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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' goes down like a stale cup of joe

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Jerry Seinfeld tries too hard to be funny, accidentally squelching the organic comedy of his web series, "Comedians."

For a show supposedly featuring intimate discussions with famous comedians, host Jerry Seinfeld spends an awful lot of time talking only about the cars he drives on "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" (2012 - present). Granted, the web series literally follows Seinfeld as he picks up comedians in various automobiles and takes them for coffee to ask them questions ranging from, “What was the first bit you did on stage?” to “What was an early time you got in trouble?” But the viewer has to wonder, is this “Top Gear” (2002 - present) or a web talk show with comedians as the sole guests? Perhaps, most confusingly, it is a little bit of both.

Now in its fifth season, the show seems to be picking up about as much steam as the broken-down Ferrari that Seinfeld used to pick up Amy Schumer on their way to Short Stop Diner for a cup of coffee.The third episode of the current season follows the two on the show’s typical formula: pick up comedian, chat, get coffee, continue to chat, have the urge to laugh alongside a laugh track and feel a little bit hollow and lost when none is provided. At five minutes into the episode, Schumer and Seinfeld were still not drinking coffee and knocking back hilarious repartee. Instead, Seinfeld compares the car’s creaky transmission to his digestive tract after a meal of Mexican food. (Did that once pass for funny on "Seinfeld" (1989 - 1998), or was the audience’s laughter then as forced as Schumer’s feels now?) Seinfeld asks Schumer what she thinks of him, a question prompted by his arrival in a car that sounds so horrible it may in fact kill them. She replies, “Oh my god, I had so much respect for you, like, an hour ago.”

Us too, Amy. Us too.

Cheesy big band music plays as a soundtrack while the comedians are forced to interact with each other in this most treacherous environment: real life. One can't help but feel for Schumer; as a performer, even on downtime, there is now the added pressure to play off of the second-rate energy that Seinfeld is doling out.

Slow shots of coffee beans being ground, espresso being made and various food preparation tasks being executed are interspersed throughout the conversation, images reminiscent of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” (2006 - present). Guy Fieri, please come and help Jerry Seinfeld. It must be really difficult for a comedian to figure out what to do with his life after realizing that all of his jokes were vacuum sealed and packaged into nine seasons of "Seinfeld," preserved for any viewers living under rocks.

Other comedians featured on the show, such as Aziz Ansari in season four and Tina Fey in season three, shine even against the dimmer switch known as Mr. Seinfeld. "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" is not a stand-up routine, and thus should not be treated, or executed, as such. Ansari and Fey understand the limits of a web series that ranges between six-minute and 18 minute long segments of conversations over coffee. The comedy flows best when it is honest and organic, like when Ansari talks about the struggles of first doing open mics on the stand-up comedy circuit. Natural conversation allows everyday moments to bring in genuine comedy, without the necessity of assisted laughter via a laugh track.

In contrast, the humor fails like a broken sunny side-up egg when Seinfeld tries to use coffee time to present shticks on those pesky little every day struggles that are supposed to be relatable, but really feel like scenes from “Seinfeld” that were left on the editing room floor. Perhaps the failure of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” lies not in its premise, one that is original enough to reel in audiences, or in its dialogue, which is entertaining enough to remind viewers why they like their favorite comedians, but in the uncertainty of the show's presentation. While Seinfeld treats each episode as a chance for him to present new material to a semi-reluctant fellow comedian who just wants to enjoy his or her coffee, other guests seem to enter the show with a “Comedians are just like us!” mentality and try too hard to be funny about everyday mundanities. Only the true comedic geniuses know that the funniest pieces of life come when you aren’t trying so hard, and unfortunately that's something Seinfeld has yet to realize.

“Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” is available on its website, comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com. All five seasons of full-length segments, as well as “Single Shot” segments, are currently streaming for free.

Summary Jerry Seinfeld's web series struggles when it tries to be a platform for the host's musings on life, but shines when it allows star comedians to be themselves.
2.5 Stars