The "Have You Seen 'Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee?" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Watching my new favorite show on Netflix titled "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."  Carol and I have watched just about every episode that Jerry Seinfeld has been a part of in this zany television show.  

Jerry Seinfeld

I first got to know the comedian Jerry Seinfeld when his show debuted on television in 1989.  After watching a few of his shows I was hooked.  Only problem was that it was on Thursday evening at 9:00 PM and I had choir practice at St. James Episcopal Church from 7:30-8:30 PM each week.  I had just enough time to get home before the show started until my Dad asked me if he could ride with me to choir practice so he didn't have to drive after dark.  He was also in the church choir!  Now, the only good part about that was that he lived in the same block as Carol and I did.  But, at times the choir director forgot to check the clock and practice would run over 10 or sometimes 15 minutes extra.  To get my aging dad to the car behind the church in time to drive both of us home and still be able to watch the start of the show was a tough task.  Back then there was no "Record" button to push so you could watch the show when you had time.  We both retired from the choir before Seinfeld had ended their TV run in 1998, so I did get to watch a few season's shows without having to wait for reruns at the end of each year.  Then, a few years ago Carol and I traveled to St. Martin for vacation.  The start of our three week vacation went well until Carol realized that we could only watch French Television.  Now, I had two years of French in high school, but that was almost 60 years ago.  And, the only reason I took the course was because the teacher was a beautiful, sexy blond lady that all the guys had a crush on at the time.  We called her Shenna, but not to her face.  I might recognize a few French words, but certainly can't speak a sentence in French.  Actually I NEVER could speak a sentence in French!  

Jerry as a young comedian.

Anyway, Carol discovered we could watch Netflix at no charge.  How, I don't know, but we never asked our realtor if we could or not.  We just assumed it was part of the rental fee.  Seinfeld was, and still is, our favorite comedy of all-time.  So sad when it left the air, but we can still watch the reruns as well as watch "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" on our home TV which we found we have access to also.  Everyone who ever watched the TV show Seinfeld has a favorite episode or multiple favorite episodes.  A few of my favorites were: "The Contest," "The Bubble Boy," "The Virgin," "The Parking Garage" and "The Hamptons."  

Jerry and his TV family: Kramer, Elaine, George & Jerry

And, no matter how many times I have watched reruns of my favorites, I still laugh when they are shown once again.  His first season recorded about 10 to 15 million viewers for each episode while by his last season he had 40 to 50 million viewers each episode.  The final episode had almost 80 million viewers.  Jerry was funny, but so were Elaine, George and Kramer.  I recently found that his new book, "Is This Anything" came out a few days ago.  The book traces his journey from comedy-worshipping kid in suburban Massapequa, New York, to domesticated family man, devoted to his cookbook-author wife, Jessica and their kids Sascha, Julian and Shepherd.  The title of the book comes from what comedians say to each other when they're testing any new bit: "Is this anything?"  Jerry reports that the book isn't a celebrity tell-all since, "Life is not long enough for me to do that."  

His real life family: Julian, Sheperd, Jerry, Jessica & Sascha

His book traces his comedy perfor- mances from his very first one when he talked about the word "left" back in 1975.  He says, "So, I am left-handed.  Left-handed people do not like that the word 'left' is so often associated with negative things.  Left feet.  Left-handed compliment.  "What are we having for dinner...leftovers."  You go to a party and there is nobody there.  "Where did they all go?" you ask.  "They left!"  I recently read an online interview that someone had with Jerry.  He was asked many questions.  All his answers were both humorous as well as interesting, but there was one question and answer that I thought interesting.  Jerry had performed for the first time on "The Tonight Show" in 1981 and the person asking him the questions asked: "You performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1981, but it still took eight years until Seinfeld launched.  Was that a stressful time?"  His reply was:  I always say this to my kids: If I had to trade in the experiences I've had in my life, the last ones I'd trade in would be the really bad ones.  Those are the things I'd hold on to until the end, because those are the ones that "Harden" your resolve.  Besides, I always say your years in comedy are kind of your real age.  In the mid-'80s, they would never ask me to guest-host The Tonight Show because I was too childish.  He was then asked about his plans for Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.  He sadly reported that there are no plans for more episodes.  I'm sure he will come up with something in the future.  I can hardly wait!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.