Cosmo Kramer Pseudonyms What were some of his pseudonyms? H.E. Pennypacker in Which episode did he use this name in? "The Puerto Rican Day",
What happened in this episode?
What happened in The Puerto Rican Day episode?
Like the other three characters, Kramer has pseudonyms he uses in various schemes; H.E. Pennypacker, Dr. Martin van Nostrand, and Professor Peter van Nostrand are the most popular. Under the name H.E. Pennypacker in "The Puerto Rican Day", Kramer poses as a prospective buyer interested in an elegant apartment in order to use its bathroom. Kramer also appears as Pennypacker to help Elaine get revenge on a Mayan clothing store, "Putumayo", by repricing all the merchandise in the store with a pricing gun in "The Millennium", though due to a mishap with the pricing gun, Pennypacker was forced to instead remove the desiccants from clothes in the store in order to render them "noticeably musty in five years". In this latter capacity, he claims Pennypacker is "a wealthy American industrialist." As Dr. Martin van Nostrand, Kramer tries to get hold of Elaine's medical chart to erase the negative comments her doctor has made in "The Package". He also uses the Van Nostrand alias in the episode "The Slicer", posing as a "Juilliard-trained dermatologist" for a cancer screening at George's company, Kruger Industrial Smoothing. Mr. Kruger later recognizes him as Dr. Van Nostrand in "The Strike", but does not notice when Kramer says he has to work a double shift at H&H Bagels, something a successful dermatologist certainly wouldn't have to do. Kramer uses the name Martin van Nostrand (without the "doctor" prefix) while auditioning for the role of himself on the show Jerry in "The Pilot, Part 1". Kramer poses as Professor Peter van Nostrand in "The Nose Job" in order to retrieve a favorite jacket from another man's apartment; Kramer's jacket, to which he attributes at least some of his amorous success, is a minor plot point in other episodes until, in "The Cheever Letters", he trades it to a Cuban embassy official for several boxes of authentic Cuban cigars. Kramer is also referred to as "Assman" in reference to the license plate the state of New York accidentally gave him in "The Fusilli Jerry". He is also occasionally called "the K-Man" ("The Barber", "The Bizarro Jerry", "The Busboy", "The Note", "The Hamptons", "The Scofflaw" and "The Soup Nazi"). A derogatory designation for Kramer has been "hipster doofus", a moniker assigned to him by a woman in a wheelchair he once dated in the episode "The Handicap Spot", and occasionally directed at him by Elaine, as in "The Glasses". The nickname was first used in The Atlantic Monthly review of Seinfeld. CANNOTANSWER
Kramer poses as a prospective buyer interested in an elegant apartment in order to use its bathroom. Kramer also appears as Pennypacker to help Elaine get revenge
Cosmo Kramer (usually referred to by his surname) 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 seem to be nothing more than larks, although he never seems to be short of money.

A lovable rogue, his trademarks include his upright hairstyle and vintage wardrobe, whose combination led Elaine to characterize him as a "hipster doofus"; his taste in fresh fruit; love of occasional smoking, Cuban cigars in particular; bursts through Jerry's apartment door without knocking; frequent pratfalls and penchant for nonsensical, percussive outbursts of noise to indicate skepticism, agreement, irritation and a variety of other feelings. He has been described as "an extraordinary cross between Eraserhead and Herman Munster".

Kramer appeared in all but two episodes: "The Chinese Restaurant" and "The Pen", in the second and third seasons, respectively. In the pilot episode, Kramer was originally called "Kessler" to prevent legal issues; Kenny Kramer later permitted the use of his name.

Background and family
In "The Trip", Kramer admits that a man in a park exposed himself to him when he was a young boy. In "The Big Salad" Kramer reveals to Jerry that he grew up in a strict household where he had to be in bed every night by 9:00PM. In "The Letter", Kramer tells two art patrons that he ran away from home at the age of seventeen and stowed away aboard a steamer bound for Sweden.

Kramer never completed high school; however, it is made clear in "The Barber" that Kramer has a GED.

