Fake Kramers

Hi

I've seen at least 2 episodes where fake Kramers were used. There was the one where Kramer is at NBC auditioning for the pilot and has a sudden "attack" and has to find a bathroom. It's pitifully obvious that the guy running around NY is not Micheal Richards. Another was the episode where Kramer is running to the Latvian Orthodix church to convince Sister Roberta not to abandon her faith for him. Again, they did a piss poor job of finding a fake Kramer. Two questions: why do they do this and can't they find someone more closely resembling the real Kramer?

They use a stand-in because those scenes were shot on real New York streets, and since the show is shot in LA, it was easier to use a double then fly Michael Richards across the country for a few seconds of footage. By the way, it's a pretty safe bet that a double was also used during the chase with the cable guy in "The Cadillac."