- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Elaine Benes was this close to donning a fanny pack.
Seinfeld writer Carol Leifer revealed Tuesday in a Reddit Q&A that she once pitched an idea for a show in which Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wears the endlessly mocked waist accessory, with unexpected consequences.
PHOTOS Inside THR’s Comedy Showrunners Roundtable With Chuck Lorre, Mike Judge
“[A]t the time, fanny packs were really popular, and I remember wearing my fanny pack under a T-shirt one day, and wherever I went people were exceedingly nice, letting me go in front of them in line, letting me go first wherever I was, and then I realized at the end of the day my giant fanny pack under my T-shirt made me look pregnant!” Leifer wrote.
She pointed out that most of the ideas she pitched were inspired by real-life events.
PHOTOS Emmys’ Biggest Snubs: Steve Carell, Jerry Seinfeld and 15 Empty-Handed Actors
“I always thought it would be a great Elaine story if she started to use that, the fanny pack, as a way to make her day in New York a lot less taxing, you know — getting the first taxi because she looked pregnant, getting concert tickets first because people saw her standing in line, and I think they always liked the notion of it but it never became an episode,” Leifer continued. “So I love those ideas about Seinfeld because nobody has fanny packs anymore, so it really was specific to the time (except dweebs who wear fanny packs).”
Leifer was a writer and/or story editor on Seinfeld for some 40 episodes in the mid-’90s. More recently, she’s written episodes of Lifetime’s Devious Maids and ABC’s Modern Family.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day