Jerry Seinfeld: ‘Show About Nothing’ Tag Is ‘Nonsense’
Seinfeld has been long-dubbed a “show about nothing.” But co-creator/star Jerry Seinfeld dismissed that label as “nonsense” during a wide-ranging interview for The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Awards Chatter” podcast. “That was made up by the press,” the comedian said, noting the phrase arose after an episode in which George Constanza (Jason Alexander) pitched Jerry, the series’ sitcom-within-a-sitcom, with that tagline.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Seinfeld claimed Friends essentially ripped off the formula of his show (“We thought, ‘They wanna do our show with better-looking people. That’s what they’re doing here.’ And we thought, ‘That should work'”) and shared his playful dream of acting in the next Star Wars movie (as a character named “Areyouserious”).
He also admitted he’d welcome Donald Trump on web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee – if only for comedy’s sake. “He is buffoonish enough, with the long ties, the pinky-index pointing,” he said. “He’s as funny as it gets.” But the comic would insist on driving an open-top car: “I wanna see the hair fly.”
The seventh season of Comedians in Cars opens with Seinfeld getting a White House tour with President Obama. “I was so nervous,” he said. “I couldn’t believe I was doing it. It made no sense to me.” He highlighted the episode’s opening bit, in which Obama answered the White House phone with a Seinfeld-penned joke. “That has gotta be the biggest thrill of my life,” he said.
Comedians in Cars Season Eight aired this summer and featured conversations with Margaret Cho, Lorne Michaels, John Oliver, J.B. Smoove, Judd Apatow and Jim Gaffigan.