Why Seinfeld Replaced Phil Bruns As Jerry's Dad After Season 1

Television Comedy Shows

"Seinfeld" was famously a grower in terms of popularity. The sitcom struggled in the Nielsen ratings throughout its first three seasons before rising in season 4 and, finally, becoming the juggernaut that it would continue to be until the gang called it quits at the end of season 9.

To get there, Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David had to tweak the formula a little to set the show apart from more amiable hit sitcoms like "Cheers" and "The Cosby Show." For folks familiar with Seinfeld's stand-up through his appearances on HBO comedy specials or "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," this irascibility was surprising. Sometimes, the show got downright mean — never nastier than the dispatching of George's bride-to-be Susan (Heidi Swedberg) in the classic episode "The Invitations."

Seinfeld himself got more acerbic than he had been in his act, but, because he was not and has yet to be a versatile actor, he couldn't modulate his performance much. He was always going to have that legato delivery that verged on self-parody, so when it came to casting people to play off of him, it made sense to lean into abrasiveness. They eventually went in this direction with his father Morty, who was played to blustery perfection by Barney Martin, but early on in the run, they had a different kind of papa in mind for Jerry.

A kinder, gentler, wrong-for-Seinfeld Morty

If you're any kind of fan of "Seinfeld," you know "The Stake Out" front to back (it's one of /Film's 14 most underrated "Seinfeld" episodes). It's a vital piece in the construction of the series lore with the introduction of George Costanza's alter ego Art Vandelay, and it also features the only appearance of Phil Bruns as Morty Seinfeld.

Sitcom viewers of a certain age will recall Bruns as George Shumway, Louise Lasser's TV dad on "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." In his one episode of "Seinfeld," Bruns is a soft-spoken foil for Jerry and Liz Sheridan's Helen Seinfeld. It doesn't help that his big scene is awkwardly staged, with Morty and Helen in a pull-out bed that stretches out into the foreground of Jerry's apartment set. They're often addressing him by looking backward, which really hurts the underplaying Bruns. The chemistry just isn't right, so while Bruns was a proven sitcom star thanks to "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," Seinfeld and David opted for a more combative, "easy-to-anger curmudgeon."

This was Barney Martin's stock in trade, and only he could go convincingly toe-to-toe with the monster that was Jack Klompus.

What became of Bruns after getting replaced as Morty? The steadily employed actor kept plugging away as usual, and found a certain kind of glory in 1996 when he played Clarence in Matt LeBlanc's baseball-playing chimpanzee epic, "Ed."