The Deal (Seinfeld) The Deal (Seinfeld) "The Deal" is the ninth episode of the second season of NBC's "Seinfeld", and the show's 14th episode overall. The episode centers on protagonists Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) who decide to have a sexual relationship, with a set of ground rules. However, as their "relationship" progresses, they experience difficulties maintaining their original friendship. Series co-creator Larry David wrote the episode in a response to NBC's continued efforts to get the two characters back together. The main inspiration behind the episode was a similar agreement David once made with a woman. The episode, which
The Seinfeld Chronicles season 9 episode "The Betrayal" in which Kramer explains that Kessler is the name on his apartment buzzer. David and Seinfeld re-wrote the script several times before submitting it to the network, dropping and adding various elements. Originally George, who was called Bennett in early drafts, was a comedian as well, and the first scene of the episode focussed on Jerry and George discussing their stand-up material. The character of Kramer, was not included in the first draft of the script, and in another draft he was called "Hoffman". Another element that was added was Kessler's dog, since it was