Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

It's one of the best web series around. On every episode, Jerry Seinfeld drives a fellow comedian in a car and gets coffee. Of course, the cars and the coffee are secondary. It's Jerry and friends. Most of time, it is hilarious or at least very funny. It's comedians shooting the breeze. It's very rare when the show falls completely flat. The only one that comes to mind is Todd Barry. He's so mellow that the show almost stops dead. Every show has some old story, funny bits, recalling old times, or theories on comedy. The names of the guests are a compelling list of who's who in comedy. It's one of the very few web series that can truly be called must-see.

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.

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.

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.

I think the concept is ok. Nice cars and comedy legends make it interesting. The Jazz gives it a nice urban feel. The problem with the series is Jerry. He's just so arrogant and full of himself and, insofar as comedy goes, he's not that funny. Too many shots of coffee too. It gets old fast. The segment with Mel Brooks made it worth it for me though.