Production
"The Baby Shower" was written by Larry Charles and directed by Tom Cherones, who directed all of season two's episodes.[3] The episode was the first episode written by Charles, who would remain with the show through the fifth season.[4] Charles had met Seinfeld co-creator Larry David and Richards when he was part of the writing staff of the ABC sketch show Fridays and David and Richards were part of the show's ensemble cast.[4] He had been unable to write for the show's first season, as Charles had been writing for The Arsenio Hall Show during its production.[4][5] Charles frequently had difficulty with writing Jerry's stand-up material; therefore, in "The Baby Shower", Seinfeld used some of his own material.[4] The episode was a combination of loose storylines that had been brought to the writers table.[6] Charles explained that the writing staff of the show considered it a challenge to weave together loose ideas into one episode.[6][7] The episode was partly based on a friend of Charles, who was pregnant but did not want to experience childbirth and therefore asked the doctor to anesthetize her.[2] Charles thought this was very ironic.[2] The Leslie character was largely based on Karen Finley and Johanna Went, two performance artists who both used foods in their acts, Charles considered them "a ripe target for satire".[2]
As Charles was always trying to find elements that were unusual in sitcoms, the episode had a scene in which Jerry dreams he is interrogated by the FBI for his illegal cable hookup, and is killed by their gunfire while trying to escape.[2] Charles recalled the dream sequence as "one of the most ambiguous scenes we did [in season two]" and felt it was very Tarantino-like.[2] At the end of the dream Kramer holds Jerry in his arm, stating "what have you done to my little cable boy?"; this scene had to be filmed multiple times, as it was hard for Seinfeld not to laugh when Richards said the line.[8] In audio commentary he recorded for the Seinfeld: Volume 1 DVD set, Charles noted how he established three of the episode's four storylines in one scene, in which the characters eat and talk at Monk's Cafe.[2] "The Baby Shower" also is one of the few episodes of season two in which the primary storylines of all four characters come together in the final scene.[2][9] In "The Busboy", which had been filmed earlier, the four storylines also intersected in the final scene, but the episode aired as the final episode of season two.[4] Charles also felt the episode defined the Kramer character more, as it is the first episode in which Kramer speaks out against the system.[2] In addition, the episode also establishes Elaine's interest in the Kennedys, a plot element that would return later in the season four episode "The Virgin".[2]
"The Baby Shower" was first read by the show's cast on November 14, 1990.[4] It was filmed in front of a live audience on November 20.[4] A technique called "Poor Man's Process" was used during the car scene with George and Jerry;[2] one or two crew members would shake the car to give the impression that it was moving, though it never actually was.[10] Other crew members would move lights around the set to simulate street lights or headlights of other cars.[10] Behind the car, two lights on a wheeled stand were placed to give the impression that there was a car behind it.[10] A cheap plastic sticker was put on Jerry's television screen to give the impression that it was broken.[2] A number of scenes were changed or cut during production of the episode. In early drafts of the script, the episode opened with Kramer telling Jerry about the Russian cable installers.[4] In the first draft of the script Elaine and Jerry would realize ahead of time that the baby shower and the cable installation would take place at the same time. This was changed as the writers felt it would be better left as a surprise.[4] Some dialogue was removed from the scene, as Kramer initially told Jerry Benjamin Franklin would have wanted free cable.[4] Additional dialogue between the baby shower guests regarding turning off men was also cut.[4] The scene in which Mary Cantardi, a woman Jerry went out with once but never called afterwards, makes a scene at the baby shower was not in the original script, but was added during rehearsals to give Seinfeld more involvement in the final scene.[4]
Don Perry guest starred as an airplane passenger next to Jerry, when he wakes up from his nightmare.[4] Perry states that he might be the last person Jerry will see alive. This line was not in the original script, but was added because Perry, as Charles explained, "just had the right look".[2] Christine Dunford was cast as Leslie, Charles commented "she just came in; gave a great reading. At this point in our show business history, I don't think we knew anybody".[2] Dunford would return later as a saleswoman in the season five episode "The Pie".[4] Margaret Reed, best known for her role on the soap opera As the World Turns, appeared as Mary Cantardi, a woman who screams at Jerry for not calling her back after a date.[4] Vic Polizos and James Lashly guest-starred as the Russian cable installers.[11][12] Norman Brenner, who worked as Richards' stand-in on the show for all its nine seasons,[13] appears as an extra in the first scene of the episode, standing at the counter at Monk's Cafe.[4]
