# Seinfeld/Breaking News/Challenge to Cecil **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867 "2016-01-22T07:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/1 "2016-01-22T07:07:23Z")
Today I met the real Cosmo, the person who is the reason that Kramer eventually was named Cosmo. I should explain I’ve known this person for about a year, since he is a sales person at a marine store I frequent. But just today I gathered up the courage to ask his name. “Cos” Short for Cosmo ?😉 “Yes” Your parents must have named you after Cosmo Kramer “Actually he was named after me” :dubious: Here goes the story. Cosmo, a teenager in the mid nineties , was working a gas dock on Cortez Island, B.C. when two guys approached him and offered him $100 to burn his CBS hat acquired from another client. Cosmo refused, but asked them why. They said they were big time NBC writers. Cosmo made it clear he didn’t believe them. They said they would prove it to him , just wait. Lo and behold Kramer finally got a first name after quite a few seasons. I believe this guy. I’m withholding his last name only because I think it is the right thing to do. I’m challenging Cecil to get the straight dope on this rumor I just started . ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/2 "2016-01-22T10:37:17Z")
Not true: > **[Cosmo Kramer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Kramer)** > > Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998) played by Michael Richards. > The character is loosely based on comedian Kenny Kramer, Larry David's ex-neighbor across the hall. Kramer is the neighbor of the series' main character, Jerry Seinfeld, and is friends with George Costanza and Elaine Benes. Of the series' four central characters, only Kramer has no visible means of support; what few jobs he holds see... ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/3 "2016-01-22T11:01:27Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Not true: > > [Cosmo Kramer - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Kramer) While I’m skeptical of the OP’s story as well, the Wiki doesn’t really touch on where the name Cosmo came from. While we all know the _character_ was based on Larry David’s ex-neighbor Kenny Kramer, as the Wiki said he did not have a first name for the first 5 seasons. It wasn’t until the episode “The Switch” that his first name was revealed. The Wiki doesn’t say how or why that was chosen as his first name. So if the OP’s story were true it would be consistent with what’s there. Need to dig a little deeper. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/4 "2016-01-22T11:35:53Z")
I’m with Rigamarole on this one. Wendell, what in particular about the article you’ve cited do you think refutes the OP’s claim? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/5 "2016-01-22T13:36:59Z")
In general, stories by people who claim to be the inspiration for something are false at least 99% of the time. These stories are usually trivial to refute, but some are just so obscure and lacking info that it’s not so easy. Then you have to rely on WoG. There are so many of them, why waste time looking into any one of them? ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/6 "2016-01-23T22:56:31Z")
**FD** , let me elaborate on why I’m a bit skeptical of your friend’s story. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Cosmo, a teenager in the mid nineties , was working a gas dock on Cortez Island, B.C. when two guys approached him and offered him $100 to burn his CBS hat acquired from another client. This is very peculiar behavior. I see baseball caps all the time that are decorated with the logos of things I don’t particularly like or approve of, but it’s never occurred to me to offer up a C-note to destroy the offending hat. Who does that? This might be more plausible if your friend had said that the two guys were falling-down drunk. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Cosmo refused, but asked them why. This is where your friend’s story falls apart for me. A teenager working a minimum-wage gas-pumping job turns down an easy $100? Not a chance. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > They said they were big time NBC writers. So these gentlemen wanted to burn the hat in a show of pro-NBC pride? This is the first time I’ve ever heard of television comedy writers displaying loyalty to a network. I remember how Letterman constantly mocked NBC when he worked there. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Cosmo made it clear he didn’t believe them. They said they would prove it to him , just wait. Why would these “big time NBC writers” care about whether some kid believed them? > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Lo and behold Kramer finally got a first name after quite a few seasons. So these guys put something into a TV show as a “ha ha, we showed you!” to somebody that they’d likely never see again? Really? I wonder what would they have done if your friend had a mundane first name like John or Bill. I’d also be curious to know how much time elapsed between this fateful meeting on the gas dock and the broadcast of “The Switch,” in which Kramer’s first name was revealed. > [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > I believe this guy. I’d want to see some corroborating evidence. I could imagine the Seinfeld writers seeing the name “Cosmo” on somebody’s nametag and deciding to use it. But I doubt that they’d _actually tell the person_ they were going to use the name, because [they had trouble with the guy whom Kramer was based upon](http://seinfeld.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmo_Kramer#Character_Formation): > [@](#): > > Kramer’s character is based on the real-life Kenny Kramer, a neighbor of co-creator Larry David. At the time of the shooting of “The Seinfeld Chronicles”, Kenny Kramer had not yet authorized the use of his name, and so Kramer’s character is known as “Kessler”. > > Larry was hesitant to use Kenny Kramer’s real name for the fictional Kessler, because he suspected that Kenny Kramer would take advantage of this. His suspicion turned out to be correct – Kenny Kramer created the “Kramer Reality Tour,” a New York City bus tour that points out actual locations of events or places featured in Seinfeld. [snip] Kenny Kramer also made both monetary and non-monetary demands on Castle Rock Entertainment—all of which were met. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-breaking-news-challenge-to-cecil/743867/7 "2016-01-24T00:34:53Z")
Apparently Cosmo was nearly Conrad: [About The Controversial ‘Seinfeld’ Episode That Never Aired, Which Featured Kramer’s Original First Name](http://uproxx.com/tv/about-the-controversial-seinfeld-episode-that-never-aired-which-featured-kramers-original-first-name/) > [@](#): > > But the other revealing fact that Mike Ryan uncovered in talking with Larry Charles is that they’d originally given Kramer a completely different first name in “The Bet.” As most people know, Kramer’s first name is Cosmo, which we didn’t discover until the 97th episode of the series. However, in “The Bet,” Larry Charles had written him another name: > > “It was Conrad. Because I was kind of thinking of Conrad Birdie from ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ So, it was Conrad, actually. And then eventually it became Cosmo. I remember feeling mixed feelings because I had named him Conrad. Although, Cosmo is a great name. But Conrad was good, too.”