not flow with the other characters, prompting Louis-Dreyfus to recommend in a joking manner that the show killed off the character. The unpredictable Larry David did just that, having the character removed in a way only Seinfeld could, licking envelopes.
In this author’s opinion, I found Susan to be quite humorous. Even though she never really ranged too high emotionally, her boring personality clashed with George in a hilarious way. George took up smoking, offered a pre-nup, and tried to postpone the wedding due to Susan being such a dud. Some of George’s best moments resulted from Swedberg’s work. Fortunately for us fans, her death was handled well and didn’t attach any emotional sentiment. Seinfeld’s popularity is due in large part to not having that moral story at the end. The show focused simply on making people laugh and not trying to tug at heartstrings. Susan’s time on the show was great, and I often wonder how George’s life would have panned out after marriage.
“I’m addicted, they got a hold of me!” – George
The entire series of Seinfeld can be streamed exclusively on Hulu.