Kramer was estranged for a long period from his mom, Babs Kramer, who works as a restroom matron at an upscale restaurant. Unlike George and Jerry, Kramer's character does not have a well-developed network of family members shown in the sitcom. He is the only main character on the show whose dad never makes an appearance; however, in "The Chinese Woman", Kramer mentions that he is the last male member of his family, implying that his father had died. He also mentions in "The Lip Reader" that he has or had a deaf cousin, from whom he learned fluent American Sign Language, but when Kramer tries to communicate in ASL, he speaks complete gibberish and cannot correctly translate the ASL he sees others using. He also apparently has no biological children, although he adopted mile 114 of the Arthur Burghardt Expressway in "The Pothole."

During an opening discussion, Kramer reveals to Jerry that in 1979 he was struck on the head by a falling air conditioner while walking on the sidewalk. Jerry asks if that was when Kramer lived in Greenwich Village, to which Kramer replies that he cannot remember. This is discussed in the beginning of "The Little Kicks."

In "The Strong Box", it is revealed that Kramer spent a brief time in the Army, although info about this time is "classified". In episode three of season one he says he lived in Los Angeles for three months.

Personality

Kramer has conflicting personality traits. He is sometimes shallow, callous and indifferent. Though eccentric, Kramer is generally caring, friendly and kind-hearted; he often goes out of his way to help total strangers, and tries to get his friends to also help others and to do the right thing even when they do not want to. He is confident in his own unique way of doing things, yet he can be neurotic and highly-strung. His quirkiness, strange body movements and frequent gibberish mutterings have become his trademark.

Kramer was originally envisioned as a recluse who never left his apartment except to visit Jerry. This was the original reason behind why Kramer helps himself to Jerry's possessions and food without any pushback and also why he is conspicuously absent from the season two episode "The Chinese Restaurant," which takes place entirely outside of the building. However, in season three Kramer starts to join Jerry, Elaine, and George in various scenes outside of the building. As the series progresses, Kramer completely loses any hints of reclusiveness and becomes one of the most extroverted characters on the show.

Kramer also gets his friends directly into trouble by talking them into unwise or even illegal actions such as parking illegally in a handicapped space ("The Handicap Spot"), urinating in a parking garage ("The Parking Garage"), committing mail fraud ("The Package") or even hiring an assassin to get rid of a dog ("The Engagement"). Kramer is also known to mooch off his friends, especially Jerry. Kramer regularly enters and uses Jerry's apartment without his consent or knowledge, and often helps himself to Jerry's food. Kramer also uses tools/appliances of Jerry's, only occasionally with permission, and often returning them in a state of disrepair. The reason for all this is because Kramer is told "What's mine is yours" on his first meeting with Jerry ("The Betrayal").

Kramer is known for his extreme honesty and, correspondingly, lack of tact; in "The Nose Job", he tells George's insecure girlfriend that she needs a nose job. In "The Kiss Hello" when Elaine tries to take advantage of this personality quirk by inviting Kramer to meet her friend, Wendy, whose hairstyle she feels is outdated, Kramer tells her he loves it. Instead of being horrified, many characters end up thanking Kramer for his candor. Kramer rarely gets into trouble for it, but his friends often do; in "The Cartoon", Kramer makes comments to Sally Weaver (Kathy Griffin), who then blames Jerry for "ruining her life" as a result.

One explanation as to Kramer's personality and traits, with respect to his mysterious childhood and background, is hinted in "The Chicken Roaster". After a series of conflicts, Jerry is forced to live in Kramer's apartment and vice versa. Jerry, bothered by the many oddities and idiosyncrasies associated with Kramer's home, begins behaving like his wacky friend. Conversely, when Kramer begins living in Jerry's regular, normal apartment, he briefly becomes more like his calm, quick-witted friend.

In general, Kramer excels at persuading Jerry into doing things against his better judgment. On the other hand, Kramer has displayed an almost unbending loyalty toward Jerry in many episodes, especially when choosing to help him against Newman in many episodes, including "The Suicide" and "The Millennium" (in this episode, Kramer calls Jerry "my buddy" and even keeps a photograph of them arm in arm at a previous New Year's Eve on his nightstand). In the same respect, Jerry has helped Kramer out of good will and always seems to forgive and ultimately accept Kramer's mooching tendencies. At times, Jerry is clearly quite entertained by Kramer's antics, which may also be a factor in the friendship's endurance. In "The Serenity Now", overemotional Jerry declares a near-brotherly love for Kramer, to which Kramer easily responds, "I love you, too, buddy."

