A Look Back At Barack Obama's Hilarious Coffee Date With Jerry Seinfeld
In 2012, over a decade after the blockbuster success of his sitcom "Seinfeld," Jerry Seinfeld launched "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." The comedy legend hosted more than 80 episodes over seven years. The genesis for the show happened when Seinfeld was chatting with his "Bee Movie" co-writer Barry Marder, and it provided a unique opportunity to showcase intimate conversations with a variety of his comedic peers and heroes. While the guests are primarily comedians, Seinfeld made an important exception in Season 7 when Seinfeld had a coffee date with then-President Barack Obama. As Seinfeld said in the episode's intro, Obama had "just enough funny lines to qualify for getting on this show."
Obama's appearance came about serendipitously since both the White House and the show's production team thought he'd be a great guest. "This was an opportunity to pull back the curtain for Americans on life in the White House," Obama's press office informed The Washington Post.
Seinfeld chose a 1963 Corvette Stingray for his date with Obama, a car that struck a sentimental note with the then-president since he loved this model as a young kid. While other episodes of the series frequently feature Seinfeld and his current guest going out to various diners and other locations, this episode makes a comedic bit out of Obama being restricted to the White House grounds. Since he can't leave home, Obama takes Seinfeld on a tour, and they end up downstairs in a break room of the presidential mansion.
Obama and Seinfeld's conversation was funny and poignant
Much of Jerry Seinfeld and Barack Obama's conversation in "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," is light-hearted and an excellent demonstration that Obama's a down-to-earth person. The then-president is deadpan and hilarious as they chat about his underwear drawer and the fact that Obama chooses his own clothes every day like the rest of us. Seinfeld also touches on other practicalities of living in the historic mansion, like when he asks Obama, "Isn't it like 'Night at the Museum' when you go to sleep here?" Obama's mother-in-law Marian Robinson had similar concerns when she moved in the White House. Obama responded that it took a week for him to adjust.
The conversation turned heartfelt, however, when Obama explained he misses being unrecognizable. To lighten the mood, Seinfeld countered that he enjoys fame. In addition to being such a well-known person, Obama pointed out that some of his predecessors had more time out of the spotlight. For instance, during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency at the beginning of the 20th century, he was permitted to be incommunicado for a month at a time.
Seinfeld had about an hour and a half to chat with Obama, and he was mindful of the then-president's busy schedule. As a result, he didn't get to delve as deeply into as much of the minutiae of White House life as he wanted. For instance, Seinfeld was intrigued that, for all his presidential power, Obama couldn't personally adjust the building's thermostat himself.
Interviewing Obama was a career highlight for Seinfeld
When Jerry Seinfeld first suggested Barack Obama as a guest for "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," he didn't expect the then-president would agree to participate. When the project was about to come to fruition, Seinfeld was anxious. "It was absolute, sickening nerves," he later described at the 2017 New Yorker Festival (via Vulture). After the experience, however, Seinfeld was jubilant. "It was out-of-body for me," the comedian enthused to The Washington Post. "This was an honor ... that he trusted me to do some comedy with him in the real White House."
Before his late 2015 appearance on Seinfeld's show, Obama had ample experience with comedic conversations on late-night TV programs, including "The Daily Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Obama also appeared on "The Tonight Show" at the beginning of his first term as president, and he'd been a guest on the series four times during his term by 2013.
When Seinfeld envisioned his show, he wanted to home in on "the funny conversation part that we like when we watch a talk show," as the comedian later informed People in 2022. Given Obama's previous TV experiences, this type of quippy chat was a great fit for him, and Seinfeld appreciated his good fortune at being part of such a unique opportunity. "There's not too many cool presidents," the comedy legend told USA Today. "I don't think I could have a conversation with most presidents or would even want to."