Michael Richards Followed Up Seinfeld With A Major Television Flop

Prior to his work on the hit 1989 sitcom "Seinfeld," comedian and actor Michael Richards might have been best-known for his amazing performance in the same year's cult comedy "UHF," playing the hapless, heroic janitor Stanley Spadowski. Others may also recognize him for playing a violent murderer in "Problem Child," or the slapstick butler Fejos in "Transylvania 6-5000." Of course, those who were watching the ABC stand-up series "Fridays" back in 1980, would already have known Richards for his comedy. By the time "Seinfeld" appeared in his path, Richards was already an experienced performer. 

"Seinfeld," of course, made Richards a millionaire and a household name. Playing the role of Cosmo Kramer netted him three Emmys, and it led to high-profile roles in studio comedy films like "Airheads," and "Trial and Error." He would remain popular until an infamous 2006 incident at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, wherein he aggressively berated hecklers with racial epithets. Richards apologized several times over, but the incident hurt his career, and he retired from stand-up partially as a result. He has had scant roles since.

And Richards was seemingly under pressure before that evening at the Laugh Factory. "Seinfeld" was such a massive juggernaut, it seemed like the show's four main stars (Richards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, Jerry Seinfeld) could never "recover," in a way. They would be so closely associated with the series, casting agents would never be able to look at them beyond Kramer, Elaine, George, and Jerry. At least that seemed to be the case for Richards' 2000 project "The Michael Richards Show," a detective sitcom that he produced, co-wrote, and starred it. "The Michael Richards Show" lasted only eight episodes. 

Richards was best known as a comedian, so he likely felt that his follow-up to "Seinfeld" had to be another sitcom or comedy series. His idea for "The Michael Richards Show" was unexpected, but sound. Richards played a goofy but capable private investigator named Vic Nardozza who operated out of Los Angeles. Richards co-created the show with Andy Robin, Gregg Kavet, and Spike Feresten, three of the more prolific "Seinfeld" writers, and aimed to expand Richards' repertoire while tapping into his comedic talents. 

Vic worked out of a poorly organized office, in the employ of Brady McKay (the amazing William Devane). At the head of the series, McKay hires a new secretary, Stacey (Amy Farrington) who would serve as a series regular, as would the incredible Tim Meadows, playing the agency's surveillance expert, Kevin. Bill Cobbs also had a regular role. NBC was assertive in communicating that Vic Nardozza was not going to be like Cosmo Kramer, and that "The Michael Richards Show" was a wholly different animal than "Seinfeld." 

According to a report in EW, though, production on "Richards" was troubled from the start. Early test screenings didn't go well either, as audiences seemed to want more Cosmo Kramer. Andy Robin tried to remain optimistic, saying that people could "slam the show all [they] want," and that "lowered expectations couldn't hurt." 

Ratings were high for the show's first episode, which aired on October 24, 2000. There was, however, a lot of unspecified trouble behind the scenes. Feresten, it seems, left the show after the second episode. Ratings swiftly dropped, and "The Michael Richards Show" was canned after only eight episodes, completing its run on December 10. 

Reading the old EW article, one gets the impression that no one had a lot of faith in "The Michael Richards Show." Not the cast, and not the audience. The general vibe one might be able to glean was that Richards was being presumptuous. One can watch clips of the series on YouTube and find an affable, funny, completely serviceably, but largely unambitious sitcom. Weirdly, the premise was so universal, "The Michael Richards Show" didn't require the fame of Michael Richards to thrive; it could have worked with any talented or committed comedian in the lead role. 

Many years later, William Devane was interviewed by the A.V. Club, and he confirmed that everything on "The Michael Richards Show" was tangled from its inception. It seems that Richards was constantly butting heads with NBC over what the series should be, no one could reach a creative consensus on anything, and higher-ups were being fired all the time. He put the blame of the show's failure right on Richards' shoulders. As he put it: 

"It was all set up wrong. [Richards] had a real warped sense of what it was. Yeah, that was a disaster. And it laid off a lot of people two weeks before Christmas. You've got a responsibility when you're the star of something like that. You've got a responsibility over all those people who work there. You act like an a**hole, and the next thing you know, 50 people are out of work. It was stupid." 

He went on to say that the show wasn't fixable, and that its showrunner, whom he did not name, wasn't capable of leading with a clear head. Unlike "Seinfeld," there was no Larry David figure with a clear idea of what the show should be. 

"The Michael Richards Show" isn't available on streaming anywhere, but resourceful internet snoops will be able to find the entire series online, culled from old VHS rips.