The Herald-News / TheHerald-News.com • Tuesday, August 12, 2014
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DAILY DISH
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959), film director/producer; George Hamilton (1939), actor; Pete Sampras (1971), tennis player; Casey Affleck (1975), actor; Plaxico Burress (1977), football player. - United Features Syndicate
HOROSCOPE By EUGENIA LAST Newspaper Enterprise Association Free yourself from distracting situations or people. Your powers of concentration will be necessary to reach your goals. Go over your original plans and strategy, and see if there is anything that will help ensure your success. Embrace challenges and play to win. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) – Investments should be considered. You can achieve good returns if you put some effort into personal assets. Check out your options and an endeavor that could bring in added cash. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) – You will get ahead if you are up-front with your intentions and feelings. Trying to avoid dealing with troublesome issues will only add more pressure to the situation. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) – Look at your career options. Don’t hesitate to send out your resume or set up an interview. Don’t rule out marketing your skills by starting your own small business. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) – It could be a good day for making new connections. Your creative ideas are ready to be showcased. Incorporate travel and networking events into your schedule to find useful forums for drumming up business. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) – Don’t make assumptions. You will anger someone who has a different opinion. Work quietly toward your goal, and you will have a much better chance of success. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) – It’s time to wrap things up. People will lose interest if you drag matters out for too long. Perfection is a fine quality, as long as you know when to move on. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) – A past partner will let you down. Don’t use disappointment as an excuse to delay your plans. Concentrate on your own ideas, hopes and dreams. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) – Some people will be baffled by your originality and spontaneity, and others will be very impressed. Your financial problems will turn around if you form alliances with people who have something to contribute. ARIES (March 21-April 19) – If you want to move on to more exciting challenges, you will have to clear your slate of all unfinished business. An interesting relationship with an unusual someone will develop. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) – Follow your heart. Take a unique approach. You are the one who will reap the benefits from the lifestyle changes you make, so don’t worry about what others do or say. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) – Talk to friends and relatives about increasing the level of comfort in your home. The more favorable the environment, the more work you will be able to accomplish. CANCER (June 21-July 22) – Adaptability is the key to getting ahead. You can’t be in control of every situation, but you can make the most of whatever comes your way. The possibilities are endless.
The Washington Post photo
Jon Stewart (left) appears with Jerry Seinfeld in an episode of the “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” online series.
Seinfeld’s new venture: Coffee talk By EMILY YAHR The Washington Post Jerry Seinfeld could have taken his gazillion-dollar “Seinfeld” fortune, gone merrily on his way and never worked again, but he decided two years ago to launch the Web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” on Sony’s Crackle. com. The show is exactly what it sounds like: Seinfeld in conversation with his funniest celebrity friends, including David Letterman, Tina Fey, Mel Brooks, Louis C.K., Jon Stewart, Aziz Ansari and Sarah Silverman, among others. The series, which is in its fourth season this summer, has collected more than 40 million views and an Emmy nomination. How has it done so well? Obviously having the name “Seinfeld” attached doesn’t hurt. But the best explanation is that it’s a talk show without actually being a talk show. If that sounds like Seinfeld-ian nonsense, well, that’s what it is. Following tradition, “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” is basically a show about nothing – except cars and coffee, sort of. Every Thursday at noon, a new episode (generally about 15 to 20 minutes long) is posted, each kicking off with Seinfeld
asking a famous pal to join him for a cup of joe. Then they take a ride in a classic car to a coffee shop and talk about everything from comedy to careers to kids to hobbies. It’s essentially eavesdropping as stars chat, so you learn all kinds of fun facts. For example: Jon Stewart has a three-legged dog. Tina Fey doesn’t have a driver’s license. Every night, Mel Brooks goes to Carl Reiner’s house where the two comedy legends eat dinner on TV trays and watch “Jeopardy!” As it’s always an entertaining peek behind the scenes, the question becomes “When is Seinfeld going to take the show to television?” At this point, we know the drill: First comes the Web show, and if it’s really good, it’s picked up by a network for true stardom. Even in a world where Netflix reigns, we’re still ingrained to think of television as the ultimate platform. Seinfeld’s answer, however, has always been the same: Never. And that’s probably for the best. Everyone knows that talk shows can have a rough time in the television world. Daytime and late-night TV are littered with failed ventures (“Bethenny,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Totally Biased,” “Katie,” to name a few) for many reasons. Network interference. Hosts and producers
having different visions. The scramble to fill an episode every day or week. Plus, Seinfeld isn’t a fan of modern-day talk shows, calling them “promotional vehicles for the industry.” “They’re not talk shows, per se, they’re kind of setup talk shows – ‘I’m gonna ask you this, then you say that,’ “ he told the Hollywood Reporter. “The shows are pretty cheap, too, so until it becomes an unworkable business model, I don’t think you’ll see change.” Network executives could promise to stay out of Seinfeld’s way, but the Internet still has much more freedom than broadcast or cable television could offer. With the Web show, there’s no pressure about when an episode needs to run, or for how long. No one gives notes. There are no pre-interviews. Seinfeld can do whatever he wants, however he wants, and the result is a genuinely fascinating conversation. The most important point, though, involves the comedians themselves. In front of a studio audience, they don’t open up the way they do in the relaxed atmosphere of Seinfeld’s low-key production. That, in a nutshell, is why “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” works. And, as Seinfeld has learned through the years, you don’t mess with success.