“In a way, the most absurd joke is that they made a movie about the invention of the Pop-Tart at all, like an episode of Seinfeld with a huge budget and stretched out five times as long. Unfortunately, it’s all set up for no real punch line,” bemoans streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.

JERRY Seinfeld has had a lot to say about the state of comedy in recent weeks.

For those who haven’t been tuned in, the sitcom legend made headlines after blaming “PC crap and the extreme left” for ruining modern television humour in a controversial interview on the New Yorker’s Radio Hour.

“It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, MASH is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family’ is on’. You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight’. Well, guess what, where is it?” he said.

“This is the result of people worrying so much about offending other people. Now, they’re going to see stand-up comics, because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track, we know instantly and adjust to it. But when you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, there goes your comedy.”

Agree or disagree with Seinfeld’s comments, they come conveniently close to the release of his newest film that’s just hit Netflix.

It’s called Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story and it’s the latest in a recent string of flicks to tell the origin story of popular brands.

These have ranged from Tetris, about the popular soviet video game, Air, which told the story of Nike’s iconic shoes and even Blackberry, the creation of the most popular phone until the invention of the one with the “i” in front of it.

But Seinfeld’s chosen subject is, of course, a little more offbeat. He’s gone with the invention of the Pop-Tart.

How thrilling can it be? Apparently, the race between Kellogg’s and Post, sworn cereal rivals, to create a pastry that will change the world was grand enough to make the cut for a 90-minute film script.

Seinfeld himself stars as Bob Cabana, a character loosely based on the real-life man who invented the legendary pastry.

He’s joined by a string of popular stars including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant and all that’s not to name a line up of high-profile cameos including from Peter Dinklage, Bill Burr and even one from Jon Hamm who reprises his role as Don Draper from Mad Men in a particular highlight.

So how does it all stack up? Well, unfortunately for Seinfeld, the response from critics and audiences alike thus far has been a little frosty, to say the least.

Currently the film holds a meagre 5.6/10 on review site IMDB. Its Rotten Tomatoes score, a critical review aggregate, is even worse, sitting at a mere 51 per cent.

Has Seinfeld’s directorial debut suffered from the very same thing he’s lamented about the state of the comedy industry?

Well, it seems that most of the disappointment with the film comes down to the very concept that Seinfeld has tried to bring to life.

In a way, the movie’s biggest and most absurd joke is that they made a movie about the invention of the Pop-Tart at all, like an episode of Seinfeld with a huge budget and stretched out five times as long.

Unfortunately, it’s all set up for no real punch line.

Seinfeld’s fears about the TV comedy also seem strange given the recent success of the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (Binge), a sitcom from Seinfeld co-creator Larry David that ran for 24 years to rave reviews.

Anyone who watched Curb will know that right up until its dying breath it never once caved to political correctness. David himself remarked he doesn’t know why he hasn’t been cancelled yet. Was he wrapping it up before he did? Maybe. But as of right now Curb Your Enthusiasm proves there is still a place for such a brand of comedy.

Whether Jerry Seinfeld himself continues to try and make movies for Netflix or any other streaming platform is yet to be seen.

Its a shame though his first outing has proven to be more a stale snack than a sweet treat.