Jerry Seinfeld apologizes to English actor over 'Comedians in Cars' joke

"Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" creator-star Jerry Seinfeld, who playfully tweaked what he considers copycats of his streaming series, has apologized to an English actor whose own car-based comedian-interview show had come first.

"Here at 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,' we have noticed that we have, shall we say, influenced a number of other shows," the Massapequa-raised Seinfeld, 65, said in a trailer for the new season, premiering July 19 on Netflix. He then reeled off a list: "Carpool Karaoke," "Alec Baldwin's Love Ride," "Comedians Watching Football with Friends," "Funny Uber Rides," "Clergy in Cars Getting Coffee," "Hiking with Kevin," "Politicians in Cars Getting Coffee," "Comedians on Bikes Getting Soup," "Coffee Break," "Coffee Run” and "Cougars in Cars Getting Cosmos."

"These are all real shows!" Seinfeld exclaimed. "And we are proud that others have taken notice of our style and have been inspired by it. The only comment we would like to make is: If you're going to knock us off, get it right!"

English actor Robert Llewellyn, 63, best known for playing the android Kryten on the long-running U.K. sci-fi comedy "Red Dwarf," took note of the trailer and tweeted Wednesday, "This is only of any interest because the original Carpool Started a full 3 years BEFORE Jerry and his pals copied it. LOL." In his 2009 web series and 2010-11 TV spinoff "Carpool," Llewellyn chatted with comics such as Stephen Fry and other celebrities including actor Patrick Stewart as they tooled around in a Toyota Prius.

"Apology to Robert Llewelyn [sic] Car Pool. Had not heard of it," Seinfeld gamely tweeted less than two hours later.

"That's very kind of you sir," Llewellyn tweeted back. "I've moved on since the Carpool days but the series is still up on YouTube."

Texas Episcopal priests the Rev. Daryl Hay and the Rev. Matt Stone, whose "Clergy in Cars Getting Coffee" runs on Facebook, more happily posted on that platform Wednesday. "Um, Jerry Seinfeld just mentioned our show in this video! That’s nuts!!!"

Most of the other series mentioned are web-only, such as comedian Kevin Nealon's YouTube show "Hiking with Kevin," or Massapequa-raised Emmy Award winner Baldwin's Comedy Central Originals show "Alec Baldwin's Love Ride." Two of them, "Comedians on Bikes Getting Soup" and "Cougars in Cars Getting Cosmos," are parody comedy shorts, not interview shows.