Larry David's departure from 'Seinfeld' altered George Costanza's role

Groundbreaking sitcom Seinfeld only gained followers as time went by, making series regulars Jerry (Seinfeld), George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julie Louise Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) names, known all around the world.

What will come as a surprise to many though is that one of the creators, Larry David, had left the show after seven seasons. David wasn’t part of arguably the best multi-camera sitcom in the last two seasons.

The character most affected by Larry’s departure was of course George, played by Jason Alexander. Alexander's role was in fact based on David himself.

"Larry was George, George was Larry," Alexander explained on a Seinfeld Extras clip.

"And without him there to guide the George stories and George reactions, I anticipated that it wouldn't be quite the same character. And I think it wasn't the same character."

"I was concerned with what would happen to the show in general, what would certainly happen to George in specific."

Creator and actor Jerry Seinfeld himself also wondered what the show would look like after David’s exit.

Following some guesswork David explained why he left, saying that "seven years is a long time for someone to executive produce a show like that."