Was he discovered on the Dating Game or was he already acting? Anyone know about his early days? I used to watch him on "Friday's" I think it was called.

The girl ended up picking him and they said he'd already taken her to the prom in high school about three years earlier.

I've never watched the Game Show network before and was surprised to see this, although I've heard of aspiring actors going on these shows. What next, Newman's family on the Feud?

Any Kramer historians?

i saw jenny jones (it was spelled jennie jones) on press your luck!

If I remember correctly, Richard's appearance on there was a follow-up to fellow "Friday" actor, Andy Kaufman's appearance on the show.

Both were on "Friday" at the time. Richards was on TV, but far from being a star.

I would say this is at least a few years before Friday's. He looks very young and there was no mention of the show.

There was no copyright date at the end of the show to help me figure it out. Anyone know when Friday's or the Dating Game was on?

Well, you were right....I was way off.

"In 1963, Richards joined the ranks of Farrah Fawcett, Mark Harmon, Phil Hartman, Gregory Hines, Don Johnson, John Ritter and Bob Saget as a contestant on The Dating Game."

Thanks for the info.

Not sure of your source, but 1963 can't be right. Maybe it's 1973.

According to IMDB he was born:

24 July 1949,
Culver City, Los Angeles, California, USA

That would make him 14 on the show!

His first tv gig was 1980 so maybe he wasn't discovered yet.

Michael Richards was on The Dating Game in 1967 when he was a 17 year old high school senior. They called up his then girlfriend and convinced her to appear on the show as well. She couldn't explain to him why she couldn't go to the show with him and finally spilled the beans, so he knew the whole time that it was her. Their prize for appearing on the show was a trip to a rodeo. He discussed this in depth in an interview. He was actually the 5th of many future celebrities who would appear on the popular show. It was his appearance on this show that made him realize that he was comfortable in front of the camera and inspired a career in show business.

of all the random bumps, this one is up there.

^ ^ ^

Yep.

Although it would be post-worthy if the girl who picked him had been black & then when he came around the corner & saw her, he had yelled, "She's a ******!!!!!"

In 1967, that might have gotten a big laugh unlike his decades-later outburst.

On a related note, I remember seeing Kirstie Alley on The Match Game and Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding on Saved by the Bell) on Scrabble.

This thread was ahead of its time.

Over 10 years later and it's starting to pick up slight steam.

I have seen other future celebs on shows but blanking on who right now.

Any sightings you remember?

Didn't Tom Selleck appear on the show?

Yes, he was actually on twice...and LOST both times.

Ahh, I didn't notice the thread was started in 2002. I was wondering why nobody was making any "There's a n**8!" jokes.

This thread was ahead of his issue.

When I read the initial post by the OP I thought the date ended in 12 not 02. I thought GSN started showing classic game shows again.

A current dating game scenario would have Richards as the "date" picking from three chicks. The joke would be when they all turn out to be black.

Actually, it's a shame that Richards' career was irreparably impaired (aside from not ever being able to get away from Kramer) by the incident. He was responding to hecklers in the audience, and any comedian doing something similar about any other race would have gotten a pass or the audience would have thought it was just part of the routine. Listen to practically any current 'comedians' and they insult every racial, ethnic, political, economic, regional, sexual, and religious group...sometimes to their face (when they pick on audience members). If the situation had been reversed and a black comedian had yelled, "He's a cracker", everybody would have just cracked up and thought it was a retort of genius.

Reparations now!! AKA "Kramer died for our sins".

I saw Ryan Seacrest on an episode of "Blind Date" sometime around 2000, well before his career as a so-called "celebrity" got started. I remembered him years later because he was just as much of a tool on Blind Date as his later career has revealed him to be. Tough to forget someone who is that much of a douchebag, even if you only saw them once and don't see them again for years.

But the point is, I think a lot of people living in Southern California and trying to break into the "biz" take pretty much anything their agent can get them that will result in a few minutes on screen. That includes crappy game shows, infomercials, crowd scene work, etc.

Yes-many starting out get on these game shows, etc. Agreed!

Poor Kramer.

Here's a youtube compilation, unfortunately doesn't include Michael Richards, but does have Andy Kaufman(in character!), 14 year Michael Jackson(!!!!), Steve Martin, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE9363F3226DDE03D

I recall Lou Holtz's son, Skip Holtz, on "Name That Tune".

When I saw the rerun back in the 80's/90's, Skip had yet to make a name for himself, so I remembered it because I wondered if he was related to Lou at the time.

Andrew Gold was on Love Connection after he was "famous"