"What’s next in lazy, car-based, non-comedy?” Zach Galifianakis asked teasingly to Seinfeld on his Comedians in Cars episode. But Galifianakis was asking a pretty good question. When it premiered in 2012, Comedians in Cars featured relaxed and impromptu conversations where insight and promotion weren't the goal, says Hank Stuever. "Now," says Stuever, "the show plays as if Seinfeld has belatedly realized he’s part of a terrible surplus of chitchat, a narcissistic loop of elite gab. A project once meant to illuminate the mutual regard comedians have for one another now plays like one more task they add to their list of appearances on multiple platforms, from the full-glam, late-night appearance to lowly garage-set podcast. In expensive, collectible cars that mainly emphasize the wealth gap between Seinfeld and the audience, celebrities are hopping in with Jerry and finding they have nothing much to say anymore. They’re talked-out. The current season features a surprising degree of disconnect and even boredom with the idea — one dud ride after another: Ellen DeGeneres looks exhausted, almost as if she had the date wrong on her calendar but decided to go ahead and get it over with. John Mulaney, usually so quick on the draw, seems more interested in shopping for a hallway rug than engaging in any sharp interplay with Seinfeld."
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TOPICS: Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, Netflix, Annamarie Tendler, Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, Zach Galifianakis