"The Jacket" was written by "Seinfeld" co-creators Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld and directed by Tom Cherones. The episode's storyline was based on one of David's personal experiences; when he was dating Monica Yates, she wanted him to meet her father, Richard Yates, a respected novelist. David had just bought a suede jacket, and met Richard Yates at the Algonquin Hotel. David stated in an interview that Richard Yates was "... every bit as intimidating as Alton Benes". His story is similar to what happened in the episode, as, when they headed out to the restaurant, his jacket was ruined by the snow. Additional dialogue at the store where Jerry buys his jacket was cut before broadcast; it featured a reference to Gary Gilmore. The material was later included on the "Seinfeld Volume 1" DVD set. "The Jacket" is the only episode in which one of Elaine's parents appears; Louis-Dreyfus once suggested Mary Tyler Moore to portray Elaine's mother, but the character never appeared on the show. The episode also contains the first mention to Elaine's job as a manuscript reader for Pendant Publishing; in early drafts of the script, her job was an optician. Also in early drafts, in the final scene Kramer entered Jerry's house with a dove on his shoulder.