His relationship with Newman is defined from the start in "The Suicide", where they get along very well. Like the main characters they also get into conflict with each other, most notably "The Junk Mail". Their get-rich-quick schemes are noted in "The Old Man" and "The Bottle Deposit."

One of Kramer's best friends, Bob Sacamano, is referred to by Kramer on several occasions, yet never makes an onscreen appearance.  Jerry even mentions speaking with him in "The Chicken Roaster" episode. Sacamano is used as a source for several weird anecdotes, nutty ideas, or inaccurate information.  Lomez is another good friend of Kramer's who is mentioned, yet never makes an appearance.

His relationship with Susan is mixed. Although they get along in "The Pool Guy", there are many episodes in which he makes her life a mess. He throws up on her in "The Pitch", unwittingly burns her dad's cabin in "The Bubble Boy", dates Mona while Susan is a lesbian in "The Smelly Car" and after calling her "Lily" in "The Invitations," she insists that he not be an usher at her and George's upcoming wedding (she was also concerned that "he'd fall or something ...and ruin the whole ceremony").

Kramer's apartment is the subject of numerous radical experiments in interior design. Oftentimes, the "experiments" never happen due to Kramer's inherent short-attention span, including his plan to eliminate all furniture and build "levels... like ancient Egypt" in "The Pony Remark". He reconstructed the set of The Merv Griffin Show in "The Merv Griffin Show". Inside views of Kramer's apartment are seldom seen, but it's known that he installed hardwood flooring and woodgrain-like wallpaper to, as he explains to Jerry, "give it the feel of a ski lodge." The apartment is centered around a large hot tub and couch styled after a 1957 Chevy. The apartment is decorated with many small statues of people, all made entirely out of pasta: Kramer also gives these to his friends as gifts, for example to Jerry in "The Fusilli Jerry" and Bette Midler in "The Understudy". Kramer has also experimented with his apartment entrance, including reversing his peephole "to prevent an ambush" in "The Reverse Peephole" and installing a screen door (after salvaging it from George's parents' house) in "The Serenity Now."

Kramer enjoys smoking Cuban cigars. It starts in "The Wallet" and in "The Abstinence" he sets up a smoking club in his apartment, which included a regularly-scheduled "pipe night" for those who preferred pipe tobacco to cigars and/or cigarettes. His face gets ruined after so much smoking and he hires Jackie Chiles to sue the cigarette company, but instead gets his image as the Marlboro Man on the Marlboro billboard in Times Square. At one point, he goes so far as to try to hire Cuban cigar rollers in an attempt to make his own Cuban cigars in "The English Patient", but the scheme goes awry when the "Cubans" turn out to be Dominicans.

Richards's portrayal of the Kramer character closely resembles that of Stanley Spadowski, a janitor-turned-children's-TV-host he played in the 1989 comedy UHF, starring "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Kramer's conversation sometimes contains onomatopoeia or nonsensical sounds in order to stress an emotional point or describe earlier actions. He sometimes expresses his agreement with a sentiment or suggestion via the word "Giddyup!". He is also known to indicate pleasure with, "Oh, Mama!"

Of the four main characters, Kramer has the fewest on-screen romantic relationships. He does not seem to have trouble attracting women and is even said to possess the “Kavorka” (translated as the “lure of the animal”).  His relationships often come to an embarrassing end, and, like Jerry's, are usually short-lived.

Kramer has on a few occasions taken people under his wing and aggressively protected their interests.

Kramer is known to embrace strange philosophies unique to himself, and reject acceptable social behaviors or established facts.

Development

Inspiration
The character of Kramer was originally based on the real-life Kenny Kramer, a neighbor of co-creator Larry David from New York. However, Michael Richards did not in any way base his performance on the real Kramer, to the point of refusing to meet him. This was later parodied in "The Pilot" when the actor that is cast to play him in Jerry and George's sitcom refuses to base the character on the real Cosmo Kramer. At the time of the shooting of the original Seinfeld pilot, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," Kenny Kramer had not yet given consent to use his name, and so Kramer's character was originally known as "Kessler."

