Seinfeld
Although series co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld wrote the bulk of the show's episodes during the first five seasons, Charles was their second in command during this period. Charles had met Seinfeld co-creator Larry David when he was part of the writing staff of the ABC sketch show Fridays, on which David and Michael Richards were also part of the show's ensemble cast. Charles had been unable to write for the show's first season, as he had been writing for The Arsenio Hall Show during its production.
Charles is noted for contributing some of the show's darker storylines and scenes. In the season 2 episode "The Baby Shower" Charles wrote a dream sequence in which the title character, Jerry Seinfeld, was killed. Charles' episodes also covered such controversial topics as Nazis (in "The Limo"), a psychotic stalker (in "The Opera") and a hospital patient committing suicide (in "The Bris"). A season-two episode he wrote, "The Bet", concerning Elaine buying a handgun to protect herself, was never filmed because NBC, some of the cast and the show's director felt the gun content was too provocative. Charles claimed that his writing on Seinfeld was heavily influenced by Dragnet, Superman and Abbott and Costello.
Charles said he was instrumental in the development of Cosmo Kramer; he felt that "Jerry and George were so well-defined through Larry David and Jerry, that there was less room for me to, sort of, expand on those personas. But Kramer was very unformed at the beginning of the show and it gave me an area of creativity to, sort of, expand upon. So I spent a lot of time with Kramer because he was a character that I could have an impact on in the future of the show". It was Charles who imbued in Kramer a distrust of authority (especially in his episodes "The Baby Shower" and "The Heart Attack"), and who created the character of Kramer's notorious unseen friend Bob Sacamano, after his real-life friend of the same name.
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| Season | Episode | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | "The Baby Shower" | "I was extremely happy and proud with this show, and I loved the idea of doing that fantasy sequence, I loved the cinematic quality of the story where we kinda go from a plane to a fantasy sequence, and we have all these stories swirling around. I thought that it was a good template for later episodes." — Larry Charles |
| 2 | "The Statue" | |
| 2 | "The Heart Attack" | According to the Seinfeld Notes, Charles's own tonsils grew back in real life, just as George's do in the episode. Bob Sacamano is mentioned for the first time in this episode. |
| 3 | "The Library" | The 'Inside Look' feature on the Seinfeld Season 3 DVD features Charles in an interview, talking about how he wanted to create a Jack Webb/Dragnet-style police monologue in a sitcom format, which was the inspiration for Lt. Bookman in this episode. |
| 3 | "The Subway" | |
| 3 | "The Fix-Up" | Charles and Elaine Pope won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series at the 1992 Emmy Awards for this episode. |
| 3 | "The Limo" | |
| 3 | "The Keys" | |
| 4 | "The Trip Part 1" | |
| 4 | "The Trip Part 2" | Charles appears in a brief cameo alongside David on the far right of the screen next to the police when the authorities show up at Kramer's apartment in Los Angeles to arrest him for murder |
| 4 | "The Opera" | |
| 4 | "The Airport" | Charles appears in a brief cameo as the passenger who vacates the plane's lavatory, leaving a foul stench which Elaine Benes discovers. |
| 4 | "The Outing" | Charles was nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Comedy Series at the 1993 Emmys for this episode. |
| 4 | "The Old Man" | |
| 5 | "The Bris" | |
| 5 | "The Stall" | |
| 5 | "The Fire" |
Charles also has a cameo in the episode titled "The Parking Garage," which was written by David.
Read more about this topic: Larry Charles