The One Episode Of Seinfeld You Likely Forgot Starred Sarah Silverman
"Seinfeld" always focused squarely on the core four of Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George Costanzo (Jason Alexander), and Kramer (Michael Richards), but its slate of familiar guest stars brought the "show about nothing" to the next comedic level.
In Season 5, Episode 17 ("The Wife"), Courteney Cox portrayed Jerry's new girlfriend Meryl, who pretends they're married in order to secure a discount at the dry cleaners. This episode aired in March 1994, six months before she'd make her debut as clean-freak Monica Geller on "Friends" (via IMDb). Other familiar faces to appear on "Seinfeld" include "sponge-worthy" Scott Patterson before his tenure as Luke Danes on "Gilmore Girls," Marisa Tomei from "My Cousin Vinny," "Full House" star Lori Loughlin, and future MCU stars like Jon Favreau and James Spader, just to name a few. Most of these cameos are brief, one-episode roles as the quirky love interest of a main character.
Some "Seinfeld" fans may have forgotten that well-known comedian Sarah Silverman also had a one-off role on the series, appearing as one of Kramer's girlfriends in 1997, overlapping with her time on "Saturday Night Live." Like the majority of relationships featured on the show, her romance with Kramer isn't exactly successful ... and neither was their chemistry behind-the-scenes.
She suffered from jimmy legs in Season 8 of Seinfeld
Sarah Silverman is currently a top name in the entertainment industry. She enjoys a successful stand-up career, appears alongside A-listers in films like 2022's "Marry Me," and lends her voice to animated projects, including "Bob's Burgers" and "Wreck-It Ralph." Way before all of this, though, she was Emily, the new girlfriend of Kramer who has personal space issues and chronic "jimmy legs," which causes her to constantly move around in her sleep.
Season 8, Episode 12 ("The Money") opens with Kramer and Emily in bed together. As Emily unconsciously flops her arm over his face and takes up his entire side of the bed, Kramer becomes frustrated and confides in Elaine about the issue. "She's throwing off my whole sleep. She's got the jimmy legs," he tells her. "I really like this girl and I think if I could just work out this one thing ... "
While this might've prompted the other "Seinfeld" protagonists to embark on some over-the-top scheme, Kramer talks to her about it. He sits Emily down and informs her, "Without some solid sack time, I'm a zombie." Though annoyed, she agrees that after they hook up, they can snooze separately.
Kramer's relief is short-lived. As he tries to catch up on sleep in his own bed, alone, Jerry's father Morty (Barney Martin) — who is temporarily staying across the hall with his son — uses Kramer's doorknob to set up an exercise contraption. A frightened Kramer tries to restore his sleeping situation with Emily after what appears to be an attempted break-in, but she refuses, stating "Come on, it was probably the wind." Later, they find the perfect solution from George's parents Frank (Jerry Stiller) and Estelle (Estelle Harris) — separate beds in the same room.
Silverman didn't have the best off-screen relationship with Michael Richards
Just as Emily certainly doesn't enjoy Kramer's qualms with how she sleeps, Silverman revealed that off-camera, she didn't enjoy Richards' over-aggressive critique of her acting skills. In a January 2021 episode of her "The Sarah Silverman Podcast," the comedian reflected on how, after minorly flubbing a line, she was nearly brought to tears.
Admittedly nervous being part of such a major project, Silverman accidentally informed her co-star, "Come on, it was probably the rain" instead of the correct word "wind." Silverman said, "Well, this guy Michael Richards breaks character and just starts ripping me a new a****** and he points to the window and goes, 'Do you see rain in that window?'"
According to Silverman, Richards acted like nothing happened the next day on set, but she called him out for how he spoke to her. "And I'll give him credit," she said, "he took it." She went on to explain that she and Richards were later able to move past the incident, and years later, she recalled giving him advice on getting back into stand-up comedy. Looking back on it, Silverman described Richards as being an unusual person with a great deal of comedic talent, but also said, "You know, everybody has a bad moment."