Seinfeld's Unfilmed Gun Episode
During Seinfeld’s second season, writer Larry Charles penned an episode called “The Bet,” also known as “The Gun,” centered on a handgun purchase. The script paired an A-story about a wager over whether Kramer really slept with a flight attendant with a B-story in which Elaine, stirred by a neighbor’s mugging, decides she wants to buy a gun. In the script Elaine even jokes about shooting Jerry and initially reacts with a surprising mix of excitement and sexual charge to the idea of owning a weapon, though she later balks at sourcing one from a shady friend-of-a-friend and ultimately settles for a toy gun.
Reasons for Unfilming
The episode was never filmed. At the table read both Julia Louis-Dreyfus and director Tom Cherones felt gun violence was too sensitive to play for laughs, and the cast and crew refused to go forward. NBC executive Glenn Padnik also judged the premise in poor taste. The script was shelved; it survives only in online archives and is discussed in the show’s DVD special features.
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