Though Netflix acquired two new stand-up specials and the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee series from Jerry Seinfeld in January, little to nothing new had been said about the deal until last week. That’s when the streaming platform released the first teasers and images from Jerry Before Seinfeld, the comedian’s initial outing with Netflix, which is slated to premiere Tuesday, September 19th. Right on cue, Seinfeld popped up at Dave Chappelle’s Radio City Music Hall residency a few days later to charm the rapturous crowd with his greatest hits and new material. Seinfeld, it seems, is back.
Hence the first trailer for Jerry Before Seinfeld released today. Appearing to be equal parts traditional stand-up and documentary feature, the new trailer (and the preceding teasers) suggests Seinfeld’s first outing with Netflix won’t be a typical concert film. After all, the official release indicates the comedian “returns to The Comic Strip for an intimate stand-up set at the club that helped launch his career,” and with “the jokes that put him on the comedy map.” Yet the Jerry Before Seinfeld trailer goes a bit further by interspersing said set with interviews and on-site footage reminiscent of Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays and Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian.
An internationally famous comic recycling his oldest material into a brand new special might not seem like much. However, considering the first teasers’ use of Seinfeld’s old legal pads and other written documents containing his comedy’s first breaths, the history lessons offered by Jerry Before Seinfeld may warrant everyone’s attention — especially when the audience knows more about Seinfeld than Jerry.
