In the latest installment of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, host Jerry Seinfeld interviews Will Ferrell, who we find sitting on a playground swing. His first words to Seinfeld: “Hey little boy, you like candy?”
It’s just about what you’d expect from the actor-comedian. But the interview itself, lasting just shy of 20 minutes, is not a particularly raucous affair. It rarely is. Instead, we catch Ferrell in casual conversation with the host, peppered with questions about the “craft” of comedy, reminiscing about the old days—he used to publicize his stand-up act by handing out flyers to his customers at the bank. Yes, Will Ferrell was a bank teller. Such details are what many find appealing about this web series, now in its seventh season.
For those of you not familiar, Comedians in Cars (produced by Crackle and sponsored by Acura) follows a very set formula. Jerry Seinfeld, almost always sporting a navy blue blazer, takes off in a vintage auto and picks up his guest on the way to getting coffee. What we see are comedians when they’re not “on”—or at least a close proximity to that, considering there are cameras following them along the way.
It’s telling in the Ferrell episode that the actor cannot watch focus groups that have seen his movies. Portraying a consultant, he asks, “What were some of your other impressions about the movie? John over here liked it when Will put the funny hat on. Show of hands: How many people liked it when Will put on the funny hat? Sixteen out of 20!” But then comes the inevitable: “And what did you not like about the movie?” which then “becomes naturally a feeding frenzy.” (One can only imagine what the focus group thought of Land of the Lost.)
It’s a fine episode, though my favorites are still the ones with Bob Einstein, Steve Harvey, Jay Leno (two comedian-car aficionados), Alec Baldwin (who shares a wonderful anecdote about Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster), and George Wallace (probably the friendliest to fans). An unexpectedly poignant episode is the one with Michael Richards.
Car enthusiasts will also enjoy the series, which features terrific vintage autos that mostly work (a 1954 Siata 8v breaks down, stranding Seinfeld and Steve Martin on the side of a highway outside of New York City). Luckily there are no issues with the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner SuperBird in the latest segment (Ferrell should have been asked how well he really races).
In addition, Seinfeld seems to know a fair amount about cars and handles them well. Not that he’s anywhere close to Jay Leno, who owns, according to some sources, close to 300 vehicles. Strangely, we learn from the show that Jay Leno doesn’t drink coffee—he even goes so far as to tell Seinfeld, “I’ve never had a cup of coffee, but since I’ve known you for 35 years…” (He takes two sips and hates it.)
