I will agree with you on the old timers, Shelly Berman is a genius (now appearing on "Curb Your Enthusiasm". But I think Kauffman was a genius, he pushed the enevelope out of the box, and always, always left you guessing.
...did push the envelope.
...Nearly always too far.
I COULD see this as something he set up with a confederate 20 years plus just a tad ago....
...before he died.