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.

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.

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.

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.