15 ‘Seinfeld’ Characters We Should Have Seen More Of
There’s no doubt that Seinfeld had some of the greatest recurring characters in the history of television. From the villainous Newman to the dumb and lazy David Puddy, Seinfeld’s guest stars are as much a part of the show as Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. And yet, there could have been plenty more of where they came from. While we didn’t need more cases of Lieutenant Bookman or more of the Soup Nazi yelling “No soup for you!” — it would have watered-down their iconic performances — there were at least 15 more characters in the vein of Newman and Puddy who deserved more airtime. In particular…
Tina
Played By: Siobhan Fallon Hogan
Number of Episodes: 3
Why We Deserved More: Tina was Elaine’s roommate for the first five seasons, as well as one of Kramer’s most memorable girlfriends, and yet, we only see her in three episodes. Her greatest moment came in “The Truth,” when she dates Kramer, making Elaine’s life a living hell as they dance to tribal music and have make-out sessions in the living room. According to Hogan, Tina was supposed to appear in more episodes but Lorne Michaels and SNL wouldn’t allow it.
Magnus, aka Vegetable Lasagna
Played By: Frank van Keeken
Number of Episodes: 1
Why We Deserved More: Among the best storylines of Season Nine was Elaine and Puddy’s on-again, off-again relationship, best highlighted in the season premiere “The Butter Shave.” In it, Vegetable Lasagna has the pleasure of sitting next to the bickering couple as they make up and break up during the course of a 22-hour flight. We would have loved to see the character reunite with them again later in the season, and the writers must have agreed — on the Seinfeld DVD extras, it was revealed that Vegetable Lasagna was in a scene where he sat next to Elaine on her flight to India for Sue Ellen Mischke’s wedding, but unfortunately, the scene had to be cut for time.
Cedric and Bob
Played By: Yul Vazquez and John Paragon
Number of Episodes: 3
Why We Deserved More: The street toughs who stole Elaine’s armoire in “The Soup Nazi” came back for two additional episodes, but that still wasn’t enough. We got to see them square off with Jerry and Kramer, but they still remained a bit of a mystery. What was their backstory? What did they have against Kramer? And what became of that armoire?
Jiffy Park Guy
Played By: Chaim Jeraffi
Number of Episodes: 2
Why We Deserved More: One of the many great themes throughout Seinfeld was featuring characters who were unnecessarily mean or unhelpful to the gang for no reason. The Jiffy Park Guy is a prime example. In “The Wig Master,” he runs the lot where sex workers are turning tricks in George’s car, and in “The Muffin Tops,” he refuses Kramer’s muffin stumps. Those were both excellent appearances, but with so many Seinfeld episodes about cars and parking, there was definitely an opportunity for more of Jiffy Park Guy. So why didn’t it happen? “That’s what I’d like to know about it.”
Lloyd Braun
Played By: Matt McCoy
Number of Episodes: 2
Why We Deserved More: Growing up, George’s mother Estelle always compared him to Lloyd, by constantly asking him, “Why can’t you be more like Lloyd Braun?” In Lloyd’s first episode, “The Non-Fat Yogurt,” he was played by Peter Keleghan. But when Lloyd appeared two seasons later in “The Gum,” he was played by Matt McCoy, who gave the character a goofy unpredictability. As the show got sillier and George got more animated, having a regular nemesis would have only added to George’s hysteria. Lloyd’s famous line was “Serenity now, insanity later,” and frankly, we could have used more of his insanity in later seasons.
Poppie
Played By: Reni Santoni
Number of Episodes: 4
Why We Deserved More: The restaurateur who didn’t wash his hands after using the bathroom and later peed on Jerry’s sofa really only appeared twice on the show, considering he had no lines in “The Finale” and was just in the final scene of “The Doorman.” But given Poppie’s charismatic, upbeat personality and his passion for his mother, it would have been fun to see him pop up in Jerry’s life again, bringing his strong Italian accent and disregard for cleanliness. In fact, Poppie is mentioned in the Season Seven episode “The Maestro,” but we don’t see him and Jerry interact.
