zwolanerd

What do you do when your beloved TV show has made literally a billion dollars? What’s there left to accomplish? If you’re Jerry Seinfeld (and in this scenario, you’d kind of have to be) you go small. Really small.

Predicated on the notion that “hey, people might like it if I went out for coffee with a friend of mine who just happens to be a comedian and we talked about stuff, ” Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is exactly what it purports to be and it’s a special kind of great, besides.  Well, let me qualify that a little: some of them are great.  It’s not a thing that works completely all the time, but when it does it’s a lot of fun.

The car part doesn’t do much for me, I’ll admit. I mean, it’s interesting to see the different weird stuff Jerry drives around, but since I have no history with any of them it’s not more than a “huh, neat” kind of thing.

I have way more of an interest in comedy, though, and it’s fascinating to watch these interchanges. On the surface, it’s a couple of friends (who just happen to be famous) going out for a drive and some food. Below that, and sometimes just barely, it’s two people who’ve had similar experiences relating to each other in ways many people wouldn’t be able to… which I guess is a basis for most standard friendships, but, hey, leave me alone. Watching them slip into a bit and expand on that bit together is a joy to watch not just because it’s usually funny, but also because it’s the art of comedy creation in action, on film. One of them offers an element, the other expands on it, the first one recognizes the beauty of it, and it goes from there. I find it fascinating, much the same way I found Comedian fascinating. Normally “seeing how the sausage gets made” is not something you want to see, but in this instance it actually makes the thing better for me.  I’m sure part of that is my long-time desire to be a comic, but I’d think anyone with an interest in comedy would enjoy it.

My favorite episodes so far have been Brian Regan, Larry David, and Michael Richards. Next week’s with David Letterman looks like it’ll be on that list soon enough. Another part of the charm is just how tickled Jerry is to talk to some of these people.  Watch his reactions to Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks – just fantastic.

My wish list for future guests (somebody please get this list to Jerry):

• Paula Poundstone
• Tina Fey
• Jim Gaffigan
• Jay Leno
• Louis CK
• Weird Al
• Bill Murray
• Ray Romano
• David Cross
• Patton Oswalt

Of course, what I’d really like is to become a comedian and get famous enough that Jerry would have me on, mostly so I could talk to the guy for a couple of hours.

 

Tags: Seinfeld

Written by: Mark