Why Patrick Warburton’s Father Hated His Seinfeld Role

No one watched “Seinfeld” looking for likable characters — after all, if they did, they probably didn’t hang around for long. But even the most dedicated fans of the sitcom needed an oasis of sanity to escape to every now and then when Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer got overly contentious or just plain unbearable. And on a show like “Seinfeld,” David Puddy sometimes qualified as a pillar of sanity. Sometimes.

Played to deadpan perfection by Patrick Warburton, Puddy was an honest mechanic who loved the New Jersey Devils (a little too much) and was fond of Elaine. Elaine reciprocated this fondness, but their relationship was perpetually on the rocks. Theirs was not an ideal match — or maybe it was. Maybe these two worked best in on-again/off-again pairings, in which case they were meant to be together when they were together and vice versa. In any event, when it came to volatility, Elaine tended to hit the top more easily (though Puddy could surprise with an out-of-character fit of pique on occasion).

For the most part, however, Puddy existed above the fray. He was also a fairly moral dude when it came down to it. Alas, Warburton’s parents didn’t see it this way, and let him know about it at length.

In an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Warburton, in his soothing bass tone, revealed to the comedian host that his initial appearance on “Seinfeld” was met with stern disapproval from his father. “The first episode I did of ‘Seinfeld,’ I got a six-page letter from my father about how disappointed he was in the choices I was making,” Warburton told Mandel.

If you’re wondering how anything on “Seinfeld,” outside of a racially insensitive joke at the expense of the Puerto Rican people, could’ve prompted such a blistering response, here, per, Warburton, was the issue:

“What it was is I was [Jerry’s] mechanic, and I stole his move and used it on Elaine. So they had an issue with the, not dealing with the sex act with any sanctity — because we all know the sex act is full of sanctity and nothing else.”

Obviously, Warburton’s parents are politically and spiritually conservative people, so their best move probably would’ve been to congratulate their son on finding paying work in a hyper-competitive industry and tuning in to “The Lawrence Welk Show” on PBS. Instead, they rolled the dice, and found out that all network sitcoms are not as gee-whiz friendly as “All My Sons.”

The kicker is that Warburton moved on to an even more risque show in “Family Guy,” which was so outrageous his parents helped mobilize against its very existence. “My mother belonged to the American Television Council, and they were trying to get the show canceled,” said Warburton. “I was helping support my parents with ‘Family Guy’ money.” To give you an idea as to how that battle went, “Family Guy” recently began its 23rd season on the air this year.