The Natural Comedian

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee struck me as only a slightly amusing sequence of conversations between Jerry Seinfeld and Seth Meyers. These two comedians are generally pretty funny on their original shows, but watching them interact in a natural setting was incredibly lackluster. The show was seemingly set up with a series of distractions (like sporty cars and artsy lattes) to reel in viewers, but after a short viewing the whole series falls flat. Moreover, the episodes are shorter than your usual television show by at least ten minutes, so I’m a little surprised that the episodes aren’t full of quality content. Maybe that is a tip off that an entire television episode shouldn’t center around an activity that most shows film in a single scene?

In the show’s defense, director and comedian Jerry Seinfeld may have been going for a more “natural” feeling setting between himself and Seth Meyers. In that case, I can understand why he chose to go for a less scripted situation. Jerry Seinfeld does a great job of putting together a natural scene for the two of them to talk in; what better way to show a person’s casual side than to take them out for coffee? Unfortunately, both Jerry Seinfeld and Seth Meyers are most famous for their scripted acts. Their talks were funny at times, but without a premade set of jokes, they just strike me as two charismatic people enjoying themselves -  nothing to make a show over.

Even days after watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, I am still confused with the purpose of the cool cars in every episode. Why does the car that Jerry Seinfeld drives matter? Is the car supposed to be some sort of incentive for the guest comedian to get coffee with Jerry? I suppose I could blow it off as some sort of interesting distraction for the sake of making decent TV, but the episode begins with background information about the car. Jerry also makes a point of mentioning it to Seth Meyers on their way to the coffee shop. Of course, one could also make the point that the car must be important to the episode because it is mentioned in the title. But the original question remains unanswered: why tie the concept of a nice car in with a show mainly focused on the conversation between two funny people?

I must say, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee has been a real disappointment in more ways than one. The intriguing title and big names definitely caught my attention, and the 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS held my attention for about 5 minutes. After that, the show gave me the depressing realization that Seth Meyers and Jerry Seinfeld aren’t always funny. It may have been naive to think that before watching the show, but it certainly doesn’t help to have video proof of the two of them not living up to the standards that they’ve set on Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld. From now on, I think I’ll just stick to watching “Weekend Update”.