Before Tony Shalhoub, Monk Was Offered To This Seinfeld Star
In an alternate timeline, Michael Richards has two career-defining roles ... not just one.
As "Seinfeld" was heading toward its finale in 1998, the cast was about to become available for new projects. That's when ABC had the idea to create a show with Richards, known for playing Cosmo Kramer, in mind. According to executive producer David Hoberman, the network envisioned a detective with obsessive compulsive tendencies and thought Richards would be perfect for the part. Richards disagreed. "We talked with him and he decided it was something he did not want to do," Hoberman told ABC. The show went on to premiere on the USA Network in 2002 with Tony Shalhoub starring as Adrian Monk.
In a conversation with Jay Leno for Interview Magazine, Richards said he just didn't see himself in the part. "[T]hat was developed for me, but I didn't have my head on my shoulders," Richards told Leno. "I had 'Seinfeld' and wasn't able to think ahead in how we could put that into development." Instead, Richards signed on to an NBC project about a bumbling detective — 2000's "The Michael Richards Show," which lasted eight episodes and was seen as a massive failure for both Richards and the network.
Years before Monk, these actors could have ended up on the same show
Coincidentally, "Monk" was not the first show where Tony Shalhoub and Michael Richards' careers crossed paths. Despite online rumors that Shalhoub auditioned for the role of Kramer, he told Today (via Slashfilm) that he actually read for another character. "I auditioned for George Costanza," said Shalhoub, who admits he lost out to a familiar foe. "I'll tell you what happened, Jason Alexander happened. I can't tell you how many roles I've lost to Jason Alexander."
In the end, both actors found success with their characters. Richards won three Emmys for playing Kramer, a character that changed drastically after the pilot episode. As for Shalhoub, he won three Emmys for his work on "Monk" and the show became one of the highest-rated scripted cable TV shows in history. The story of "Monk" concluded with a movie on Peacock in 2023.