I think the Puddy character shows promise. After a slow start, we've finally seen a little character development. Here is (1) who I think Puddy is, and (2) where they should take the character.
Puddy is a guy with blue-collar roots. He's not laconic because he believes that "brevity is the soul of wit"; there's just not too much going on in his mind. He's the sort of guy you meet in Buttafuocco (sp?) country, Bay Ridge (Brooklyn), Noo Joisey, or the blue-collar parts of Queens. As an auto mechanic (OK, a former one), he's accustomed to being admired in the old neighborhood as someone with, compared to his peers, a relatively high-paying, skilled job. This is why he's self-assured; such guys are popular with women from the big-hair school of hair style. When you take this sort of guy out of his element (e.g., drop him in Manhattan), he stands out as a stereotypical uncool, declasse member of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.
What does Elaine see in him? Elaine is, at heart, insecure, and she needs a man who is secure in his manhood and his feelings about himself. That's one reason (among others) she finds George repulsive. Elaine, as a thirty-something professional or semi-professional woman, realizes that most of the good guys are taken, especially the ones at or above her level of education and income. She's willing to date someone who is "beneath her station", as long as he's attractive and doesn't have any obvious psychological imbalances; hence, Puddy.
Here are some ideas of where the writers can take this:
1. Keep Puddy's uncool, declasse behavior, and Elaine's embarrassment
over it, as a running gag (but don't overplay it!). For example,
Puddy can embarrass her one day by driving her to a business
or social engagement in a most uncool (for Manhattan) car:
an old Trans Am with resonator tail pipes.
(In Bay Ridge and places like that, a cool guy's gotta drive a
Trans Am, or a black Firebird with a gold bird logo stenciled
on the hood.)2. Have Puddy take Jerry, George, and Kramer to one of Puddy's
favorite places, such as a grungy sports bar. Have Jerry and friends
hate themselves in the morning for enjoying a night out with Puddy.3. Have Puddy's uncoolness become cool again. Have Puddy and Elaine
go to some 70's retro venue (maybe a Quentin Tarantino cast party?),
and let Puddy show some "Saturday Night Fever" disco moves.
Of course, the party's over when Elaine takes the dance floor....4. Here's one that's a little over the top: One day, while going to
a gig at a club in Greenwich Village, Jerry sees Puddy walking
hand-in-hand with....another man. Jerry tries awkwardly to break
the news to Elaine that Puddy has "switched teams", or at least
is a "switch hitter".Opinions? Ideas?
---Alvin H. Nichter