Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee continues on Crackle, which is good as it means all the episodes are free to watch online; I think that is coming to an end soon, as Netflix have now picked it up as part of a bigger Seinfeld package of shows. In the meantime though the show benefits from not having a fixed running time, being free to watch without subscription, and the only cost to the viewer appears to be enduring an periodic unfunny joke about product placement (which is the product placement). This eighth season has no shortage of big names and well-known faces, as it features Jim Gaffigan, Margaret Cho, Judd Apatow, JB Smoove, Lorne Michaels, and John Oliver.
As before, the show is very polished, slick, and professional throughout – as expected from the names involved even if the platform is unknown to most outside of this show. When the individuals have dropped enough very funny or interesting material to fill 10-15 minutes, then this works well. For instance, I found the John Oliver episode to be very funny as a show, while I found the Apatow episode to be interesting and funny as it contained a lot of memory and reflection. So when these sort of things work then the content slots into the same quality level as the presentation – and mostly this is the case.
This season does highlight the weakness in going beyond that though. Where the guest doesn't produce lots of great material, then it does flounder a bit – and making a joke out of that only works so many times. The Margaret Cho episode showed that it is willing to talk about tougher subjects, but that it doesn't really have the heart to do it – either at the presentation level, or with Seinfeld himself; the discussions about various 'trans' tags produced an air of tension which isn't shown out on camera, while the healing show didn't really allow for discussion so much as a superficial run- through. Still entertaining around these examples, but it is a limit and it is felt when experiencing them.
Continues to be a slick vehicle and a very high-quality show for a free internet consumable, and I guess by season 8 you've either accepted its limitations or not (and I have).
As before, the show is very polished, slick, and professional throughout – as expected from the names involved even if the platform is unknown to most outside of this show. When the individuals have dropped enough very funny or interesting material to fill 10-15 minutes, then this works well. For instance, I found the John Oliver episode to be very funny as a show, while I found the Apatow episode to be interesting and funny as it contained a lot of memory and reflection. So when these sort of things work then the content slots into the same quality level as the presentation – and mostly this is the case.
This season does highlight the weakness in going beyond that though. Where the guest doesn't produce lots of great material, then it does flounder a bit – and making a joke out of that only works so many times. The Margaret Cho episode showed that it is willing to talk about tougher subjects, but that it doesn't really have the heart to do it – either at the presentation level, or with Seinfeld himself; the discussions about various 'trans' tags produced an air of tension which isn't shown out on camera, while the healing show didn't really allow for discussion so much as a superficial run- through. Still entertaining around these examples, but it is a limit and it is felt when experiencing them.
Continues to be a slick vehicle and a very high-quality show for a free internet consumable, and I guess by season 8 you've either accepted its limitations or not (and I have).
