PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE WITH JERRY SEINFELD {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented at The Paley Center for Media in New York. This evening celebrates "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," Jerry Seinfeld's web series in which he drives, dines and banters with his contemporaries. Host Maureen Reidy (CEO, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces the first episode of the fourth season, which is screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 115170.)
After the episode, Reidy welcomes Seinfeld and moderator David Letterman to the stage. The conversation touches upon such topics as: why the "show for a phone" is well-suited to the Internet, with its varying episode lengths and lack of a story; the decision to set the episode in cars to create a sense of energy; his friendships with the various guests; how they film several hours of footage and edit it down to roughly twenty minutes per episode; the editing process and addition of music; comparisons to the process of creating "Seinfeld"; Seinfeld's observation that comedians are "a weird breed of human" with a distinctive attitude; a memorable episode involving a deep conversation with the "fearless" Louis CK on a boat; Seinfeld's interest in getting his guests "away from the audience" to create a more authentic conversation; his experience seeing an episode with a live audience for the first time; his discovery that most people watch episodes during their work hours; his decision to ignore advice about keeping the episodes to a mere five minutes each; his obsession with cars as "culture objects"; memories of spending time with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks; the "machine" of comedy and the process of constructing a stand-up act; jokes that are only appreciated by other comedians; speculation about the number of future episodes and seasons; his ongoing stand-up career, in which he performs two nights per week; his kids' semi-interest in his former TV series; the web series' "remember when cars were fun" message; and his unfortunate but funny experience in the episode featuring Patton Oswalt in which their DeLorean broke down.
Questions from the audience lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: Seinfeld's interest in achieving a "sixties sitcom" feel by singing the show's theme song himself; other potential guests, including Regis Philbin; the "Seinfeld" characters' cars; how Seinfeld finds a second location after the coffee shop or diner to visit with his guests; the decision to use the Acura product placement for humor; Seinfeld and Letterman's first and most beloved cars; the cost of the episodes and whether the guests are paid for their appearances; comparisons to the money spent on "Seinfeld"; the decision to edit out the "celebrity reactions" from passerby in the episode; and the show's international success so far.
Clips from upcoming episodes are interspersed throughout the program, including scenes featuring Bob Einstein and Sarah Silverman.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: June 9, 2014 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:27:49
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114324
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Maureen Reidy … Host
- David Letterman … Moderator
- Jerry Seinfeld … Guest
- Mel Brooks
- Louis CK
- Bob Einstein
- Patton Oswalt
- Regis Philbin
- Carl Reiner
- Don Rickles
- Sarah Silverman