“Seinfeld” is a show where virtually every major character is outlandish and morally compromised yet rendered likable by the sheer power of writing and performances. As such, a character who’s specifically designed to act as the fictionalized Jerry Seinfeld’s nemesis has to fit the show’s general aura of chaotic ineptitude while still retaining an ability to antagonize. Wayne Knight’s Newman is perfect for this role. A scheming, theatrical postal worker who lives in the same building as Jerry and Kramer (Michael Richards), Newman is eccentric and unlikeable but not entirely villainous. He’s a peculiar antagonist in that he manages to get along with the majority of the show’s characters who aren’t named Jerry, and the only real reason for Jerry to hate Newman is that the show’s creators considered it a fun plot device.
Knight played Newman in 44 episodes after debuting in season 3 of “Seinfeld,” shaping him into one of the show’s most prominent recurring characters. To this day, Jerry’s disgusted “Hello, Newman” greeting remains one of the series’ most recognizable quotes. In a 2012 interview with the A.V. Club, Knight was easily able to single out his favorite Newman episode out of the 44: “Seinfeld” season 4, episode 4, “The Ticket,” in which the character is trying to weasel his way out of a speeding ticket by arguing in court that he was in a hurry to help a desperate Kramer (whose fantasies of becoming a banker had crumbled). As Knight put it:
“I have this courtroom scene where I was just full-out explosive, trying to […] Well, it’s just way over the top, but Newman was committed and truthful and honestly angrier than he possibly could be. It was just fun to do, and I thought it was very funny. It’s not one of the grand remembered episodes, but it’s my favorite.”
Newman was supposed to be a one-and-done role on Seinfeld
Newman and his machinations have become such an integral part of “Seinfeld” that it’s hard to believe the character was supposed to appear in just one episode — or rather, two, if you include an early offscreen appearance in the season 2 episode “The Revenge,” where “Seinfeld” co-creator Larry David provided the voice. The original vision for Newman was a tension-creating guest character who would threaten to tell a man who wakes up from a coma that Jerry has been hitting on his girlfriend. However, Knight’s audition changed the course for the character thanks to his oddball chemistry with Richards. The actor jokingly described the audition in the A.V. Club interview by hilariously comparing Richards and himself to the Trylon tower and the Perisphere building of the 1939 New York World’s Fair:
“I think that when Michael and I were sitting next to each other in that scene, it was like something from the 1939 World’s Fair. I mean, there was this big tall obelisk and this rotund kind of spherical shape, and […] they just seemed historically suited. It was kind of like odd kismet. And I just kept coming back.”
Knight’s favorite Newman episode, “The Ticket,” showcases him and Richards as a surprisingly great comedic duo very well. While Newman is arguably more famous for his enmity with Jerry, his courtroom-worthy mission to avoid a speeding ticket by using a concussed and confused Kramer as a witness is a perfect example of the peculiar buddy chemistry the pair shared in their various scheme-themed B-plots.
