“This is a slinky, sexy 1969 Jaguar XKE Series 2 E-Type convertible in opalescent blue,” Jerry Seinfeld says. He’s on his way to pick up Sarah Silverman in Los Angeles, for a season two episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. “Enzo Ferrari once described this as, ‘The most beautiful car ever designed,’” he continues.
Moments later, Seinfeld pulls up to greet Silverman. “This is the car I picked,” he says, standing proudly next to the shiny antique machinery he’s acquired for the day. He’s wearing a blazer, blue jeans, and sneakers – iconic comedian attire – and he almost appears anxious as he waits for Silverman’s approval. As Silverman marvels at the car and offers a hug, Seinfeld tells her that he picked this car specifically, because, “It looks like you.”
Welcome to the strange world of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (CCC), Jerry Seinfeld’s Crackle web series that premiered in 2012 and recently completed its fifth season. The encounter with Sarah Silverman is just one of many awkward and uncomfortable moments speckled throughout the series’ first 35 episodes. At first glance, CCC looks like an over-the-hill Seinfeld parading around with his comic friends, talking about nothing, leaving you with this feeling of, Why do we need this?
If you’ve never seen the show, the premise of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee doesn’t need much explanation beyond the title. It is literally just that. Comedians. Cars. Coffee. Sometimes lunch. Seinfeld interviews a different famous comedian each episode. He arrives in an exotic car that is meant to represent the famous person he’s about to interview. They get coffee. They talk about comedy. And that’s it.
The idea of a metaphorical car is bewildering. I chose this exotic car because it looks like you. Who does that? In season five, Seinfeld shows up to Kevin Hart’s hotel in a rare 1959 Porsche Spyder. “Smaller. Smarter. Better,” Seinfeld says, referring to Porsche’s philosophy. Then, dead-seriously he says to Hart, “This is how I see you.”
It’s something that only Jerry Seinfeld could get away with. Imagine if Carson Daly pulled up to Rosie O’Donnell’s house in an old Buick, and said, “I picked this car because it’s how I think of you.” I can imagine O’Donnell getting very upset and proceeding to take a nine iron to the windshield.
There’s so much wrong with CCC. The show has been criticized for its notable lack of diversity; Seinfeld didn’t talk to a woman until Silverman appeared in season two. There’s the strange emphasis on gas-guzzling cars that feels out of tune with today, not to mention disingenuous for a guy like Seinfeld, who writes jokes about Junior Mints. And then there’s Seinfeld himself, who is just plain awkward, and seems to consistently push the bounds of acceptable human behavior. Each episode presents one or two moments, where I’m thinking, “Really, Jerry? Really?” Just little off-the-cuff comments, like when Seinfeld asks Louis C.K., “Does it bother you that I figured out how to make money doing this?”
So, why bother with this series? If you’re a Jerry Seinfeld fan, maybe just close the laptop, and flip on TBS for reruns of Seinfeld’s Other Show, right?
Well, despite everything, CCC is entertaining, funny, and strangely educational. For any aspiring comedian or humorist or even writer, it offers an exceptional behind-the-scenes look into the lives of some of the most successful people in the business today. Believe it or not, there’s some good information condensed into those twenty-minute clips of famous people eating muffins.
Seinfeld’s seemingly casual conversations with comedians actually give you a glimpse into the business of writing jokes. I’m not sure of many other places you can get this experience while sitting at home. Perhaps you could read a book or listen to a podcast, if you’re into those things. But with CCC, you get a live window into how these people view the world. In a season two episode, Chris Rock tells Seinfeld: “80% of your job [as a comedian] is just paying attention to shit.” When you consider this, a show about famous people driving around and having oddball conversations, all of the sudden becomes very interesting.
It’s fascinating to watch Seinfeld workshop material with his guests, which he does often. In season three, Seinfeld is driving through Manhattan with Todd Barry. He asks Barry if there’s a joke that he does that he “does for himself,” meaning one that Barry likes, but that never gets any laughs. Barry describes his bit about fruit; he says he hates fruit but he loves orange juice. The crux of the joke, Barry says, is that he’s baffled that something as amazing as orange juice can come from something “as evil as an orange.” Seinfeld chuckles and pauses for a moment and appears to think before offering up a suggestion: “I think you need to tell me why you see fruit as bad.” Later in the episode, they dissect the joke further. Seinfeld describes the problem of bad fruit in the grocery store displays that no one tells you about. “It’s kept secret from you. This is the evil of fruit.”
If you can look past the metaphorical Ferraris, CCC contains moments worth watching – comedy legends at work analyzing and cooking up material. In season one, Larry David and Seinfeld debate cigar smoking, and what makes a cigar smoker seem wise, versus a cigarette smoker. “The cigarette is not contemplative,” David says. “The cigar is relaxing. A cigar takes time.” Seinfeld reacts as though they’ve just achieved a major breakthrough. “A cigar takes time! That’s the key.”
My thought after watching every CCC episode, is why isn’t there something like this for other writers? Maybe something like, Humorists Getting Diabetes from Danishes, with your host, David Sedaris? I’d watch that show. Unfortunately Seinfeld doesn’t want to talk to these people. He’s had on a few actors and a YouTube star, but over and over, you see that he’s simply not interested in talking to other kinds of writers or artists.
Sony has renewed Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee for four more seasons. Maybe we’ll see more variety in CCC guests going forward, but don’t expect a major shift from Seinfeld. “Let’s not put these guys on too a high a plane,” Seinfeld says to his season four guest, Robert Klein, when the two are discussing humor columnists. “They are writing columns… What is that compared to getting a real laugh?… They don’t do what we do.”
Branden Kfoury is a person and freelance writer who lives in Massachusetts most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter here.
