Elaine Benes

Elaine is Jerry's ex-girlfriend turned close friend, sharp-tongued and perpetually exasperated by the men and social codes around her. She works in publishing, dates disastrously, and dances badly at office parties. Opinionated and impatient, she pushes back on nonsense with a shove and a "get out!" that often knocks people to the floor.

The writing gives her the same pettiness and self-absorption as the men without ever softening her into a girlfriend role, and Louis-Dreyfus plays every irritation at full volume — the outrage always seems entirely reasonable to her. Her physical comedy, especially that dance, turns a sitcom fixture into something genuinely startling to watch.