Q&A: Jerry Seinfeld on 'Single Shots,' 'Seinfeld' at 25, more

Sometimes one cup of coffee isn't enough.

That's the thinking behind Jerry Seinfeld's new project, a spinoff of his popular web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Single Shots, which debuts today at comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com and on Crackle, offers previously unseen footage in fast-paced, one- to three-minute nuggets.

Tina Fey, Larry David, Chris Rock, Mel Brooks and Howard Stern are among the funny folks who pop up in the Single Shots mini-sodes, which debut Thursdays at noon ET until Comedians' fifth season starts in the fall.

Yesterday Jerry called me from his Long Island, N.Y., home to talk about Single Shots. I also asked him about Seinfeld's 25th anniversary, Comic-Con and, frankly, whether it's OK to use an iPad on the toilet.

To my surprise, at one point, Jerry revealed he knew more about me than I expected:

I like the description of Single Shots, which is, "You asked for more, we give you less!" Why did you decide to do these mini-episodes?

Somebody convinced me — actually, it was Barry Sonnenfeld, who has directed the commercials that are attached to Comedians in Cars. We were sitting around one night having a cigar, and he said, "So how much material do you have of these interviews? It was many, many hours. Obviously, the shows are short, so I have all this other stuff that I don't include, mostly because I'm trying to get a certain flow to each little episode.

So he says, "Why don't you do something with that?" We came up with this, and we'll see if it's something that people like. It was kind of fun to suddenly realize, "Hey, I've kind of accumulated a big vault of good stuff that no one has ever seen." We're just playing with it.

How much do you prepare for these conversations? Do you have certain topics you want to touch upon?

Oh, no. I don't prepare anything. That would be like a real interview. I'm not looking for an interview on these things, you know? I'm kind of trying to see if I can make something happen that feels authentic. Somebody once said that you feel like you're hanging out with friends (while watching). You never feel that when you watch a talk show because all the artifice. The less preparation, the better.

It is really what it is — which is an expression I hate — it is me, just picking someone up and going for a cup of coffee.

Since so many people watch your series on phones or iPads, I'm curious: What is your stance on using mobile devices in the bathroom?

I would say it's not OK if other people are also going to be using that device. And I would also say it's not OK if there's going to be any sound coming out of the device from behind a closed bathroom door; I think that's creepy.

Do you do it yourself?

No, I do not.

I'm sorry, that's kind of a personal question.

That's OK, I like personal questions. (Laughs)

Is it too early to know who the guests will be for season five?

I do know some of them, but I haven't told them yet, so I can't really tell you.

That's fair. Part of the reason I'm asking is because I know Woody Allen just did a podcast. I'm hoping that means there's an increased likelihood he could be on your show.

Yeah, that's a possibility. I don't know if he knows about it or would like to do it, but maybe. (Pauses) What do you think about me having people on the show that are not technically comedians?

I like that idea.

You like that idea?

I do. I think if you have an interest in the person, then I'm interested in watching. I mean, I don't want you to bring on some idiot pop star that you don't care about. But anybody you do — well, what do you think about it?

I don't know. I mean, the way a series works is you have to constantly alter the formula, but you also have to constantly respect certain things in the formula of the show. For example, we would never have let you see really what Kramer's apartment looked like. But we knew that we could take you in there and show you him having set up the Merv Griffin set. We knew we could get away with that.

So you make up these rules, you know? But you've gotta know which rules to break and which rules to respect. That's kind of the puzzle of doing a series.

Well, I know Marc Maron only interviewed comedians at first for his show, then he decided to interview musicians, because he was interested in music, too.

And how were those?

Well … some of them are great.

I've never heard that show, but comedians are just so comfortable and adept at making interesting conversation. It's pretty much the only thing they know how to do; that's what their acts are, just distilled thoughts from conversations into routines.

I've read several stories in the last few weeks about the 25th anniversary of Seinfeld. Does that milestone mean anything to you?

No. You could make up any number of anniversaries. It's a good excuse to write stuff, and I was very flattered that people wrote so many nice things.

I love the thing that you wrote. I read your piece from a few months ago, and I thought it was amazing.

Oh, you mean the personal essay I wrote?

Yes, I saw that. That was incredible.

Oh, my goodness. Well, it was true. And maybe at the time you didn't realize your work may have an impact (like that), but it certainly did with me.

Well, I'm a big believer in the "little good thing" in life. Obviously, (Seinfeld) was about a lot of small things. Comedians in Cars is about, "Here's a little good thing: You get in a car and you get a cup of coffee." There's nothing really more accessible. You know somebody you like, you meet them and you have a cup of coffee.

I don't know how many years I'd been doing that until I realized, "You know, this is just a little good thing. Maybe people would like a show like that on the Internet, which is a place where little good things can survive."

I think it's the perfect place for that. And you're such a well-connected person that I wonder, is there any celebrity you've never met that you'd like to have coffee with?

You know, the people I really, really like at this stage of life — and this is probably sad — I kind of don't want to meet them. There are a few people out there — athletes and musicians, (because) I've met all the comedy people — there's a few musicians I really love, and I don't need to meet them or know anything else about them. I'm kind of happy just having the relationship to their art. I feel very satisfied by that these days.

What kind of music do you listen to? New stuff? Older stuff?

I listen to the new stuff that my kids listen to. They'll play songs for me and go, "What do you think of this?" Most of it I don't like, occasionally I do like it. It's nice how they kind of keep you up with stuff. But I am an obsessive fan of Steely Dan, the old New York jazz fusion group. I don't know if you know them …

Oh, god, my husband is also a huge fan. And I've never — I mean, I like their lyrics, but a little goes a long way for me.

Whenever I go to see them, there's not a woman in the audience. (Laughs) I have noticed that every time I go. I mean, not one!

It would take a lot for me to go to a Steely Dan concert. (Laughs)You know, Single Shots debuts on what happens to be the first day of Comic-Con. Do you have any interest in attending Comic-Con or any sort of pop-culture convention like that?

Yeah, I've never been, and I would love to go to that. The bigger, the dumber, the better I like it. (Laughs)

Are there any past Comedians in Cars guests you'd like to have on again?

We did have a discussion the other day of doing Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee "all-stars" and going back to revisit a few of our favorites. There are certain people — Larry David, Alec Baldwin — every time I'm with them, it's an episode.

You're pretty active on Twitter. Can you recommend someone you enjoy following?

I really like a guy who produces a sports talk radio show in New York called Boomer & Carton. His Twitter handle is @alsboringtweets. I think he's just about the best tweet artist. He's just a regular guy, but he talks about regular things in a way that, to me, is what tweeting should be.

I really appreciate your time today, Jerry. It was a pleasure.

Well, thank you, Whitney. And thank you for writing that lovely piece.

It was true and came from the heart. Thanks for everything.

You're very welcome.