Suddenly, Susan Died

(Image courtesy NBC)

Seinfeld star Jason Alexander explains why George’s fiancee, Susan, got killed off so suddenly in the show’s seventh season:

“I love [Heidi Swedberg, who played Susan]. She’s a terrific girl. I love her … I couldn’t figure out how to play off of her,” Alexander told Stern. “Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring. And she would do something, and I would go, ‘OK, I see what she’s going to do, I’m going to adjust to her,’ and then I’d adjust, and she’d change.

“I had done three episodes with her, and Larry calls me up at the beginning of the season and goes, ‘Good news: I’ve got a great arc for you this season – you’re gonna get engaged.’ Oh, that’s great! Who do I get engaged to? Susan. And I went, ‘Oh, great. Who’s playing George?’ Because it was such a disaster,” Alexander said.

Following filming, Alexander said, the core cast would go to dinner, and Alexander complained about his lack of chemistry with his on-screen fiancee. Initially, Alexander said, his fellow stars Julia Louie-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld brushed aside his concerns. But after they started sharing scenes with Swedberg, they too acknowledged similar issues , and openly pondered the character’s fate, Alexander said.

“Julia said, ‘I know, don’t you want to just kill her?’ And Larry went, ‘Kebang,’” Alexander said.

Fascinating.

I always figured Susan was so awkward because, well, what other kind of woman would agree to marry someone like George Costanza? They seemed, in a truly awful sense, a perfect match.

Who knew that in reality the exact opposite was the case?