Kramer's Reality Tour, New York

First, let me say, I am a die-hard Seinfeld fan, have seen every episode, and have watched every extra on the Seinfeld DVDs (and of course, I own the entire set). Therefore, my poor review is not as a result of not enjoying Seinfeld. This past Saturday, I and a friend went on Kramer's Reality Tour. The tour starts at a tiny theater, which I beleive was on 44th and 7th. As soon as I walked into the theater I knew that this tour was not going to live up to my expectations. In the theater there is this medium size television circa 1995 sitting on a TV cart with the image of Kenny Kramer outside of Tom's Restaurant. (Some people when they entered the room took a picture of this television; however, I've seen a 15 year old television before and so I declined that photo opportunity). Before Kramer arrived, we watched a brief history on the life of Kenny Kramer and I immediately learned that he is just a media whore--as is evidenced by the fact that he ran for mayor of New York without any credentials or even popularity (I think he received a little over 2000 votes). Once Kramer arrived he recounted how he met Larry David (along with some assistance from a video recording of Larry David being interviewed about the same topic--I beleive that this same interview can be found on the Seinfeld DVD's). He politely allowed us to take as many photographs as we wanted of him, because he seems to think he a celebrity. From there, Kramer gave us an opportunity to purchase Seinfeld merchandise as well as his own merchandise (he is still trying to unload his "Kramer for Mayor" hats). After, we went to the bus. Admittedly, the bus was not a school bus, like the one used in Seinfeld to satarize this reality tour. It was a coach bus. However, it was a used tour bus, which is evident by the fact that Kramer slapped a "1-800 Kramer" sticker over whatever logo had been originally painted on the bus. Once on the bus, Kramer informed us that he starts every tour with an introduction by a famous person, and lucky for us, our tour was no different. Kramer then proceeds to put into the VCR in the front of the bus a VHS recording of then-Mayor Guillliani welcoming us to the tour. Because the recording was at least 15 years old, the video stated Guilliani was currently the mayor of New York, and Guilliani spoke of Seinfeld as if it was still on the air. Kramer then proceeded to give a tour of the Upper West Side, with most of the relevant places no longer existing (but as Kramer put it, the show was about nothing, so the tour could be as well). The most notable stop on the tour was at Tom's Restaurant. At this juncture, Kramer informed us that we were all getting out to take photographs. He also stated that we were to line up in row in order to have our photograph taken with him. This annoyed me because he didn't say, "if you want your photograph taken with me you can line up" but presumed, that of course, we'd want our photograph taken with a guy whose only claim to fame was that his name was used in a sitcom (this just reinforces what I said above about him being a media whore). After this photo op, we went back to the theater and this completed our tour. Basically, my money would have been better spent getting a Gray Line tour downtown Manhattan. I can see how this tour could have been awesome 15 years ago, but now, when all the information he gives you is in the DVD extras, and most of the places no longer exist, it is not really worth it. Plus, he wasn't actually involved in the show, so his knowledge although expansive is not really inside knowledge. Finally, as I've alluded throughout, this guy has made no attempts to modernize his tour. From the old television to the 15 year old recording of Gulliani welcoming us to the tour, this guy has done nothing to invest in his business. To be sure, he hasn't increased the price over the years, but he should probably decrease it since there is less to see.