It had good moments, but it was mostly Howard doing Howard in much the way he used to do with Letterman, albeit, not as much over the top. There are some insightful moments as there usually are in this show but I would claim this as a favorite.
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (TV Series)
The Last Days of Howard Stern (2014)
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Season 3: Still a bit self-congratulatory but entertaining
bob the moo31 August 2014
It is the entertainment value of this show that keeps me coming back because inherently it is amusing even if it is not always hilarious. The concept stays as it has been; Jerry Seinfeld takes a classic car out on the road (with different meanings of the word 'classic'), collects a fellow comedian and heads out for coffee – all of which is filmed and then put on the internet. This last bit tells you what we have here because essentially this is a pet project for Seinfeld and I guess if he didn't enjoy it then he wouldn't do it since it is not really like he needs the money, and by putting it online rather than making it into a TV show, he is not really seeking out the mass audience he would be used to.
The same is pretty much true for most of the comedians featured since your Leno's, your C.K.'s, your Fey's; none of them really are scrabbling around saying yes to whatever meagre work they manage to get offered. As such we have a series which is being created by people pretty much for the fun of it (of course everyone gets paid, but I really doubt it is the motivation). This sense of people enjoying themselves comes across well, which is not always easy to do because often a film where the makers say "we had a blast making this", doesn't always translate into a fun experience for the viewer. Here though the fun of the making is what we are seeing, so it works better as a construct. There are some moments along the way where it did strike me that I was watching people with so much more money than I will ever have and that they have having free rides in cars I will never drive in cities that simply visiting would set me back a fair bit – but the good humor of the people involved generally saves it.
CK stands out as the best of the bunch, but Fey is also very good as they both seem natural. Oswalt and Barry are less starry but no less funny while Leno and Stern are what you expect and are a bit too 'on' to relax into the concept. It is generally amusing but, since it is an unscripted chat, as opposed to a well-honed 'bit', it is not as hilarious as any of those involved have been or will be again. Instead it is gently funny with some good lines but generally a sense of light humor in a relaxed atmosphere. The production placement is fairly clunky at times (the Leno episode) but at least it is usually part of the joke. The cars selected are interesting, ranging from the sublime to the absurd, and as with previous seasons it is well shot with the use of different cameras, including very small unobtrusive ones in the car and also mounted on small drones.
Towards the end of the short season was a scripted episode which featured Seinfeld going for coffee with George Costanza in order to beat the traffic away from the 2014 Superbowl by leaving at halftime (which, although I guess this was shot before the game, it did indeed turn out to be a game you could safely leave at halftime). This episode felt a bit out of place and, although it was a nice little thing in the idea, it is perhaps not as funny as they hoped for as it tries to reclaim past glories as quickly as possible, feeling instead more like it is riding on them.
All in all though, the season is still another entertaining one which is well filmed with fun interactions between various funny people. It remains a throwaway rather than a comedy classic, but it is effective as such.
The same is pretty much true for most of the comedians featured since your Leno's, your C.K.'s, your Fey's; none of them really are scrabbling around saying yes to whatever meagre work they manage to get offered. As such we have a series which is being created by people pretty much for the fun of it (of course everyone gets paid, but I really doubt it is the motivation). This sense of people enjoying themselves comes across well, which is not always easy to do because often a film where the makers say "we had a blast making this", doesn't always translate into a fun experience for the viewer. Here though the fun of the making is what we are seeing, so it works better as a construct. There are some moments along the way where it did strike me that I was watching people with so much more money than I will ever have and that they have having free rides in cars I will never drive in cities that simply visiting would set me back a fair bit – but the good humor of the people involved generally saves it.
CK stands out as the best of the bunch, but Fey is also very good as they both seem natural. Oswalt and Barry are less starry but no less funny while Leno and Stern are what you expect and are a bit too 'on' to relax into the concept. It is generally amusing but, since it is an unscripted chat, as opposed to a well-honed 'bit', it is not as hilarious as any of those involved have been or will be again. Instead it is gently funny with some good lines but generally a sense of light humor in a relaxed atmosphere. The production placement is fairly clunky at times (the Leno episode) but at least it is usually part of the joke. The cars selected are interesting, ranging from the sublime to the absurd, and as with previous seasons it is well shot with the use of different cameras, including very small unobtrusive ones in the car and also mounted on small drones.
Towards the end of the short season was a scripted episode which featured Seinfeld going for coffee with George Costanza in order to beat the traffic away from the 2014 Superbowl by leaving at halftime (which, although I guess this was shot before the game, it did indeed turn out to be a game you could safely leave at halftime). This episode felt a bit out of place and, although it was a nice little thing in the idea, it is perhaps not as funny as they hoped for as it tries to reclaim past glories as quickly as possible, feeling instead more like it is riding on them.
All in all though, the season is still another entertaining one which is well filmed with fun interactions between various funny people. It remains a throwaway rather than a comedy classic, but it is effective as such.
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