Tag Archives: Comedy

TV Reviews

TV Review: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (CCGC) was Jerry Seinfeld‘s talk show on the streaming service, Crackle, and later on Netflix. The aim of the show was for Jerry to pick up some celebrities (mostly comedians) in vintage cars, drive with each of them to numerous roads, check in some restaurants, sip coffee together, talk about comedy, friendship, life, and many things, and call it a day by dropping off to their residence.

I say that this was a unique format for hosting a talk show. You do not have to sit your ass in a studio and speak to your host. Instead, enjoy one fine evening with Jerry in some classic car, roaming the streets, eating and drinking somewhere, and informally chatting your heart out.

I am unsure if there has been a similar concept in the past. The closest I recall is Robert Llewellyn‘s Carpool which began three years before CCGC. Jerry was unaware of the show but apologized to Robert on Twitter for not knowing about it after CCGC was finished.

Jerry stated that he met a lot of people through this show whom he never met before and are now friends. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Two strangers from the same showbiz talking about life while driving around, eating and drinking together, and during all this, finding common grounds in what they stand for, which eventually befriends them. Although, CCGC is a rich show with well-known people spending their time together in some expensive hotels or restaurants eating and drinking a lot. But I just imagine, what if we common people try to find common grounds and casually hang around for an evening? Will this not be a quality moment of our lives to live with?

I take this show a lot personally with an understanding that there are moments in my life that I have spent and like to spend with a particular friend in my or their cars and do exactly what Jerry and his friends did. The format of the show is fresh to me and we all can relate to that. Because there is no narrative, there is no fake exchange of mood for overdramatic and commercial appeal. Because this is what this show is about – spending quality time with someone and talking about life.

Jerry’s questions about habits, moods, aims, behaviors, and manners; his questions are very human. And then Jerry and his friends discuss these things in the car or in some restaurants at length. And makes the audience realize that this kind of communication is badly missing. We really do not point out a certain matter and speak it to a friend unless that has something to do with them.

Jerry had his fair share of celebrities to hang around with. Some were A-list comedians like Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, Steve Martin, Martin Short, some classic-era biggies like Jerry Lewis, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, and Don Rickles, and there were some with limited success. Yes, each of Seinfeld’s majors showed up.

It is hard to pick which was the best of all episodes because many of Jerry’s meetings had a particular room of enjoyment. Although Jerry is done with CCGC, I feel even after 11 seasons and 84 episodes, he could have invited a lot of celebrities. I feel celebrities like Steve Carell, Billy Crystal, Kelsey Grammer, Ray Romano, Wayne Knight, Woody Allen, Ed O’Neill, Amy Poehler, and many more would have made a terrific meeting with Jerry.

Why CCGC is so distinctive is because we all see ourselves in them when well-known people hang around and speak like us. And makes us believe that showbiz biggies are us who recovered from difficult paths and pushed their luck from sad stories and earned their way. All we need is an inspiring story that can motivate us after listening to or watching them speak about their struggles.

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TV Reviews

TV Review: Pam & Tommy

Superstar couples Pamela Anderson (Lily James) and Tommy Lee (Sebastian Stan) get married and tape very private recordings on their camera. After Tommy refuses to pay the money to the carpenter Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen), he steals his case where he finds the tape that turns many fortunes and fates.

The experience of watching Pam & Tommy was like watching the American Crime Story. There is no surprise that the show was to attract a lot of audience due to a compelling story but more than that it is the makeup and hairstyling and powerful performances by Lily, Sebastian, and Seth that alarmed the enthusiasm. James Franco was supposed to play Tommy before Sebastian signed.

Lily James has to be a well-observed casting in recent times for a television show whose four-month high-tech gym sessions, incredible make-up, and hyper-realistic prosthetics for large breasts made her the most perfect choice to portray the Baywatch blonde girl.

One major issue this show is successful to address is the consequences of leaking private videos. In the era of the mid-1990s when the internet was a global sensation. Pamela Anderson’s leaked tape was one of the biggest headlines that brought incredible traffic on the internet. During the whole situation, Pamela is the one who went mentally disturbed because this was neither pornographic content nor was there consent from their side to put on the internet and make millions of dollars of business. None of Pam and Tommy signed a release to reach that far. And that difference is remarkably recognized.

Another significant factor that made the writing of the show critically on point was the gender value of the leaked tape. Tommy was less affected than Pam and Tommy couldn’t understand how it was different for her than him when both were in the video. Despite being the most iconic figure of sex-symbol of the 1990s, Pam had her feminine side to be concerned of and it was highly sensitive. After all, she was a model but not an actress from the adult film industry. And this is why the supporting role of Taylor Schilling as adult actress Erica carried a lot of weight.

The show also highlighted Pam’s association with both Playboy and Penthouse, and the business role Seth Warshavsky of Internet Entertainment Group played in all this saga.

Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the show holds a lot of accuracy about the details like Rand being on Tommy’s gunpoint, the heist, Tommy speaking to his own penis, Pam and Tommy’s first meeting with the lick and their wedding, Seth’s proposal to the couple, etc.

Pam & Tommy’s biggest win is giving the real feel of humiliation, the media adding insult to the emotional damage, and showing the audience how the introduction of the website took the internet users in those times by storm. Makeup, hairstyling, and costume design make this show even better. There must be an Emmy winner between Lily, Sebastian, and Seth.