For over 30 years, Jerry Seinfeld has been entertaining the masses with his brand of stand-up comedy. His observations on the mundane and trivial everyday aspects of life mixed with a fairly safe approach and delivery has made him quite possibly the most successful comedian of all time. He got his start on TV on the series Benson before eventually getting his now landmark NBC eponymous show, which ran from 1989-1999 and now in perpetuity for probably ever.
He returned to the stand-up circuit shortly after the show ended and he has been grinding it out ever since. In 2012, he began a short web-based talk show - Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. Despite the long title, that’s exactly what the show is about. Jerry drives around in some strange or silly or exotic car of his choosing, he picks up one of his funny pals and they go on a coffee run. All the while, they’re just chatting...about nothing. It’s the perfect mundane talk show for the master of the mundane himself.
Every Cast Member Has Been On
Jerry made his fortune and his fame and made the fame and fortune of the rest of his Seinfeld co-stars. Considering that fact, it stands to reason that of course he’d want them all on his show. In fact, two out of the four; co-creator Larry David and Michael “Kramer” Richards bookended the show’s first season. Perhaps coincidentally, but they both were chauffeured around in Volkswagen - Larry in a 52 Beetle and Richards in a 62 Double Cab.
George Not Jason
On the way to having every main Seinfeld cast member on the show, Jason Alexander needed to show up too. But instead of a traditional episode, which featured Jerry and Jason driving around in an ‘76 AMC Pacer; Jason, Jerry, and even Wayne Knight (Newman) all reprised their famous roles from the show.
This episode was done two-fold. The first was a fun nod to the three actors’ history on Seinfeld. The second, at the time was used for a Super Bowl Commercial. Sadly, this episode is not featured on Netflix.
Talk Show Hosts
Over the course of twelve seasons of the show, Seinfeld has interviewed just about every important Late-Night Talk Show host from the past twenty years. Aside from maybe Conan, the stand-up has broken bread, chauffeured, and drank coffee with Letterman, Leno, Seth Myers, John Stewart, Colbert, Trevor Noah, Fallon, and even Bill Maher (to form the comedy duo of “Smug and Arrogant.”
Netflix = Increased Budget
The show debuted on the Sony online network, Crackle back in 2012. The idea was born out of one extras from his documentary, Comedian. Netflix decided to toss a heap of money at Seinfeld (because he needed it) to bring the show to their Network instead. The increased budget has led to a sleeker looking show.
Comedy School
For any fan of stand–up comedy or aspiring stand–up comedian, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is your show. Jerry and his friends don’t just drive around, get a cup of java and make each other laugh. They reminisce about what and who made them laugh growing up.
Comedy greats like George Carlin, Johnny Carson, and the Smothers Brothers inspiring some of today’s funniest funny people. Sometimes, they even get into what it’s like to grind out material and what makes great jokes work.
One Married Couple Has Appeared
In real life, Seinfeld is besties with “Ferris Bueller” himself, Matthew Broderick. Recently a story popped up about a guy who wanted a picture with Broderick and his kid in Montauk, but not his friend – who he didn’t recognize as Jerry. Broderick recently appeared on the new season as the two careened around in a Lamborghini. His appearance on the show, coupled with his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker’s appearance in 2014 makes them the only married couple to have been on the show.
Only One Season With No SNL Alum
In case you didn’t realize by the show’s name or the host, it’s all about comedy. Nothing has been more consistently funny over the years, or at the very least a staple of comedy than Saturday Night Live. Every single season of the show, Jerry has interviewed at least one cast member from the series’ over 40-year run. The only reason where there was no cast member was season 4, several guests from that season had previous guest hosts and Sarah Jessica Parker was dating at one-point, former cast member - Robert Downey, Jr.
Eight Episodes Not In CA, NY, or NJ
A lot of travel / food type of shows feature guys like Guy Fieri driving all over the country and sometimes the world, looking for good eats. But the truth is that most comedians and celebrities don’t live in the middle of the country.
There have only been eight times on the show Jerry has ventured outside of California, New York, or Jersey. Those handful of episodes (besides the White House or Connecticut) usually took place in another entertainment hub like Chicago or Vegas.
Where’s The Beef?
Nothing seems to ever phase Jerry, except for a recent episode with Cabaret singer, Bridget Everett had mentioned someone so evil (to Seinfeld) that the person’s name was bleeped out and both Jerry and Bridget’s mouths were blacked out to avoid reading lips to find out the identity of he / she who should not be named. It was actually a little jarring to see the unflappable Jerry Seinfeld be so flappable. Some on the internet believe they’re speaking about Bobcat Goldthwaite. If you knew that the guy once said about him, you’d be unflapped too.
No Repeat Business
For shows like this, one of the fun aspect is to see all of the cars and all of the places that the host and his guests go to. There’s a feeling of “hey, I know that place” or “oh, that’s right in my neck of the woods, honey we should go.” All of these restaurants and delis definitely love the publicity. So far, there have been no repeat businesses to be highlighted. Considering how many great restaurants there are on the right and left coasts, that’s exactly the way it should be.