Opinion: Even Jackie Can’t Help ‘Kramer’

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In the controversial concluding episode of “Seinfeld,” Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer are put on trial for ‘criminal indifference’ and even the celebrated trial lawyer Jackie Chiles (a parody of the late Johnnie Cochran) is unable to get them off. But the guilty verdict did nothing to alienate diehard fans of the “show about nothing,” who continue to follow the misanthropic quartet in reruns and through DVDs.

I’m afraid “Seinfeld” may find it harder to beat a different rap – Michael “Kramer” Richards’ racist rant at a Hollywood comedy club. In place of the engaging hipster doofus from “Seinfeld,” the audience was confronted with a creepy crank who hurled the N-word at African-American hecklers.

Monday night I watched Richards as he abased himself in an apology on David Letterman’s show that orchestrated by Jerry Seinfeld – who had dropped by to plug the DVD of “Seinfeld’s” seventh season. Saying that he was “deeply, deeply sorry,” Richards went on to link his outburst with the war in Iraq.

“I’ve got to get to the force field of this hostility, why it’s there,” he said. “Why the rage is in any of us, why the trash takes place, whether or not it’s between me and a couple of hecklers in the audience or between this country and another nation.” (The answer, Cosmo, is blowing in the wind.)

Ideally, the lapses of an actor shouldn’t affect the way audiences view his art. But just as Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic ravings create an unfortunate subtext for future screenings of “Mad Max” (not to mention ‘The Passion of the Christ’), Richards’ rant could spoil the future appeal of the hipster doofus he played on “Seinfeld.” That may explain why Jerry featured his pal’s apology in a Letterman segment designed to plug “Seinfeld” DVDs.

A better analogy may be O.J. Simpson, whose comical supporting role in the “Naked Gun” movies plays a little differently after the murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, not to mention the flak over the cancelled TV special “If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened.” Richards isn’t accused of murder, of course, but he stands convicted -- including by himself -- of a disgusting display of bigotry.

Not even Johnnie Cochran – or Jackie Chiles – could persuade television viewers to put this incident out of their minds the next time they watch Kramer lurch into Jerry’s apartment. A lot of them will be tempted to respond with Elaine’s signature phrase: “Get out!”