Jerry Seinfeld's Reaction To A Kramer Scene Frustrated Michael Richards

In spite of being remembered as a show about nothing, "Seinfeld" was anything but, as Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld pitched their sitcom to NBC as a show about how a comedian gets their material. For the first seven seasons, these two were responsible for heralding their groundbreaking comedy series from humble beginnings at Desilu-Cahuenga to one of the best sitcoms ever made. "Seinfeld" only grew in popularity with each passing season as audiences became more and more endeared to the bizarre misadventures of Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards). When it came time to start working on the eighth season, however, there was a regime change that challenged the show's viability.

In the wake of killing off Susan Ross (Heidi Swedberg), George's fiancee, in the season 7 finale, David finally put his foot down and decided to leave the show to work on other projects he had been wanting to get started on. His absence made the "Seinfeld" crew pretty nervous since David had always been a crucial part of the show's success, and no one knew if it would even work without his input. The ball was in Jerry's court going into season 8, as the titular star took over showrunner duties. As it turns out, "Seinfeld" and its team of talented writers could still turn out some hilariously weird episodes like "The Muffin Tops," "The Little Kicks," and "The English Patient." The core group of television troublemakers were still the hilarious sociopaths we knew and loved from seasons past, especially Kramer.

While the main plot of the season 8 episode "The Abstinence" involves Jerry and Elaine grappling with their diverging results of abstaining from sex, the greatest laughs are the result of one of the most unpredictable neighbors in television history. Kramer gets a spark of a bad idea when he decides to turn his apartment space into a smoking lounge after seeing people booted out of Monk's for wanting to light up. It grows to the point that the building's hallways are literally enveloped in a constant cloud of smoke. Kramer then barges into Jerry's apartment, as he so often does, prompting his neighbor to do a double take at his appearance. Indeed, Richards' ghostly visage was apparently so funny that it caused Jerry to ruin a whole bunch of takes by laughing.

In a DVD featurette for "The Abstinence," Richards talked about how his chalky facial makeup and faux rotten teeth made it difficult for Jerry to hit his marks:

"We were doing it in front of an audience, and I got concerned after a couple takes, and no one was keeping a straight face. We're gonna lose the audience. I always knew we only had a few passes to get these scenes done, so that's the only reason why I never broke character. Also because you never know what's gonna happen, the magic comedy making, you want to keep it straight."

The featurette even showed bloopers of Jerry struggling to stay in character and roll with Richards' performance while he attempts to stay in the scene. I can't think of a single show, let alone sitcoms, that don't feature any of the actors cracking up at something funny on set. It's bound to happen, especially when you're working with comedians. Even a live comedy program like "Saturday Night Live" isn't immune to someone cracking up on account of a hilarious line delivery. To Richards' point, however, getting a live studio audience to laugh at the same joke over and over again diminishes its impact with each new take. After a few times, they know what the punchline's gonna be and the reaction won't be as spontaneous as the first time they're introduced to it.

Part of what made it difficult for Jerry to keep a straight face probably stemmed from him seeing the teeth makeup for the first time on set. Richards jokingly talked about how frustrating it was in that moment to for his co-star to just roll with the sight gag and keep things moving:

"I'd get angry at him, actually. I'd say 'Come on, don't.' I just felt it was unprofessional. Come on! Keep it going."

What's even funnier is that this isn't even the first time Richards had to deal with the ramifications of being too funny on "Seinfeld" opposite Jerry. In the season 2 episode "The Baby Shower," a dream sequence shows Jerry being gunned down by the FBI in his own apartment for an illegal cable hookup. Kramer then runs to his fallen neighbor buddy and cradles him in his arms, hilariously crying out, "What have you done to my little cable boy?!" Every take shows the scene going smoothly, that is, until Richards starts shaking his co-star, prompting him to crack up as a result. I guess some things never change.

Every episode of "Seinfeld" is currently streaming on Netflix.