re: Michael Richards is an all time great and elite when it comes to physical comedy

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I seriously don't know how a writer/director/producer can plan a show/scene around a physical comedian like Richards.

Unlike a Buster Keaton, Lucille Ball, Mr Bean, Jim Carrey who all had movies/scenes they themselves specifically designed for their own physical choreography, Larry David must've wrote words for Kramer and said, "I'll let Richards make it funny."

That seems so risky to depend on that amount of insane creativity on a weekly basis and yet it had to happen bc there is no way to script out Kramer's physical movements.

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Or we could look at it differently in that the writing doesn't have to be incredibly funny because Richards just makes it funny, so maybe he felt less pressure once he developed so much confidence in him after a season or two.

"Well, I can't find a funnier line for this, but that's ok, Michael will make it hilarious"

I bet both are true to an extent.

I feel like the "George is better" stuff started after people had seen the show 1000 times and were used to Kramer. I love George and I laugh my arse off every time I watch him, but in real time nobody had ever seen anything like Kramer or Michael Richards before. If folks just prefer George that's cool but I think Kramer was such a phenomenon that like Jim Carrey people just got tired of it. But to me Kramer is the funniest and most brilliant TV character ever. Literally everything Richards did as that character was a perfect hit, a perfect tick. He couldn't have done anything better with another take

Both Richards and Alexander both did a phenomenal job of overhauling their characters from season 1 to season 2, with season 3 being the one in which they hit their stride.

In S1, Kramer gives off a weird serial killer vibe, and George is overly whiny. S2 is where you start to see glimpses of what they would become.

One of my favorite Kramer moments of all time came in the S2 episode The Statue...

Kramer impersonates a cop

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Agreed. Rewatching the series now on Netflix. Season one is hard to get through. Glad they didn't give up on it.

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I think it did poorly right? Maybe just a rumor but I thought I heard it was close to the network chopping block before it turned around.

I still enjoy season 1 because I know how the characters develop.

Jerry, these are LOAD BEARING WALLS, they aren’t going to come down!

The reality is both George and Kramer are amazing characters and they together carried the show in a sense. They brought two entirely different styles that worked together amazingly.

I think Kramer’s physical comedy helped stay the course early on and then George’s ridiculousness flourished once the characters developed.

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The show falls apart without George. Not only is he the best character. Jason Alexander was by far the most talented actor on the show. A legit stage actor and song and dance man.

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This. I thought the Kramer character was stupid and often detracted from the show. I was 3 when it went off the air so it is possible that Kramer's character didn't age well.

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I love George and I laugh my arse off every time I watch him, but in real time nobody had ever seen anything like Kramer or Michael Richards before

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That's actually true.

George Costanza and Archie Bunker are the only sitcom characters that made me consistently laugh every time they appeared. I would throw George Jefferson in with those two as well. The genius of Seinfeld is that you always felt that those four cast members were right on the verge of cracking up every time they interacted. Seinfeld especially had a hard time suppressing that smirk.

He really acted like a jerk compared to the others during the outtakes. They were having a good time and he seemed annoyed by it all.