Sue Ellen Mischke
Played By: Brenda Strong
Number of Episodes: 4
Why We Deserved More: The braless candy bar heiress, Sue Ellen Mischke, was Elaine’s biggest and best rival, and we could have used more of their feud. A perfect progression of her character could have capitalized on a moment with J. Peterman in “The Caddy,” where Elaine’s boss mentions seeing Sue Ellen from afar in an elevator. We can’t help but wonder how perfect it would’ve been if Elaine’s boss got together with her worst enemy.
Mike Moffitt
Played By: Lee Arenberg
Number of Episodes: 2
Why We Deserved more: Mike Moffitt first appeared in Season Three’s “The Parking Space,” when he argued with George over a parking spot outside of Jerry’s apartment. He brilliantly matched George’s level of hotheadedness and stubbornness as they each refused to give up the “dream spot.” Moffitt returned five years later in “The Susie,” when a series of misunderstandings resulted in him thinking Jerry murdered Susie, Elaine’s fabricated coworker. Unfortunately, though, we missed out on him and George going head-to-head once more.
Sid Farkus
Played By: Patrick Cronin
Number of Episodes: 2
Why We Deserved More: Sid Farkus, the legendary bra salesman, would have made for a classic George boss, or business partner with Kramer and Frank Costanza. Cronin actually revealed in an interview with The Place to Be: A Seinfeld Podcast that there were plans for a 10-episode arc where he and Estelle would become a couple, but the idea was shut down when Estelle Harris tried to negotiate for more money.
Kruger
Played By: Daniel von Bargen
Number of Episodes: 4
Why We Deserved More: Kruger, the dim-witted owner of Kruger Industrial Smoothing, was among the best bosses on the show and a highlight of the final season. As Kruger himself said, “I don’t know what it is, I can’t put my finger on it, but lately you have just seemed on, and you always leave me wanting more.” We feel the same about him.
Babu
Played By: Brian George
Number of Episodes: 3
Why We Deserved More: After making his unforgettable debut in Season Three’s “The Cafe,” Babu returned to the show a year later in “The Visa,” when Jerry got him a job at Monk’s and an apartment in his building. The fact that we didn’t see more of him before he was deported to Pakistan later on in that episode is bad… very, very bad!
Rebecca DeMornay
Played By: Sonya Eddy
Number of Episodes: 2
Why We Deserved More: A determined advocate for the homeless, Rebecca DeMornay was one of the best confrontational characters in the history of the series (which is really saying something). DeMornay first rejected Elaine’s donated muffin stumps saying that the homeless were complaining, asking where the tops of the muffins went. She later refused to write off George’s book donation since it had been flagged as having been used in the bathroom. It’s a shame that such confrontations weren’t more frequent.
The Rosses
Played By: Warren Frost and Grace Zabriskie
Number of Episodes: 5
Why We Deserved More: All of the parents on Seinfeld were perfectly cast, and Susan Ross’ parents were no exception. It’s hard to believe they only appeared in five episodes considering how big the George and Susan engagement arc was. We only see the Rosses once that year, when they meet the Costanzas in the classic episode, “The Rye.” The clash of cultures made for some brilliant television, and whether Estelle was asking them, “Merlot? I never heard of it. Did they just invent it?” or Frank was questioning them about the hen, the chicken and the rooster, it felt like such banter could go on forever without any of it growing old.
Jackie Chiles
Played By: Phil Morris
Number of Episodes: 5
Why We Deserved More: Kramer’s iconic lawyer was arguably the greatest Seinfeld recurring character. Jackie was phenomenal in every scene he was in and seemed to get better and better with each appearance. Although he didn’t appear at all in the final season, he made his triumphant return in “The Finale,” when he represented Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer in the Good Samaritan Trial. Morris gave an amazing performance as the fifth Beatle in that episode, and it was a friendly reminder that we needed more of him. The fact that we only saw him in five episodes was outrageous, egregious, preposterous!
Alton Benes
Played By: Lawrence Tierney
Number of Episodes: 1
Why We Deserved More: Elaine’s gruff father, Alton Benes, had enormous potential. The way he scared the hell out of Jerry and George in “The Jacket” made for some of the funniest moments ever. We can only imagine the hilarity that would have ensued in scenes between Alton and Puddy, or Alton and the Costanzas. Per the Seinfeld DVD extras, Alton was originally going to be a recurring character. But after Lawrence Tierney terrified the cast when they caught him stealing one of Jerry’s kitchen knives, they decided to not have him back.