Larry David was hesitant to use Kenny Kramer's real name because he suspected that Kramer would take advantage of this. David's 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. The "Kramer Reality Tour" is itself spoofed on Seinfeld in "The Muffin Tops." In the episode, when Kramer's real-life stories are used by Elaine to pad the biography of J. Peterman she was ghostwriting, the former develops a reality bus tour called "The Peterman Reality Tour" and touts himself as "The Real J. Peterman," even though, as Jerry notes, reality is the last thing Kramer is qualified to give a tour on.

Richards' physicality can be seen in his early 1980s appearances on The Tonight Show, the early 1980s ABC sketch comedy show "Fridays", and his appearance in the film "Young Doctors in Love" where he plays a hit man; a nod to this appears in the "Air Conditioner" episode.

Given and surnames
Kramer was known only as "Kramer" during the show's first five seasons (from 1990 to 1994). In "The Seinfeld Chronicles", Jerry referred to him as "Kessler", which was his original name for the show, until it was changed to "Kramer". However, in the first draft of the script, he was named "Hoffman". In "The Betrayal", when it is shown how Jerry met Kramer, Kramer says that his name is incorrectly listed as "Kessler" in the apartment building. This retcons the pilot's use of "Kessler" as the character's name.

George finds out his unusual first name of "Cosmo" through an encounter with Kramer's long estranged mom, Babs (Sheree North), in "The Switch". Despite this, most characters continued to call him Kramer for the remainder of the show's run (although many minor characters referred to him as "Cosmo"). The name "Cosmo" was suggested by Larry David; he took the name from a boy who lived in the same apartment building as him and Kenny Kramer.

Additionally, the episode titled "The Bet" would have revealed Kramer's first name as "Conrad", not "Cosmo", but it was never filmed.

Employment
Despite the failure of the majority of his schemes and his unwillingness to even apply for a normal job, Kramer always seems to have money when he needs it. In the episode, "The Shoes", Jerry remarks that Kramer received a "ton of money" at some earlier point in his life (presumably via inheritance). In "The Visa", George makes a comment about Kramer going to a fantasy camp, and how Kramer's "whole life is a fantasy camp. People should plunk down two thousand dollars to live like him for a week. Do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbors, and have sex without dating. That's a fantasy camp."

As a younger man, Kramer had several jobs. In the episode "The Strong Box", Kramer says one of the things in his strongbox is his military discharge. Upon being asked, "You were in the Army?", Kramer replies, "Briefly," and claims the reason for his discharge is classified. Also, in the episode "The Muffin Tops", Kramer mentions shaving his chest when he was a lifeguard. His long term unemployed status is partially, if nonsensically, explained in "The Strike", when he went back to work at H&H Bagels after being on strike since 1985. His union finally settled the strike when the minimum wage of New York was raised to the hourly rate the strikers had demanded twelve years earlier (Kramer still felt the strike was a success although his fellow strikers apparently all moved on years earlier). He only worked at H&H Bagels a short time before he was fired, and, during the brief period he was re-employed there, he went on strike at least once more because he was forced to work on Festivus, a holiday only celebrated by Frank Costanza.

Along with his stint at H&H Bagels, Kramer is engaged in a variety of short-lived jobs.

In the episode "The Bizarro Jerry" Kramer accidentally begins working for a company called Brandt-Leland. He is fired later in the episode because he has "no business training at all."

He is a compulsive gambler who successfully avoids gambling for several years until "The Diplomat's Club", in which he bets with a wealthy Texan on the arrival and departure times of flights going into New York's LaGuardia Airport.

A struggling (and terrible) actor, Kramer's first gig was a one-line part in a Woody Allen movie in "The Alternate Side" (his line, "These pretzels are making me thirsty", becomes the show's first catchphrase). Although he is fired before completing his scene, he says he "caught the bug" because of it, and briefly moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. After returning to New York, Kramer auditions for the role of "Kramer" in the pilot of a new sitcom called Jerry, using his stage name of Martin van Nostrand ("The Pilot"). He is unable to complete the audition due to an intestinal problem. Kramer later works as a stand-in on a soap opera with his friend Mickey Abbott in "The Stand In" and various other low-paying or non-paying theater projects, such as acting out illnesses at a medical school in "The Burning".

