Seinfeld's Controversial TV Crossover May Help Explain A Big Kramer Mystery
"Seinfeld" was never a series that fully hopped onto the crossover bandwagon, and that decision was probably for the best. Some happy-go-lucky sitcom schmuck wouldn't fare well in the "Seinfeld" universe, which was filled with some of the pettiest characters ever committed to primetime. NBC, however, was fond of slipping various characters into each other's shows, as well as network-wide gambits like "Blackout Thursday." In 1992, the network managed to wrangle Kramer (Michael Richards) out of "Seinfeld" and into an episode of "Mad About You," in the process explaining the mystery behind Kramer's apartment.
In the "Mad About You" Season 1 episode "The Apartment," Paul Buchman (Paul Reiser) visits his old bachelor pad on West 81st Street, where he encounters his subletter — a wiry, fidgety man named Kramer. To move on from his past and fully settle into married life, Paul gives Kramer the apartment with no strings attached.
For a number of "Seinfeld" fans, the "Mad About You" crossover finally solves the mystery of how Kramer is able to afford his apartment. As redditor u/rickthehatmat theorized, "You may notice it was after this point in the series when some of Kramer's more extravagant plans take place such as him putting in the hot tub, taking off to LA to be an actor, and so forth. He can afford to do more as he isn't paying any rent."
Mad About You explains how Kramer can afford his apartment
The source of Kramer's income has long been a subject of intense scrutiny (at least among fans; the other "Seinfeld" characters are more or less indifferent). Kramer would tell you he wasn't unemployed — he was simply on strike from his job at H&H. Despite his chronic joblessness, the K-Man scrapped and scrounged to make ends meet, whether it was his $18,000 winnings from the race track, his stint as a portrait model, or a one-time actor in a Woody Allen movie.
Plenty of dark Kramer theories abound online — that a bad marriage left him a shut-in, or that he's living off of his disability checks from his time as a Navy SEAL. But his "Mad About You" cameo is the most clear-cut answer to Kramer's rent check woes.
The "Mad About You" crossover may solve one of the biggest "Seinfeld" puzzles, but that doesn't mean fans were happy with Kramer's portrayal. Kramer's erratic, frenetic energy is poorly suited to "Mad About You," and the conversation between him and Paul only serves to point out his strangeness. "I love Mad About You, but they had no idea how to write for Kramer," observed u/mecon320, with u/noplacecold adding, "They managed to make Kramer boring."
A few years later, Jerry appeared on "Mad About You," fueling theories of a shared sitcom universe. That was probably bad news for George, who famously hated the sitcom.