michael costanza

i was reading an article about a guy named micheal costanza suing seinfeld for basing the character george on him...it said he appeared on the show once....anyone know what show?......thanks

Micheal Costanza said that the George Costanza character was based on him and he was suing for 100 million dollars, but just yesterday the case was thrown out of court. He was never in any episode.

XIT WOUND [email]

Nope, he did have a bit part in "The Parking Space".

John Twernbold:

< Nope, he did have a bit part in "The Parking Space". >>

He was the guy in the large truck who yelled at George and the bald guy to move their cars.

He must have been just boiling mad at Jerry for using his last name in the show when he agreed to take that part. ; )

Actually, George Costanza was more Mike than anybody, Larry David especially, would care to admit. As Jerry's childhood friend, Mike contributed most of George's backstory. Basically, everything that made up George before the first episode was Mike, and a lot of what came after was David. When this subject first came up, Mike Costanza was ritually slammed by fans of the show, but anyone who's read a copy of his book knows better.

Here's a post I wrote about two years ago, it still applies (although the links might be dead by now, and the final results of the suit are now known.)

http://152.52.15.131/1998-10-27/News_and_Views/Scandal_Sheet/a-9179.asp This article from the NY Daily News includes a paragraph at the end:

"He's a flagrant opportunist," [Larry] David said of Mike Costanza when the book was published. "He knew Jerry for less than one year. His only semblance of a connection to the show is that Jerry happened to remember his last name from college."

This is a flat out lie on Larry David's part, as evidenced by the numerous photos in Mike Costanza's book. They may not have been the best friends in the world, but they definitely were close, and for much longer than the 'less than one year' that David mentioned.

http://mich.live.advance.net/seinfeld/stories/19980505seinfeld.html A "Michigan Live" article on the lawsuit. Of note are the following quotes:

MIke Costanza, about his book: "It reveals in detail what it was like to hang out at my house during our college days, to double-date, to go to Yankee games, to the laundromat, Chinese restaurants, and the beginning of Jerry's career in stand-up."

Elizabeth Clark, Larry David's publicist: "The only semblance of a connection he has to the show is that Jerry happened to remember his name from college." Sounds familiar, right? It's a party line. And it's not true.

http://www.eonline.net/News/Items/0,1,3809,00.html An EOnline article that includes some similarities between Mike and George:

Both attended Queens College with Jerry Both are bald and stocky. Both have hangups about bathrooms and parking spaces. Both had high school gym teachers that called them "Can't-Stand-Ya."

The article also includes this quote:

Says Castle Rock President Glenn Padnick: "George is modeled 100 percent on Larry. I believe Larry has never met Michael Costanza. This is incredible."

I found it interesting how the spin doctors wanted to distance Mike Costanza from anything to do with the show, but this doesn't explain why Jerry actually invited Mike out to LA to see a taping in 1992, and he even found "the real George" a part in the episode. He played the truck driver who made George and Mike move their cars in "The Parking Spot". Does this sound like someone Jerry knew, or did he really just "happen to remember his name"?

http://mrshowbiz.go.com/news/todays_stories/981027/costanza102798.html This article goes into the reasons for the suit. Namely, how Mike has suffered because they portayed his namesake character in such a "negative light".

Ok, having made my position clear, I have no idea how the lawsuit turned out. It may have been dropped, it may be pending, I don't know. While I feel $100 million is extremely excessive, I don't see why a small settlement, maybe a million, would hurt a few guys who, combined, are nearly billionaires.