THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609110049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 70 lines
SING NO SAD SONGS for Heidi Swedberg, the actress who ``dies'' tonight at 9 on ``Seinfeld.''
The show is a repeat of last season's finale, which upset some people with its offhand take on death.
The fates stepped in when George wished he could end his engagement to Susan, the tall, blond sourpuss played by Swedberg. She complained when he fantasized about other women and even wanted him to share his ATM PIN number with her.
The nerve of that woman.
As Susan was mailing out wedding invitations, and licking the glue on old, cut-rate envelopes that George pushed her into buying from a dusty warehouse, she collapsed in a coma and died soon afterward in a hospital. Cause of death: ingesting old, cheap glue.
``The producers didn't think anyone would be offended. I wasn't sure what the reaction of the audience would be. As for myself, I was pleased as punch with the script,'' Swedberg said in Hollywood recently.
Of course she was. The episode made her reasonably famous. It got her other work.
``Dying on the most popular comedy on television didn't hurt,'' she said. Don't be surprised if she gets a series of her own soon.
Susan is gone but not forgotten. NBC insiders tell me when the new season of ``Seinfeld'' begins next Thursday at 9 p.m., George learns he would have inherited millions if he married Susan. Instead, her parents use the money to create the Susan Ross Foundation. George is the loser again. Still.
When we last saw Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine, George's marriage plans died with Susan but Jerry became engaged to Jeannie, played by Janeane Garofalo. NBC informs me that this engagement also ends - with an argument and not a post-mortem.
Those who were critical of Susan's death must not watch ``Seinfeld'' regularly, said Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Elaine. ``We do a very, very black comedy, and that episode was in keeping with our style.
``I read where people said the episode de-humanized the characters. It did. Absolutely. That's why it was so funny. Anyone who's watched our show shouldn't be surprised to learn the people we play are not nice or kind people.''
Just how funny was the Susan-in-a-coma thing?
``When we were doing the hospital scene, I had to be told by the director over and over again not to laugh. Elaine had to be serious.''
Louis-Dreyfus - who picked up an Emmy last Sunday for her ``Seinfeld'' work - hasn't had much time off in 1996, what with jetting to the United Kingdom soon after ``Seinfeld'' wrapped to do ``Neil Simon's London Suite,'' which NBC airs Sunday at 9 p.m.
Michael Richards of ``Seinfeld'' also appears in the film about couples whose lives come together at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The Louis-Dreyfus character sees her husband disappear before the honeymoon begins.
Why did she give up vacation time with her family to spend weeks in London doing this film?
``It was a Neil Simon piece. That's pretty much the reason.''
Here is a program note for ``Seinfeld'' fans: The sitcom, which has been seen in re-runs on WTKR at 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, is moving. Next Monday, it will be on 7:30 p.m. Also, ``Home Improvement'' re-runs will play twice - at 5:30 and 7 p.m.
Federal regulators last year loosened rules which in the past forbid stations from playing off-network reruns in the hours leading up to prime time. WTKR will strip in a syndicated show, ``Judge Judy,'' to replace ``Seinfeld'' at 4:30. ``Judge Judy'' also airs at 4 p.m.
As for Swedberg, she wasn't upset about being written out of TV's hottest prime-time half hour. She was told it was coming.
``I knew from the start that Susan was a real outsider, that she would never break into Jerry's inner circle.''
In her heart, Susan knew that George was a bachelor for life. by CNB