Something very specific and mildly weird is in the air in 2013: web series that involve long drives in cars are now a thing. Jerry Seinfeld has Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, RuPaul and World of Wonder have RuPaul Drives..., and last week Deadmau5 premiered Coffee Run! (which Jerry and RuPaul could feasibly sue him over). While all of the series embrace the format of a long conversation over a long drive, each series comes with its own unique flavor. A guide, below.
Series: RuPaul Drives...
Watch it if: You love RuPaul and enjoy following the lives of minor celebs.
The breakdown: RuPaul Drives... brings together a lot of stuff we love under one (car) roof -- RuPaul doling out sage advice, an odd grab-bag of celebrities we're secretly obsessed with, and 4-minute maximum episode length that makes it easily digestible. There are episodes where we're more interested in hearing about Ru than about his guest stars, but we still watch it every week.
Ranking: 7/10
Series: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Watch it if: You love Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and comedy specials on Netflix.
The breakdown: Seinfeld lands both the best cars (which he gives a brief monologue about at the beginning of each episode) and the best comedians -- most of whom are megawatt stars like Sarah Silverman and Seth Myers or old legends like Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. It's a delight (albeit a jealousy-inducing one) to watch talented comedians shoot the shit in pimped-out rides, but sometimes the car talk feels a little forced. Just get to the witty banter, guys!
Ranking: 8/10
Series: Coffee Run!
Watch it if: You absolutely adore EDM and/or have a lot of patience.
The breakdown: Deadmau5 is game to chat and seems like he'd be great to grab a beer with, but Coffee Run! could use some serious editing -- each episode runs over 20 minutes and is filled with awkward silences. It also doesn't shed as much light as it could on the world of A-list music acts, and makes the artists seem a little spoiled and insular at times. Case in point: the 12-minute mark, where Deadmau5 mentions getting a new Porsche, to which Pharrell says, "my problem is, I'm a Rolls Royce guy." Okay, bros.
Ranking: 4/10
Series: RuPaul Drives...
Watch it if: You love RuPaul and enjoy following the lives of minor celebs.
The breakdown: RuPaul Drives... brings together a lot of stuff we love under one (car) roof -- RuPaul doling out sage advice, an odd grab-bag of celebrities we're secretly obsessed with, and 4-minute maximum episode length that makes it easily digestible. There are episodes where we're more interested in hearing about Ru than about his guest stars, but we still watch it every week.
Ranking: 7/10
Series: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Watch it if: You love Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and comedy specials on Netflix.
The breakdown: Seinfeld lands both the best cars (which he gives a brief monologue about at the beginning of each episode) and the best comedians -- most of whom are megawatt stars like Sarah Silverman and Seth Myers or old legends like Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. It's a delight (albeit a jealousy-inducing one) to watch talented comedians shoot the shit in pimped-out rides, but sometimes the car talk feels a little forced. Just get to the witty banter, guys!
Ranking: 8/10
Series: Coffee Run!
Watch it if: You absolutely adore EDM and/or have a lot of patience.
The breakdown: Deadmau5 is game to chat and seems like he'd be great to grab a beer with, but Coffee Run! could use some serious editing -- each episode runs over 20 minutes and is filled with awkward silences. It also doesn't shed as much light as it could on the world of A-list music acts, and makes the artists seem a little spoiled and insular at times. Case in point: the 12-minute mark, where Deadmau5 mentions getting a new Porsche, to which Pharrell says, "my problem is, I'm a Rolls Royce guy." Okay, bros.
Ranking: 4/10
