The Big Picture

• Seinfeld has grown in popularity during syndication, with Michael Richards’ portrayal of Kramer contributing to the show’s success.
• Tony Shalhoub auditioned for the role of Kramer but went on to gain fame through his role on Wings and other film appearances.
• While a Seinfeld reboot has been rumored, the original show captured a specific time and era that cannot easily be recaptured.

While not every comedy series ages well, Seinfeld has grown even more popular in syndication than it was during its initial release. Jerry Seinfeld’s semi-autobiographical comedy series established itself as part of popular culture history with its dry wittiness, recurring gags, and memorable characters. Although Jerry himself is one of the most likable characters, even during his funniest episodes, his popularity was dwarfed by Michael Richards’ Kramer. Cosmo Kramer, Jerry’s eccentric next door neighbor, added a chaotic sense-of-humor that made Seinfeld feel like a somewhat exaggerated version of reality. Richards earned three Primetime Emmy Award wins for his performance, but the role nearly wasn’t his; Seinfeld nearly cast a different Emmy Award-winning actor, Tony Shalhoub, as Jerry’s neighbor.

Tony Shalhoub Auditioned To Play Kramer on ‘Seinfeld’

Prior to his breakout role in the NBC sitcom Wings, Tony Shalhoub auditioned to play Kramer in the Seinfeld pilot before Richard was cast. Shalhoub is unquestionably a talented actor, and has a keen sense of comedic timing that may have suited what was intended for the Seinfeld pilot. However, Shalhoub was still a relative unknown when he first auditioned, and casting a less popular star in a series intended to be a major hit may have been a risky prospect at the time for Seinfeld’s producers. While Richards’ popularity certainly skyrocketed after he was cast as Kramer, he had already established himself as a fixture of comedy television with his roles on the ABC sitcom Fridays and the cult satirical miniseries Fresno.

Although losing out on the Seinfeld gig may have been a major disappointment for Shalhoub, it was his role on Wings that earned him the reputation he has today. Wings was set within a fictionalized Massachusetts airport, and focused on the brothers Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian Hackett (Steven Weber). Shalhoub’s character, Antonio Scarpacci, was a hopelessly romantic taxi driver, who became one of the most popular characters in the series. Docile, sincere, and often shy, Scarappaci was about as different from Kramer as could be. Wings ran for eight seasons, and its popularity allowed Shalhoub to earn some of his most famous film roles.

Shalhoub essentially became the Kevin Bacon of the 1990s; he appeared in many films within different genres for brief, albeit scene-stealing parts. With roles in The Coen Brothers’s Hollywood satire Barton Fink, the Nicolas Cage romantic comedy Honeymoon in Vegas, the family comedy sequel Addams Family Values, and the original Men in Black film, Shalhoub had established himself as one of the decade’s most in-demand actors. While Seinfeld certainly would’ve given his career a major boost, it’s unlikely that he would have been able to appear in as many films if he was busy shooting a weekly sitcom series.

Michael Richards Almost Played Adrian Monk

Ironically, Seinfeld wasn’t the only instance when Shalhoub and Richard were up for the same role. Monk was originally developed as a procedural mystery-comedy series for ABC, and the network was determined to cast Richards as Adrian Monk. Richard ended up turning down the role, as he played a different private investigator on The Michael Richards Show only a few years earlier. Richards’ rejection led ABC to drop the series before it was picked up by the USA Network and Shalhoub was cast. Shalhoub perfectly captured the mix of integrity, idiosyncrasy, and intelligence that made Monk such a beloved character. Shalhoub’s performance inspired the show to a successful eight season run, as well as the upcoming spinoff film Mr. Monk’s Last Case.

In hindsight, it’s good that Richards was cast in Seinfeld and Shalhoub was cast in Monk. Kramer became such an iconic character partly because of Richards’ absurd physical shenanigans; he managed to keep surprising the Seinfeld audience even after Larry David left the series. Although it was primarily a comedy, Seinfeld did occasionally feature some more mature moments that dealt with Jerry and George Costanzas’ (Jason Alexander) personal and romantic lives. These more serious elements helped ground Seinfeld in a sense of realism, but Richards’ performance ensured that the show never took itself too seriously.

Richards was perfect as Kramer on Seinfeld because he was used in a limited capacity, but he may have been too silly of a character to be the star of a series in his own right. However, Shalhoub was able to ensure that Monk didn’t fall into the same trap by showing how Monk’s various phobias were linked to his wife’s death. Although Monk wrapped up in 2009, Shalhoub was able to show his dramatic capabilities once more when he was cast in the popular Amazon Prime streaming series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Shalhoub’s performance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel earned him an additional Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor after his three wins for Best Actor for Monk.

Will There Ever Be a ‘Seinfeld’ Reboot?

The Monk universe is set to continue with the upcoming spin-off film, however a reboot of Seinfeld has yet to be confirmed. Although Jerry Seinfeld has hinted at the possibility of a continuation, Julia Louis-Dreyfus said she hadn’t been informed about a reboot. Alexander also denied rumors of a Seinfeld reboot when he confirmed that neither he nor Richards had heard anything about it. Nonetheless, rumors about a sequel series continue to skyrocket thanks to Seinfeld’s popularity on Netflix.

Although shows like Fraser and That ’70s Show have been rebooted recently, Seinfeld doesn’t need a continuation. The show was representative of a specific time and era that cannot be easily recaptured. Seinfeld, Louis-Dreyfus, Alexander, and Richards are better suited to work on new projects that allow them to do something different. Even though the Seinfeld series finale was controversial, having Jerry, George, Kramer, and Elaine go on trial for their misdeeds was about as perfect of an ending as the show could have ever hoped to pull off.

Seinfeld is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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