Jerry Seinfeld and Bryan Singer Ride the Web Series Bandwagon
It’s no secret that comedian Jerry Seinfeld has a thing for expensive cars. In his new web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, he intends to show off his pricey collection to the entire world via the internet.
Premiering on July 19th, the web series finds Seinfeld playing the host of an informal, in-car talk show with the camera fixed on top of the dashboard. Guests will include high-profile comedian friends like Larry David, Alec Baldwin, Ricky Gervais, Ed O’Neill and Michael Richards jumping in the passenger seat as Seinfeld drives them around town in search of a good cup of joe.
In a promo released last week, Comedians in Cars extensively showcases Seinfeld’s car collection, which includes an original Fiat 500, a VW Beetle and a Dodge Challenger. Earlier this year, Seinfeld set a record for the most money ever paid for a Porsche at an auction after dolling out $4.4 million for a Sunoco-liveried Can-Am Spyder.
Seinfeld’s web series comes off as equal parts automobile porn and impromptu, sometimes awkward chatter from some of today’s hottest male comics. The web series is produced by Crackle, a digital video network owned by Sony Pictures. It follows in the footsteps of actress Lisa Kudrow, whose original internet comedy series Web Therapy was picked up by Showtime with a second season premiering later this year.
On August 8th, another Hollywood power player will unveil his own web series. X-Men director Bryan Singer has partnered with Warner Premiere Digital to bring his new serialized drama H+ directly onto YouTube.
“Our first venture into the digital space gives us the freedom to engage fans with new content that is immersive, interactive and is tailored to be enjoyed online,” Singer said in a statement. H+ is about a future society connected to the Internet via microchips installed in the human body. Once the chips go haywire, however, the human race is almost annihilated. The series was initially conceived as a television project.
“As opposed to a (traditional) series where you might get lost, here they’re in short, three- to six-minute bursts, so each episode becomes kind of a cliffhanger or a piece in the greater puzzle that takes shape,” Singer told the New York Times.
Unlike Seinfeld’s amateur-style, off-the-cuff web series, however, H+ delivers high-budget production values, including state-of-the-art visual effects and a cast of TV regulars that includes Alexis Denisof (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Hannah Simone (New Girl).
“I just hope it doesn’t make people not want to go to movie theaters,” Singer said. “But just in case, I want to make sure I’ve got my bases covered.”
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