 According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman, ABC first conceived the series "Monk" as a procedural police comedy with an Inspector Clouseau-like character suffering from obsessive–compulsive disorder.Hoberman said ABC wanted Richards to play Adrian Monk, but he turned it down.In 1989, he was cast as Cosmo Kramer in the NBC television series "Seinfeld", which was created by fellow "Fridays" cast member Larry David and comedian Jerry Seinfeld.