Jerry and Kramer make up one of the most hilarious duos in Seinfeld. Kramer comes into Jerry’s apartment without knocking and takes whatever food he wants from the fridge, but he’s also a fiercely loyal friend who’s always ready with a zany scheme whenever Jerry is faced with a crisis.
Based on series co-creator Larry David’s own nosy neighbor Kenny Kramer, the role of Cosmo Kramer earned Michael Richards a whopping three Emmy Awards — and two additional nominations. Throughout the series’ nine-season run, Kramer and the neighbor whose apartment he treats like his own got up to some hysterical misadventures.
The Strongbox (Season 9, Episode 14)
Jerry and Kramer end up robbing a grave in a pet cemetery following their wacky antics in season 9’s “The Strongbox.” Jerry stores some cufflinks he needs as a conversation piece with Jerry Lewis in Kramer’s strongbox, but Kramer keeps struggling to find a good hiding place for the key.
He hides it in his neighbor’s birdcage and they’re led to believe that the bird ate the key and died, so they desecrate its grave in the hopes of cutting it open and retrieving the key — but they’re caught in the act by its bereaved owners.
The Revenge (Season 2, Episode 7)
While Elaine is helping George with a revenge scheme against his old boss, Kramer helps Jerry with his own revenge scheme against his local laundromat in the aptly titled season 2 episode “The Revenge.” This episode established Kramer as the show’s vehicle for physical comedy.
As Jerry distracts the laundromat owner whom he believes stole his money, Kramer dumps a bunch of cement in one of the washing machines — but the plan doesn’t exactly go off without a hitch.
The Caddy (Season 7, Episode 12)
When Elaine gives her old archnemesis Sue Ellen Mischke a bra, she starts wearing it as a top. This distracts Jerry and Kramer enough to crash George’s car, so they sue her.
The case falls apart when Kramer takes legal advice from his caddy Stan over his lawyer. He asks Sue Ellen to try on the bra, but since she tries it on over a top, it doesn’t fit. This leads to a great reference to the then-current O.J. Simpson trial by Johnnie Cochran stand-in Jackie Chiles: “A bra’s gotta fit right up against a person’s skin... like a glove!”
The Kiss Hello (Season 6, Episode 17)
While Jerry protests the titular social convention in season 6’s “The Kiss Hello,” Kramer hopes to bring people even closer together by posting pictures of everybody in the building in the lobby. His plan is to create friendships among his neighbors.
However, they all turn on Jerry when his refusal to kiss hello gets him ostracized from the community. At one point, Jerry’s uptight attitude toward kissing hello prompts Kramer to plant one on him.
The Little Kicks (Season 8, Episode 4)
When Jerry secures tickets to a sneak preview of a highly anticipated action movie in season 8’s “The Little Kicks,” Kramer invites a dangerous gun-toting friend along to join them. Kramer’s friend begins taping the movie and when he has to leave halfway through, he leaves the camera in Jerry’s hands.
Although the whole thing initially terrifies Jerry, he discovers that he has a hidden talent for bootlegging movies. He takes on more movie piracy work and becomes a diva director.
The Fusilli Jerry (Season 6, Episode 21)
Kramer reveals that he’s been building pasta models of his friends in his spare time in the season 6 episode “The Fusilli Jerry,” and he’s tailoring the type of pasta to the person he’s trying to capture.
In Kramer’s own words, he made Jerry out of fusilli “because you’re silly.” When Frank Costanza bursts into Jerry’s apartment to confront Kramer, he accidentally sits on Fusilli Jerry.
The Junior Mint (Season 4, Episode 20)
Elaine’s friend undergoes a surgical procedure in season 4’s “The Junior Mint” and Jerry and Kramer go along to watch. Kramer brings some Junior Mints into the operating theater like he’s going to the movies.
He offers Jerry a Junior Mint, but Jerry doesn’t want it. They go back and forth a few times, Jerry knocks the candy out of Kramer’s hand, and it lands inside the patient — and somehow leads to a miraculously accelerated recovery.
The Sniffing Accountant (Season 5, Episode 4)
Jerry, Kramer, and Newman all tie up their money with the titular accountant in season 5’s “The Sniffing Accountant,” but when he starts exhibiting the titular sniffing, they become concerned that they’ve given all their savings to a cocaine user.
Kramer goes undercover to investigate the accountant in a bar and he eventually runs away with their money. According to the DVD commentary, this episode was inspired by Jerry Seinfeld’s own accountant, who spent $50,000 of Seinfeld’s money on drugs.
The Puffy Shirt (Season 5, Episode 2)
Kramer starts dating a “low talker” in the classic season 5 episode “The Puffy Shirt,” so Jerry and Elaine can’t hear what she’s saying when they all go out to dinner.
The following day, Jerry is horrified to learn that he accidentally agreed to wear a hideous shirt that she designed — a ruffly, pirate-style shirt — on national television.
The Chicken Roaster (Season 8, Episode 8)
The later seasons of Seinfeld aren’t the show’s strongest, but the writers did use the audience’s increased familiarity with the characters and their world to play around with the dynamic a little. In season 8’s “The Chicken Roaster,” a Kenny Rogers chicken restaurant opens up across the street with red lights blasting through Kramer’s window.
Kramer protests the restaurant, but Jerry needs it to stay open because his friend works there, so he agrees to switch apartments with Kramer. This turns them into each other, as Jerry starts acting like Kramer and Kramer starts acting like Jerry.