Peter Mehlman - Work On Seinfeld

Work On Seinfeld

Describing the process of writing for Seinfeld and evaluating his own work on the show, Mehlman wrote in an article for ew.com:

Seinfeld was the only show in which you came up with your own story lines or you were gone. There was no "writers' room." You wrote and rewrote your own scripts before kissing them off to Larry David and Jerry so they could dose it with magic. I was ready to say I did bad work on "The Visa", better on "The Sponge", really good on "The Implant". I was ready to argue that my episodes showed signs of a sensibility: A bunch dealt with radically changing one's appearance; a clump with contraception; a batch had people trying to be someone else; almost all had friends drastically at cross-purposes. My story lines were truly "about nothing." (Except when they weren't: It took me weeks to realize that my friend's experience with a valet parker's BO would make a funny episode. Too broad of an idea for me to see.).

On the subject of how Seinfeld was different from all other network shows, Mehlman commented:

It broke all their rules about likable characters, setup/punchline dialogue, everything. It didn't fall into one of their comfort zones, like A classic fish-out-of-water story! (FYI: Fish, when out of water, die.) And the fact that Seinfeld never had touching moments made the networks apoplectic.

A writer for The Morning Call said, "Everyone talks about the damage done when Jerry's cocreator and former executive producer Larry David left the series in 1996. But Seinfeld may have suffered the death blow when writer and coexecutive producer Peter Mehlman, who helped steer the show after David left, departed for Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks at the end of last season." She pointed to important elements that Mehlman created for the series, such as:

• Elaine shoving Jerry and others while exclaiming "Get out!!" for the first time;
• The question whether Teri Hatcher has a breast implant and George's double-dipping his chip at a snack table (both in The Implant);
• George's thinking he has turned Susan to lesbianism (The Smelly Car);
• Jerry and girlfriend Courteney Cox pretending to be married to get a drycleaner's discount, only to end up bickering like old marrieds (The Wife);
• George feeling left out on a visit to The Hamptons because everyone else got to see their dates topless (The Hamptons);
• The word shrinkage "enters our vocabulary," as do "the sponge" (The Sponge) and "yada yada" (The Yada Yada).

Episodes of Seinfeld written/co-written by Peter Mehlman:

Season 2

• "The Apartment" - Mehlman pitched an idea where Elaine wants to leave the city, but Larry David, Larry Charles and Jerry Seinfeld suggested Elaine move closer to Jerry rather than further away.

Season 3

• "The Nose Job" - Based on a father of Mehlman's friend, who owned a store, and spoke his mind to his customers.
• "The Good Samaritan"

Season 4

• "The Virgin"
• "The Visa"
• "The Implant"
• "The Smelly Car" (with Larry David) - A friend of Peter Mehlman's told a story about a smelly car whose odor could not be defeated.

Season 5

• "The Masseuse"
• "The Wife"
• "The Hamptons" (with Carol Leifer)

Season 6

• "The Chinese Woman"
• "The Scofflaw"
• "Highlights of a Hundred, Part 1"
• "Highlights of a Hundred, Part 2"

Season 7

• "The Sponge"
• "The Shower Head" (with Marjorie Gross)
• "The Wait Out" (with Matt Selman)

Season 8

• "The Soul Mate"
• "The Money"
• "The Yada Yada" (with Jill Franklyn)

Season 9

• "The Betrayal" (with David Mandel)
• "The Maid" (with Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, David Mandel, and Kit Boss)