Inventions, entrepreneurship, and lawsuits
Kramer shows an entrepreneurial bent with "Kramerica Industries," for which he devises plans for a pizza place where customers make their own pie ("Male Unbonding"), a bladder system for tankers that will "put an end to maritime oil spills" ("The Voice"), and a product that will put ketchup and mustard in the same bottle.

In "The Friar's Club", he creates a concept restaurant that only serves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which he calls P.B. & Js.

He also comes up with the idea of a beach-scented cologne in "The Pez Dispenser", but a marketing executive for Calvin Klein tells him the idea is ridiculous. Despite this, it is revealed in the episode "The Pick" that Calvin Klein began making an ocean-scented cologne. Instead of suing, Calvin Klein offer to allow Kramer to be an underwear model, which Kramer accepts.

In "The Doorman", Kramer and Frank Costanza co-develop a prototype for a bra for men called the "bro" or the "manssiere".

In "The Muffin Tops", Kramer cries foul after failing to receive due credit for J. Peterman's book success which is based on Kramer's misadventures. He then confronts Peterman during a book signing and is kicked out of the event. Kramer then declares himself "The Real Peterman" and initiates The Real Peterman Reality Bus Tour, charging customers $37.50 for a tour of his life.

Kramer also hatches a scheme to smuggle Cubans to the United States to make Cuban cigars, only to learn the "Cubans" are actually Dominicans ("The English Patient").

He participates in lawsuits against various people and companies and considers himself "very litigious". He is always represented in these lawsuits by Jackie Chiles, a parody of Johnnie Cochran. In "The Maestro," he settles one such suit (though receiving no monetary compensation) against a coffee company whose beverages are too hot (a reference to the McDonald's coffee case). In "The Abstinence," Kramer sues a tobacco company for the damage its products cause to his appearance, and in "The Caddy," he sues Sue Ellen Mischke for causing a traffic accident that ruins his chances of becoming a professional golfer.

Coffee table book about coffee tables
A storyline running throughout the fifth season is the development of one of Kramer's few successful ideas. Kramer first thinks of the book in "The Cigar Store Indian", although he later claims that he first had the idea when skiing. Throughout the season, his quest to get the book published becomes a running gag. Although Elaine is shown as disliking the idea, Mr. Lippman, her boss, likes it, which surprises her. Pendant Publishing (where Elaine and Kramer's then-girlfriend work) decides to publish it in "The Fire".

In "The Opposite", Kramer starts his "book tour" with an appearance on Regis and Kathie Lee. By accidentally spitting his coffee over Kathie Lee Gifford ("All over my Kathie Lee Casuals!"), his book tour immediately goes down in flames. Also in the episode, as a result of a bizarre chain of events, Elaine inadvertently causes the end of Pendant Publishing and therefore the end of Kramer's book. Nevertheless, the book is mentioned later in the episode "The Wizard" where it is revealed that the book is being made into a movie and the money Kramer makes allows him to briefly retire to Florida and run for president of the condo board at Del Boca Vista, Phase 3.

The book itself is full of pictures of celebrities' coffee tables, and even had a pair of foldable wooden legs so that it could itself be turned into a coffee table. He also says that he has plans for a coaster to be built into the cover.

Tom Gammill and Max Pross, writers of "The Cigar Store Indian", came up with the idea of the coffee table book about coffee tables, and Larry David added on the idea of the foldout legs to turn it into a coffee table.

Physical moments
Kramer's physical eccentricities are a frequent source of humor. His entrance is a recurring gag. He frequently 'slides' into Jerry's apartment, often resulting in applause, as in "The Virgin". In "The Revenge", Kramer clumsily carries a dry sack of cement powder to the washing machine. In "The Foundation", he takes on a group of kids at a karate school, and in "The Van Buren Boys", after giving his stories to Elaine to write, he slips up on the golf balls and lands on the floor.

