Cómicos, coches y café

Possible Spoil Alert--This is a general overview of Jerry Seinfeld himself. The comedians on the show make the show. Jerry is just the inventor of it. I would give a better rating if Jerry Seinfeld didn't have such airs about himself. At first he seems very personable but later he makes comments to his guests that makes you wonder if he likes his fans or just 'regular' people at all. As time goes by I find myself liking Jerry Seinfeld less and less. However, the guests do their best and I find myself interested in the person whether they are funny or not. The cars are somewhat interesting to someone who really doesn't care about cars but not as interesting as the comedians themselves. Jerry does a good job doing nothing, just not great at being humble or very interesting himself.

Seinfeld boldly defined a new genre with this series, defying convention and putting fans first. So much is different about this series: It's distributed only on Crackle and his own dedicated web site, the episodes are an usual 14-18 minutes long, the format itself is unique, and the sole sponsor Acura created customized advertising content that they integrated into the show.

Each show follows this same formula: Jerry Seinfeld invites a legendary comedian out for coffee. He picks them up at their house or mansion in a different and rare classic car. You could watch this series just for the classic cars. In fact if you check IMDb you will find that people who watch this show also watch Top Gear. You might find a bit of Top Gear here, especially when it comes to simultaneous admiring and poking fun at the cars.

The famous comedians you meet are the top comedians of our time and Jerry has known many of them personally for decades, so anyone who's particularly into comedy will especially appreciate this series. He ranges from Jay Leno to Sara Silverman and Louis CK, and Chris Rock, to name a few.

And although you'll see GoPro's all over the inside of each car, along with a chase car or two, you are still there eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between two friends. They're not trying to create an illusion with the production crew staying out of the way, nor are they in your face either. This isn't an interview, and it's not a reality show either. It's something else, something new. Something happens to friends when they go for a drive in a classic car and just hang out.

This format works extra-ordinarily well in the unusual 14-18 minute time length Jerry makes each episode. Each episode features a different classic car, with Jerry describing the characteristics of the car that make it special for him. One wonders whether the cars are somehow matched to the personalities of the comedians. Then Jerry calls them up, and Jerry says something like, "So I'll pick you up in 15 minutes for coffee." He drives to their house / mansion, picks them up, and off they go to a unique coffee shop. Sometimes they have other impromptu adventures along the way.

Jerry and Acura obviously collaborated closely on this, as the customized advertising content from Acura is integrated into each show. The commercials match the retro/classic era of the cars they drive, and are downright funny themselves. Each episode features comical Acura product placements, so that after watching a few episodes you begin to play a game of "Where is the Acura product placement going to be in this one?" This is advertising genius.

I loved this show. I despise the unreality of "reality TV" but this belongs, I suppose, at the edges of that genre. It also belongs at the edges of the late night talk show genre, but with a host who engages rather than quizzes and allows guests to shill their current project...and the content here is often deeper and more interesting than the typical talk show's. The "story" is simply: Jerry picks up a comedian (or two) he is friends with, driving an amazing classic car, and they go for coffee, sometimes a meal, and they talk.

Though of course there must be a crew of sound and camera people, you don't feel as if there are; you feel as if you're a fly on the door handle of the car or on the diner table (some of the diners where they got coffee no doubt had those), eavesdropping on comic geniuses reminiscing and riffing what seems to be spontaneously on various ideas. For instance, Joel Hodgson and Jerry fall into a routine about advertising the upside-down ketchup bottle, Jerry playing the junior executive with some bad news to impart, and Joel being the impatient CEO with opera tickets who wants to get going, and they are very funny. They make each other laugh, too, and there is no sit-com reason to avoid breaking character and not laugh. So the viewer's sense is that we're sitting at a table with two or three funny friends and watching them go at it, and it's really enjoyable.

The final episode isn't entirely funny--it's damned moving. It's not only deeply philosophical at points, but shows some of the dark sides of comedy, and it moved me to tears.

It strikes me that the episodes were a perfect length for what they were--you wanted more. And there's something else you can't do on TV, eh? 22 minutes or 44, and nothing else, but a web show can be any length, providing different opportunities for creativity. I'm usually depressed by watching network TV shows, but this show made me feel optimistic about the future of entertainment and anxious to see what else is coming.

Terrific job, an idea that may sound odd at first blush but that worked perfectly.

The chemistry between Seinfeld and each of the interviewees is just magic. The episodes should be longer though, you just don't get enough time for the subjects to become completely natural. OK, so this type of thing will never be 100% authentic, but watching these are still a beautiful experience. The cars are awesome, would love to drive some of these beautiful vehicles.

It's a novel concept and rolls stand-up comedy, reality TV and our fascination with celebrities into one little bite-sized but right-sized segment.

The show is not constant laugh-out-loud humour and initially may appear not to live up to the high expectations which inevitably attach to a Jerry Seinfeld venture. You might even feel torn between the desire to watch, and the unwillingness to admit that you're interested in watching a celebrity get a cup of coffee.

But drop your guard, watch a few episodes, and you will realise that the creators do not intend to suggest that you have nothing better to do than watch their mediocre moments. Rather, this show is the loving little side-project of someone who just wants to share their passion for cars, comedy and the subtleties of human relations.