Seinfeld: The 5 Most Annoying Things Kramer Ever Did (& 5 Sweetest)
Cosmo Kramer was one of the most memorable characters on Seinfeld, both due to the characters' sometimes annoying quirks and his inherent sweetness.
Michael Richards played the character of Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, which explored the life of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his friends as they went about their daily lives doing nothing in New York City, which often led them to hilarious and often-times relatable adventures for nine seasons on NBC.
As the series was largely about nothing, the characters took center stage, with Kramer’s character standing out as one of the wildest and zany characters on television in the 90s. Like the rest of the friends’ group, Kramer was not without his own annoying but memorable quirks, though he had quite a few sweet moments over the course of the series as well.
Annoying: Forgot Where The Car Was Parked
When the gang traveled to a mall in New Jersey so Kramer could pick up an air conditioner, he neglected to keep track of where he parked his vehicle in the second season episode “The Parking Garage.”
They ten spend the entire episode walking around the garage trying to find the car, which results in both Jerry and George getting detained by security after they took Kramer’s advice on public urination. When they finally found the vehicle, Kramer still had to find his now forgotten air conditioner, Elaine’s recently purchased goldfish were dead, and the car wouldn’t start.
Sweetest: Photographer For His Friends
Kramer doesn’t really have a set job throughout the series, though he has a number of skills that he uses to earn money and maintain his lifestyle, which includes his work as an amateur photographer.
Kramer has offered to help his friends with photog work a few times in the series, though it doesn’t always turn out well. He took Elaine’s photo for her Christmas card, though she was unknowingly exposing herself. He also helped George with a set of racy boudoir photos that can still be found hanging on some fan’s walls.
Annoying: Abused Jerry’s Apartment
Another way that Kramer is able to maintain his lifestyle without a stable job of any kind is the fact that he mooches off of his neighbor Jerry in all kinds of ways, from eating the food out of his refrigerator to using his kitchen to cook.
However, After Jerry returns home from a work trip to find Kramer in his bedroom with a girlfriend, Jerry was forced to take back his spare set of keys. While Kramer eventually earned the keys back, he was heartbroken at the loss of Jerry’s apartment and headed to LA to make it as an actor.
Sweetest: Made Fusilli Jerry
Despite the occasional issues between Jerry and Kramer over his apartment, the two had a strong friendship that Kramer valued, and he occasionally went out of his way to show Jerry just how much he meant to him.
The sixth season episode “The Fusilli Jerry” featured one of these moments, as Kramer sculpted a miniature Jerry using pasta noodles. Unfortunately, during an altercation with George’s father Frank (played by the late great Jerry Stiller), the Fusilli Jerry ended up lodged inside Frank, and Kramer’s pasta-sculpting days were over.
Annoying: The Junior Mint
“The Junior Mint” aired in the fourth season and quickly became one of the most memorable episodes due to an annoying altercation between Jerry and Kramer as they observed a medical operation on Elaine’s former boyfriend.
Kramer decided to pick up a snack while watching the surgery in the form of a box of Junior Mints, which he then offered to Jerry. He continued to offer the mint to Jerry despite his refusal, causing him to bat it away where it fell into the open cavity of the patient. They feared they might have killed him, but he made a “miraculous” recovery.
Sweetest: Tried To Save Little Jerry
While Kramer’s foray into cock-fighting in the eighth season episode “The Little Jerry” is certainly not one of his sweeter moments in the series, he managed to somewhat redeem himself by the end of the episode with a selfless sacrifice.
After buying what he thought was an egg-laying hen, he ended up with a strong rooster that he named “Little Jerry” that soon displayed his fighting spirit. When Little Jerry was put into the ring against a much more vicious rooster, Kramer jumped in between Little Jerry and his opponent, presumably suffering greatly to save his new friend.
Annoying: The Merv Griffin Show
Kramer modified his own apartment in quite a few different ways over nine seasons, from installing levels instead of furniture to creating a front yard in the apartment building’s hallway, though he also transformed his place into a canceled TV talk show.
The sixth season episode “The Merv Griffin Show” featured Kramer finding the discarded set of the titular TV show in the garbage, which e then reassembled in his apartment. He began to live his life in a 10-hour unaired talk show cycle that he hosted which featured his annoyed friends and guests like animal specialists.
Sweetest: Chased Jerry’s Stolen Car
Kramer and his friend and Jerry’s rival Newman (played by Wayne Knight) attempted to exploit the bottle return difference between states by hauling a mail truckload of bottles from New York to Michigan in the seventh season episode “The Bottle Deposit.”
However, Jerry’s car had previously been stolen, and when Kramer noticed it driving on the road in front of him, he decided to follow the thief. Kramer abandoned the bottles and Newman in order to keep up to the car, though after the thief let loose a number of golf clubs, the mail truck broke down and the chase was over.
Annoying: Never Listens To His Lawyer
Kramer was involved in a number of legal cases over nine seasons of Seinfeld, which usually meant that his lawyer Jackie Chiles (played by Phil Morris), whose character was lampooning the famous real-world lawyer Johnnie Cochrane.
Chiles represented Kramer in a number of cases that included his “hot coffee” case, a suit against the heiress to the Oh Henry fortune for her choice of clothing, and a potentially lucrative case against the tobacco company. Unfortunately, Kramer almost never listened to his lawyer and missed out on some potentially huge settlements.
Sweetest: Reconnected With His Mother (& Cosmo)
Kramer existed without his first name for six seasons which was revealed to be due to his troubled relationship with his alcoholic mother who had been mentioned a few times in various episodes, though she didn’t appear until “The Switch.”
Babs Kramer (played by Sheree North) appeared in the episode and revealed that Kramer’s first name was actually Cosmo. This led to Kramer reconnecting with his now-sober mother for likely yet another get-rich-quick scheme and reclaiming his first name in one of the character’s sweetest moments on Seinfeld.