Pseudonyms
Like the other three characters, Kramer has pseudonyms he uses in various schemes.

Under the name H.E. Pennypacker in "The Puerto Rican Day", Kramer poses as a prospective buyer interested in an elegant apartment in order to use its bathroom. Kramer also appears as Pennypacker to help Elaine get revenge on a Mayan clothing store, "Putumayo", by repricing all the merchandise in the store with a pricing gun in "The Millennium", though due to a mishap with the pricing gun, Pennypacker was forced to instead remove the desiccants from clothes in the store in order to render them "noticeably musty in five years". In this latter capacity, he claims Pennypacker is "a wealthy American industrialist."
He describes himself, in the H.E. Pennypacker persona, as "a wealthy industrialist and philanthropist and, uh, a bicyclist"

As Dr. Martin van Nostrand, Kramer tries to get hold of Elaine's medical chart to erase the negative comments her doctor has made in "The Package". He also uses the Van Nostrand alias in the episode "The Slicer", posing as a "Juilliard-trained dermatologist" for a cancer screening at George's company, Kruger Industrial Smoothing. Mr. Kruger later recognizes him as Dr. Van Nostrand in "The Strike". Kramer uses the name Martin van Nostrand (without the "doctor" prefix) while auditioning for the role of himself on the show Jerry in "The Pilot, Part 1". Kramer poses as Professor Peter van Nostrand in "The Nose Job" in order to retrieve a favorite jacket from another man's apartment; Kramer's jacket, to which he attributes at least some of his amorous success, is a minor plot point in other episodes until, in "The Cheever Letters", he trades it to a Cuban embassy official for several boxes of authentic Cuban cigars.

Kramer is also occasionally called "the K-Man" ("The Barber", "The Bizarro Jerry", "The Busboy", "The Note", "The Hamptons", "The Scofflaw" and "The Soup Nazi").

A derogatory designation for Kramer has been "hipster doofus", a moniker assigned to him by a woman in a wheelchair he once dated in the episode "The Handicap Spot", and occasionally directed at him by Elaine, as in "The Glasses". The nickname was first used in The Atlantic Monthly review of Seinfeld.

Reception
Ken Tucker wrote in a 1992 review in Entertainment Weekly that Kramer is "the most cartoonish, least-defined person in Seinfeld. Kramer is an earnest dope whose long, gangly body always seems to surprise his mind — he's always running, stumbling, bumping into things; he doesn't enter Jerry's apartment so much as he explodes into it." In 1999, TV Guide ranked him number 36 on its '50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time' list.

In popular culture
The band Kramer's Place made reference to the character Kramer.

It is shown that Kramer is subletting his apartment from Paul Buchman, one of the main characters in NBC's Mad About You. Paul and Kramer have a conversation about Paul giving Kramer the apartment in Mad About You episode "The Apartment" (Season 1, Episode 8).

Pop-punk band Ledger make reference to Kramer in the title of the song "Some Days You're Kramer, Some Days You're Costanza."

Alternative hip hop group Das Racist indirectly reference Kramer by referring to the show Seinfeld and the actor Michael Richards who portrays him in the song "Rapping 2 U".

Citations

External links

Kramer's Best Lines

Fictional actors
Fictional bakers
Fictional characters based on real people
Television characters introduced in 1989
Fictional gamblers
Fictional golfers
Fictional inventors
Fictional smokers
Fictional unemployed people
Seinfeld characters
American male characters in television
Destroyed in Seconds is a half-hour American television series that aired on Discovery Channel. Hosted by Ron Pitts, it features video segments of various things being destroyed fairly quickly (hence, "in seconds") such as planes crashing, explosions, sinkholes, boats crashing, fires, race car incidents, floods, factories, etc. The nature of the show closely resembles Real TV. The show uses real video of real events, and commentary explaining the destruction portrayed. Most videos have stock sound effects added. Some of the events seen resulted in fatalities, and all of the events have property damage.

