Think about a world the place Seinfeld was as a substitute titled “Costanza.”
It doesn’t have fairly the identical ring to it. It doesn’t roll off the tongue.
But it surely is likely to be a extra correct title.
Regardless of happening in his house, regardless of the stand-up bits that open and shut so many episodes, and regardless of his title gracing the title of the sequence, Jerry Seinfeld is just not the true protagonist of Seinfeld.
That might be George Constanza.
A protagonist is the main character in a narrative whose motivations, targets, and actions we most carefully observe. On Seinfeld, George is the character most incessantly occupying this place.
Seinfeld’s construction virtually all the time follows alongside an A-plot (the principle plot) a B-plot (a facet plot) and a C-plot (one other facet plot, typically smaller than the B-plot), and every of those plots come collectively on the finish of the episode for a closing punch line.
Most frequently, Elaine and Kramer occupy the B and C-plots whereas George and Jerry take the A-plot.
In fact, all 4 characters interchange positions relying on the episode, however of all of the characters, George’s character is most incessantly on the heart of the A-plot, even when it’s not all the time apparent.
The primary facet of George that makes him the middle of Seinfeld is his motivation.
Not one of the characters on Seinfeld ever enhance as individuals, nor do they actually enhance their standings in life. Jerry, for instance, doesn’t enhance as a result of he doesn’t wish to. His life is ok the best way it’s.
George, however, doesn’t enhance as a result of he always fails to take action.
He tries to enhance his life although, (not himself actually, simply his life), and his need to enhance his standing creates motivation.
This implies George is all the time energetic in a narrative, virtually by no means simply permitting one thing to occur to him.
Whereas Jerry might spend an episode passively making an attempt to regulate to an odd girlfriend quirk or making an attempt to foster a friendship with Keith Hernandez, George is actively making an attempt to make use of that friendship to additional his personal positive aspects.
Whether or not it’s profitable over a lady, staying on unemployment, or getting his mother and father to maneuver to Florida, George all the time finds a approach to affect his state of affairs, even when he usually fails.
These actions typically drive the A-plots on Seinfeld and locations George on the heart of many of those tales, however George’s position as a number one man doesn’t finish there.
Desperation is an incredible storytelling gadget. The extra determined your characters are, the additional they are going to go to attain their targets, offering extra excessive and hilarious conditions and extra drama.
Nobody is extra determined than George Costanza.
This desperation is one other massive a part of what makes George such a deep nicely of story concepts for the A-plots of Seinfeld.
On Seinfeld Season 5 Episode 11, “The Conversion” George believes he’s in love with a lady, so to proceed up to now her he decides to transform to her faith.
His desperation to please her pushes him not simply to transform, however to cheat on his conversion check and go in opposition to his mother and father’ needs, offering us the principle draw of the episode.
George’s desperation and makes an attempt to alter his life create the storylines that we put money into, even when we solely put money into watching him fail.
Nonetheless, when George isn’t determined his actions nonetheless typically set the stage for an episode’s story, like in Seinfeld Season 4 Episode 7, “The Bubble Boy.”
The plot is about in movement by Jerry’s settlement to satisfy with a fan that lives in a bubble, however this solely acts because the catalyst for George’s story. It’s George who leaves Jerry behind on the street and George who will get into an argument with the bubble boy.
It’s George who creates the primary ingredient to storytelling: battle.
Virtually all of George’s selections create battle, the place for Jerry, battle as a substitute appears to search out him.
That’s to not say you’ll be able to’t have a passive protagonist, however because of George’s actions typically being essentially the most integral to the development of the story, George’s character is the one most integral to the present.
George holds one other distinctive place amongst the Seinfeld crew; he’s the one character to undergo actual penalties.
Struggling penalties is among the most vital elements of a lead character as a result of it gives the character with a journey.
On Seinfeld, the gang typically will get reset to their customary lives by the tip of an episode. No hugging, no studying.
Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer lead comparatively comfy existences, so a reset to their baseline is generally inconsequential to them.
George, nonetheless, dreads his on a regular basis life. A reset to George’s baseline is the worst factor that may occur to him.
The consequence of George’s lack of ability to flee from himself is the one journey on Seinfeld.
It might be a journey via a stagnant life that’s rendered inescapable by the protagonist’s personal selections, but it surely’s a journey none the much less.
That implies that each probability at success means one thing to George, and having a which means pushes his character to the forefront.
On Seinfeld Season 4, when Jerry and George create a pilot for NBC essentially the most Jerry stands to lose is the chance for a brand new profession transfer. He needs the pilot, however he doesn’t want the pilot.
For George, the pilot represents his probability at a brand new life. He’s determined to get that pilot made as a result of it is going to rocket him out of his pitiful life and into the stardom for which he was born.
That causes him to take cost of the conferences and negotiations, leading to a chaotic growth of the present as George has completely no thought what he’s doing.
It’s Jerry’s pilot, but it surely’s George’s story.
Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George are all integral to Seinfeld. On a base degree, Jerry is the central determine we concentrate on as his buddies work together along with his life.
We’re launched to a lot of the present via Jerry’s eyes, and there are many episodes that Jerry takes an energetic position, so to utterly dismiss Jerry because the central determine of his present can be disingenuous.
George Constanza, although, is the beating coronary heart of Seinfeld.
His motivation, actions, and desperation make him a compelling determine with a powerful capacity to create battle, and his everlasting battle along with his place in life makes him the middle of Seinfeld’s solely journey.
And that’s the reason George Constanza is the key protagonist of Seinfeld.
Tommy Czerpak is a workers author for TV Fanatic. Observe him on Twitter.