The Character Death On Seinfeld Fans Actually Thought Was Hilarious

On numerous occasions throughout "Seinfeld," the actions of Jerry Seinfeld and friends have unintentionally disastrous consequences that lead to the injury — or demise — of several individuals.

A prime example is Season 4, Episode 20 ("The Junior Mint"). While watching the spleen surgery of Roy (Sherman Howard), Elaine Benes' (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) ex-boyfriend, Kramer (Michael Richards) munches on a box of Junior Mints. When Kramer offers the candy to Jerry and he refuses, a kerfuffle ensues, causing one of the mints to drop into Roy's open body. When his health begins to decline post-surgery, doctors struggle to figure out the issue.

Then, in Season 5, Episode 16 ("The Stand In"), Jerry's comedy actually causes the death of a hospitalized man named Fulton (Michael Rivkin). When Jerry is informed by a mutual friend that Fulton could use a good laugh, he obliges, but his jokes don't go over so well. In fact, they actually make Fulton's condition worse. Jerry makes it his mission to at least incite a chuckle. At the end of the episode, not only does Jerry succeed, he makes Fulton laugh so hard that he dies.

While Roy and Fulton enjoy brief spots on "Seinfeld," another character who meets their bitter end is a recurring face on the sitcom. Each injury and death on the show has some humor to it, but fans think the controversial demise of this particular person is the most hilarious.

After quite the on-again, off-again relationship, fan-favorite George Costanza (Jason Alexander) and Susan Ross (Heidi Swedberg) are finally making the preparations to get married in Season 7. However, George isn't exactly ecstatic about the impending nuptials.

When it comes time to choose their wedding invitations, he insists on getting the cheapest option. Yet there's a reason they're so affordable — the glue on the envelopes is toxic. With each one Susan licks, she becomes woozier and woozier until she passes out and, ultimately, dies. Rather than mourn this loss, George, Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer are blasé toward the situation. Susan's doctor later describes George's reaction as "restrained jubilation."

On Reddit, u/Light-Yagami_ asked whether or not Susan's departure from "Seinfeld" was in poor taste. "I've actually had people tell me that they stopped liking the show after Susan's death and how George acted afterward," this user said.

Yet many fans begged to differ. In one reply, u/mo3ron said, "If it was some real tragic relatable death I think it wouldn't have worked as well." Another response by u/almosthuman2021 added, "Idk I could see how it could be too much but I think it's hilarious. I liked that Seinfeld didn't mind doing really dark comedy and also the fact even in death the show wasn't going to have an emotional moment."

Some fans, like u/bltyeg, even shared George's feeling of restrained jubilation given Susan's regular spats with his friends. "[F]or me, there was a real sense of relief when Susan's character dies. And I mean the cheap envelope glue? It works. She and George brought out the worst in each other and she had to go."

Behind the scenes of the series, Jason Alexander and the rest of the core cast weren't exactly sorry to see Heidi Swedberg go. In a 2015 interview with Howard Stern, Alexander revealed, "I love her. She's a terrific girl. I love her. I couldn't figure out how to play off of her. Her instincts for doing a scene, where the comedy was, and mine were always misfiring." When "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David informed Alexander that his character would be getting engaged to Susan, the actor said, "I went, 'Oh, great, who's playing George?' Because it was such a disaster."

Though Alexander kept informing David and the others that Swedberg's casting simply wasn't a good fit, his complaints weren't believed until Seinfeld and Louis-Dreyfus filmed some scenes with her. "They go, 'You know what? It's f****** impossible,'" said Alexander. "Julia actually said, 'Don't you wanna just kill her?'" Just as their on-screen personas have a knack for accidentally causing chaos, Louis-Dreyfus unintentionally put Swedberg out of a job. According to Alexander, David loved the idea so much that he decided to run with it.

Soon after his Howard Stern interview, Alexander issued a lengthy apology statement to Swedberg on Twitter. It read, in part, "She is a kind, lovely person who undoubtedly worked really hard to create Susan ... I just felt I was on uncertain ground in how to play off that character and I was always concerned that it wasn't working."