Michael Chiklis remembers his Seinfeld fondly for one reason

Michael Chiklis is most (and deservedly) famous for playing corrupt LAPD detective Vic McKay on The Shield — but before that he was more of a comedy actor. There’s a reason he got the Ben Grimm part/thing in it Fantastic Four Family Movies Directed by Tim Plot Fantastic Four.

Before The Shield, Chiklis’ two leading television roles were Camish (about a helpful police commissioner in small New York) and Daddio (a short-lived sitcom about staying at home). He then made a conscious choice to change his image by shaving his head, hitting the gym and eventually Landing “The Shield” due to involvement with neighbor, series creator Sean Ryan.

If this sounds familiar, or Chiklis’ past roles make his performance as Mackay seem shocking, keep this in mind Bryan Cranston also played Hal’s dad on Malcolm in the Middle before he became Heisenberg on Breaking Bad.

One of Chiklis’ more well-credited early roles was a brief guest spot on “Seinfeld.” Yes, 28-year-old Michael Chiklis (still rocking a head of hair) is revealed in the season 3 episode “The Stranded.” George, Jerry and Elaine go to a house party on Long Island hosted by Chiklis’ character Steve. Jerry gives a blank “stop by if you’re ever in town” invitation to Steve – who follows him a week later and stays at Jerry’s apartment. Steve stays hanging out at Jerry’s apartment, but he gets drunk with Kramer and ends up calling a prostitute named Patti. Steve leaves Jerry’s bill to his feet – who then almost gets him arrested for soliciting.

In a 2013 interview with the Archives of American Television, Chiklis said that “more than anything I’ve done in my career, that episode … has been referenced by more people.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amsjudjy1qq

Chiklis added that he’s looking at “Seinfeld” with consideration because his appearance on “Stranded” netted him a lot of residual checks.

“Residuals” are payments to film and television workers (writers, actors, crew, etc.) when a project they’ve been involved in generates new revenue. The most obvious example is when television episodes are repeated and/or syndicated across multiple channels. Residuals ensure that the workers who made the episode get a cut of the permanent profits it generates; They were a major contention in 2023 between the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, as transfers of old projects did not apply to old residual agreements.

As one of the most popular television shows ever made, “Seinfeld” has been heavily rerun and heavily syndicated – including “The Stranded.” Some later About Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards wanting to enter residual syndication.

No one in their right mind would argue that Steve Pocatello is a more important role than Vic Mackay to television history, or a more impressive performance by Chiklis (or a sweater for that matter). But it still gets wide acclaim for it, because a gritty and gritty police procedural like The Shield (especially one that doesn’t bend over backwards to make the boys in blue the heroes) will always have a more limited appeal. than a well-made comedy like “Seinfeld.”