Elaine Benes

Elaine is mostly a victim of fate throughout the series. Storylines involving her would typically have her caught up in the machinations of the other characters, or coming into conflict either with her inadequate boyfriends or the arbitrary requirements of her eccentric employers. She grew progressively more cynical and acid-tongued as the series progressed.

Elaine was the only character who worked steady 9 to 5 jobs throughout the show's entire run, working mostly as a writer or editor. During the first five seasons, she worked at Pendant Publishing, where she served as a copy editor before losing her job at the end of the fifth season when the company went bankrupt (an occurrence for which she was partially responsible). In the sixth season, she was a personal assistant to the wealthy, eccentric Mr. Pitt, before finally meeting J. Peterman and becoming an editor at the J. Peterman Catalog, where she would remain employed for the rest of the show's run. She took charge of the catalog when Peterman took a short "retirement" (nervous breakdown) in Burma, moving back to her former position after he returned and after losing the company money. She was fired by J. Peterman for voicing her extreme hatred for the movie The English Patient. Only by agreeing to travel to (and live in) a remote cave in the Tunisian desert for a specified time did she save her job.

Elaine had a string of boyfriends, most appearing for only an episode or two. One of the few that had a recurring appearance was David Puddy, her slow-witted steady boyfriend, played by Patrick Warburton. Like Jerry, Elaine's relationships usually ended over shallow, superficial reasons. In one episode, Elaine repeatedly ends and restarts her relationship with Puddy during the course of an international airplane trip.