Format
At the beginning of each episode, a compilation of all the incidents featured in that episode will play (though not in order), with Pitts narrating, "Without so much as a warning, life hangs in the balance. Human endeavour turns to chaos. And within seconds, nothing will ever be the same. Ever." On rare occasions, one incident will be left out of the opening compilation due to restricted space. That was the case for the Wichita City Hall drive-thru, which was not featured in the intro of episode 49. After the compilation, Pitts will describe two of the incidents that happen in the episode in one-liners. Each intro ends off with the phrase, "destroyed in seconds" before the show's main intro plays and the first incident in the episode. For example, episode 45's intro goes like this: "I'm Ron Pitts. Our team leaves no stone unturned in our search for destruction. In Italy, a Le Mans racer comes within inches of another car, as it cartwheels across the track. A military helicopter loses power and slices through the deck of a naval destroyer. A split second is all it takes for things to get destroyed in seconds. "

Each episode usually features eight or nine incidents, with a bonus incident at the end that is not part of the episode, but was lumped in by the crew for fun. The bonus clip usually involves car crashes or military disasters. At the beginning of each video shown, Pitts says the place, sometimes the time and date of the incident. Pitts will then explain the background of the incident (e.g. Racing competitions, industrial disasters), then the moment of the incident and what caused it. In the later episodes of the show, the location is sometimes not stated. This is likely because to give viewers an impression that the incident could have happened anywhere – across the globe or right down the street. Unlike Shockwave and World's Most Amazing Videos, there are no interviewees to talk about what happened in that incident. The incidents featured in the whole series happened before or during 2009, as the show was cancelled in 2010. At the end of each episode, Pitts ends off with a few words before the credits roll. The end credits usually review all the incidents that happened in the episode in order.

Usually, if a destruction is horrible, very dangerous, heart-stopping, or results in many injuries, the show usually goes into commercial either right at the moment of impact, right before it, or a little afterwards(for example, Jack Bland's brutal crash at Hagerstown in episode 8). When the show starts again, it reviews what happened and then explains what started the incident.

Episodes
Season 1 completed on March 23, 2009, and Season 2 in 2010. This is a list of Destroyed in Seconds episodes for Season 1 and 2:

References

External links

Discovery Channel original programming
2008 American television series debuts
2009 American television series endings "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?"  (alternatively titled  "WhoBob WhatPants?") is the 18th episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, and the 98th episode overall. It first aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on October 13, 2008.

In the episode, SpongeBob  thinks that his friends don't like him anymore after he made them angry because of a few accidents and decides to leave Bikini Bottom. Along the way, he accidentally bumps his head and loses his memory. SpongeBob wanders away into a new place called New Kelp City and attempts to get a new job, unaware he is becoming a target for a criminal gang known as the Bubble Poppin' Boys, while Patrick, Sandy and a reluctant Squidward try to find him.

The episode was written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, and Steven Banks, and the animation was directed by supervising director Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi. The episode features a guest appearance by Ray Liotta as the voice of the leader of the Bubble Poppin' Boys. The episode's premiere pulled an average of 7.7 million viewers, but received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Years after the episode first aired, the theme song of the episode was replaced with the generic main theme song internationally, but in the UK, it was replaced by the season 1-season 7 theme song.

Plot summary
SpongeBob wakes up on a normal day as usual and wants to spend time with his friends; however, he ends up angering them. With a sad, heavy heart, SpongeBob decides to leave Bikini Bottom, believing his friends now hate him after each of them calls him "idiot boy", after he accidentally broke Gary's shell, crushed and ruined Patrick's cake for his mother's birthday, disturbed Squidward's beauty sleep (as usual), destroyed Sandy's new invention (a robot), and deep-fried Mr. Krabs and his money. As he leaves, he falls off a cliff and bumps his head, knocking himself unconscious. Back in Bikini Bottom, Sandy and Patrick find a goodbye note from SpongeBob inside his pineapple and, realizing what they have done, show it to Mr. Krabs and Squidward. Everyone feels horrible for making SpongeBob leave and they too begin to cry, with the exception of Squidward, who is delighted. To make matters worse, without SpongeBob making Krabby Patties at the Krusty Krab, the city breaks out into massive chaos.

