NBC Hated ‘The Chinese Restaurant’ And Other Facts And Easter Eggs About The ‘Seinfeld’ Classic

NBC

Dear Los Angeles friends: If you’re ever near Fairfax Avenue, do us a favor, stop by Genghis Cohen and give the maître d’ a big hug. They’re the responsible party.

One of Seinfeld‘s most iconic episodes, “The Chinese Restaurant,” was dreamt up by the great and ornery Larry David as he and the show’s star patiently (well, impatiently) waited for a table at the aforementioned restaurant in the early ’90s. As the pair stood by for seating, David decided the mundane and run-of-the-mill activity was perfect for a real-time episode of the hit show about nothing.

In “Restaurant,” the often reproachable onscreen friends of Seinfeld grow more and more distressed as they wait to dine before heading to a screening of Plan 9 from Outer Space. As their movie time approaches, a starving Elaine gets increasingly desperate, an anxious George battles for use of the restaurant’s pay phone, and a guilty Jerry attempts to place a woman he recognizes.

While not much happens, the season two episode has oft been labeled “groundbreaking.” In fact, the 1991 installment was so important to David that he threatened to walk away from Seinfeld all together. Behold, David’s stand off with NBC execs, the secret meaning of “Cartwright” and more fun little tidbits from the gang’s attempted egg roll excursion.

David threatened to quit over the episode.

So, what had our creator so riled up? Seinfeld and David penned the latter’s brainchild into a full-fledged episode together and pitched the one-set plot. Unfortunately, NBC execs weren’t buying it. Warren Littlefield, former president of the network, said he thought his script was missing pages. “Are they trying to save money? I didn’t get it,” he said in a special Seinfeld: Inside Look clip.

Littlefield and other higher-ups felt the “bottle episode” was too static and that audiences would be uninterested. Writers added the movie crunch-time element to “up the stakes,” but the network was still not on board — they hated it and didn’t even want to run it. David put up a front and threatened to leave the show, and (thankfully) got his way. NBC aired the episode, but much later in the season than initially intended.