Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee wasn't the first of its kind

Jerry Seinfeld boasts that Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee has 'influenced' a lot of copycat programming in a trailer for the new series.

'We are proud that others have taken notice of our style and been inspired by it,' he said, referring to the likes of Carpool Karaoke.

But the legendary stand-up might want to keep his boastfulness in check, given how much his hit is derivative of other shows.

For example, Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn had a very similar series call ed Carpool in 2009, filmed on a dashboard GoPro as he chauffeured guests including Stephen Fry and Professor Brian Cox in his hybrid car.

When Seinfeld launched his show, Llewellyn said he got 'literally thousands of tweets from people going, "Jerry Seinfeld stole your show! Sue him! You’ll be worth millions!"’ But he never did.

And Seinfeld has been involved in a legal tussle with Christian Charles, who directed the pilot in 2011, who claimed he is the true creator of the series.

Ricky Gervais, Eddie Murphy, Seth Rogen, Matthew Broderick, Jamie Foxx, Sebastian Maniscalco, Martin Short, Mario Joyner, Melissa Villaseñor, Bridget Everett and Barry Marder are taking part in the next series of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which will launch on Netflix July 19.

Published: 2 Jul 2019