Meanwhile, SpongeBob wakes up with amnesia. He sees a couple of fish; however, they run in fear when they find out SpongeBob has a bottle of bubble soap. He wanders around until he ends up in New Kelp City where he attempts to get a job. Each time he gets a job, he displays his bubble-blowing ability, but this strikes fear into all the residents of the city. His activity brings up a confrontation with "the Bubble Poppin' Boys", who have scared the city into never blowing bubbles because they keep being blinded by the bubbles. SpongeBob uses his ability to get rid of the gang in a giant bubble that he blew out of town. He is rewarded by getting the position of mayor of New Kelp City.

While on the road, Sandy, Patrick, and Squidward learn SpongeBob became the new mayor, but when they go to New Kelp City to retrieve him, SpongeBob cannot remember who they are. They manage to take SpongeBob and return him to the Krusty Krab, but he wants to return to New Kelp City. Meanwhile, Squidward slips and accidentally throws his Fabergé egg onto SpongeBob's head, which causes his memory to come back. But even so, SpongeBob still wants to return to New Kelp City. At that moment, a breaking news report comes on, saying that the bubbles in New Kelp City are blinding the citizens, and SpongeBob is being threatened by a thug. This makes SpongeBob change his mind and he says that he will stay in Bikini Bottom, much to Squidward's chagrin.

Production

"What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?", also known as "WhoBob WhatPants?", was a special episode written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, and Steven Banks. The animation and supervising director was Alan Smart. Alexander and Cervas also functioned as storyboard directors. The episode was first announced by Nickelodeon on September 24, 2008, on a press release. According to the network, SpongeBob "wanders the ocean, a stranger in his own pants," and finds himself in a rough part of New Kelp City, where he faces off against the Boys' gangleader, Liotta's character.

The episode originally aired in the United States on October 13, 2008. From October 3, 2008, TurboNick featured a special playlist of content dedicated to the episode, including a sneak-peek of the special, themed episodes, short-form content, song clips, and an instant replay of the special following the television premiere. Nick.com, in 2008, presented a new game called "SpongeBob SquarePants: WhoBob WhatPants?" to celebrate the episode's television airing. The episode also features SpongeBob's signature sea chanty altered to "WhoBob WhatPants?" during the chorus answers in the title sequence.

In addition to the regular cast, Ray Liotta guest starred in the episode as the voice of the leader of New Kelp City's Bubble Poppin' Boys gang, and the main villain in the episode.

On October 14, 2008, "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" became available in the DVD compilation called SpongeBob's WhoBob WhatPants, along with six other episodes including "Goo Goo Gas", "The Two Faces of Squidward", "SpongeHenge", "Banned in Bikini Bottom", and "Stanley S. SquarePants". It also became available in the SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 2 DVD on November 18, 2008. On September 22, 2009, "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" was released on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes DVD, alongside all the episodes of seasons one through five.

Reception
"What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" was viewed by 7.7 million audiences. This ranked the program the number one most viewed entertainment show of the night, and the number two most viewed show in all categories after ESPN Monday Night Football. Despite the high ratings, the episode received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. Maddy Pumila said that the episode was "extremely fun and entertaining. I hadn't watched SpongeBob in a while, but the laughs in this episode provided more laughs than I would get in an entire day."

Maxie Zeus of Toon Zone cited the episode as an example of the series' decline. Lesley Aeschliman of Yahoo! Voices wrote "I have to look at this special like the 'Friend or Foe?' special. While 'WhoBob WhatPants?' works well as a regular story for SpongeBob SquarePants, I'm not entirely convinced that it deserved to be hyped up as a special. While this story had the potential to be 'special material,' it just didn't materialize in the final produced product." Roy Hrab of DVD Verdict said, "It makes me sad to think about how something so pleasurable has declined into something so tedious." Paul Mavis of DVD Talk said, "With a laugh-skimpy script, 'What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?' may be confirming a trend I noticed back with the last original SpongeBob toon to get its own disc release, Pest of the West: SpongeBob shorts are starting to get tired. And 'What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?' is even less funny than 'Pest of the West'," adding the episode was "Not a good sign."

References

External links

2008 American television episodes
2008 television specials
SpongeBob SquarePants episodes
Television episodes about amnesia
Animated television specials
2000s animated television specials