Seinfeld is still available on Netflix. Jerry's shoes and George's pothole nemesis weren't the only things that were missing. John Randolph is another no-show.
Here's some Seinfeld trivia: While it may be difficult to remember for those of a certain age, Jerry Stiller was not always the Festivus-creating patriarch in the Costanza family. John Randolph was Frank Costanza's actor before Ben Stiller's father added his iconic presence on the hit NBC series.
The 22nd episode of Season 4's "The Handicap Spot" featured Frank as the main character. Randolph made his only appearance on Seinfeld in this episode. This gave us Frank as a gentler and more soft-spoken character. Stiller was able to add his own personal stamp to the character in Season 5.
However, "The Handicap Spot” was still available. According to the story, Larry David, Seinfeld's co-creator, originally wanted Stiller for this role but the actor declined. David tried again several months later and Stiller agreed. David reportedly pushed NBC for a reshoot of Randolph's scenes after he had established Frank Costanza, which we all love and respect today. I couldn't find any interview that confirmed the exact circumstances of the reshoots, but David's push for them was the story that floats around.
Both versions of "The Handicap Spot," appear on Seinfeld's Season 4 DVD release. Both versions were also available in Hulu's library. This is the place where Seinfeld lived prior to Netflix. Now, only the Stiller reshoot version of "The Handicap Spot” is available in its new home.
I am not trying to launch a "Release the John Randolph cut campaign." If you don't have DVD, the original episode is still available. Randolph's clips can be found on YouTube in many forms.
It is still curious to note that Seinfeld's old streaming site of Hulu had both episodes, while Netflix only has one. Mashable reached out to both Netflix and NBC for more information. Stay tuned for updates.
