Two New Series and a Heartbreaking Video

 

I begin with a catch-up item: “Best Medicine” a medical comedy/drama, premiered on Fox on January 4 (Sunday) The first episode time and date, I read, was a “special episode for a special launch”. The 2nd episode aired on Jan. 6 (Tuesday, 8PM). Following new episodes will premiere on Tuesday, 8pm. Every episode can be seen on Hulu and Disney a day after its broadcast and you can access them any time.

 

Here’s the series premise: Dr. Martin Best moves from Boston, where he is very busy, to a place where he can have a small practice. He moves to an East Coast fishing village where he vacationed as a child.

 

JOSH CHARLES, 54, plays Dr. Best. Charles has a very long list of theater, TV, and movie roles. I suspect he is best known as lead attorney Will Gardner in the hit series “The Good Wife” (2009-16). He got three Emmy nominations for his Good Wife role.

 

Charles is the son of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. He strongly identifies as Jewish. In 2013, he married SOPHIE FLACK, now 42, and they have two children. Flack’s mother is Jewish. She danced with the New York Ballet from 2001 to 2009. After retiring she became an author (a novel and articles)

 

DIDI CONN, 74, has a recurring role in Best Medicine as Geneva Potter. Conn, born Edith Bernstein, grew up in a Conservative Jewish home. She got noticed when she played a lead role in “You Light Up My Love” (1977) a hit musical film. The song “You Light Up My Life’ was sung by Conn in the film. Debbie Boone also sang “Light” and her recording was a huge hit.

 

Many might remember that Conn had a star role in “Grease” (1982). She wed (1984) Oscar-winning composer DAVID SHORE, now 88, and the couple have two children.

 

“His & Hers” is a six-episode limited series that premieres on Netflix on January 8. It’s based on a novel of the same name by HARLAN COBEN, 63. Premise: Anna is a “burned-out” former news anchor. Then there is a murder in Anna’s small Georgia childhood town. This stirs her and she looks for answers.

 

Police detective Jack Harper is also looking for the killer and he is suspicious of Anna. JON BERNTHAL, 49, co-stars as Harper. Bernthal is always busy. Two action films last year (“The Accountant 2”, and “The Amateur”) and another Emmy nomination (2025) as a guest actor on “The Bear”.

 

This past week, I stumbled on a heart-wrenching video on Youtube. I’ll soon explain why.

 

CARL REINER was often a guest on the DINAH SHORE variety TV show (1956-63). Long story short: Carl Reiner got “looped” into the program “This Is Your Life” (1960) while he was making a Dinah Shore episode.

 

The host of “This Is” surprised Carl Reiner. He told Carl that he would be the center of this week’s episode. He was taken to a Dinah Shore program stage.

 

The title of the Youtube video is “Carl Reiner: This Is Your Life”. Close friends from Carl’s youth first came on. Then, about half way into the program, Carl’s family came out. There was ESTELLE REINER, Carl’s wife. She married Carl in 1943. She was eight years older than Carl, but that didn’t bother him. She and Carl had three children, ROB, born in 1947, ANNIE, now 76, and LUCAS, now 65. Estelle died in 2008, age 94. She and Carl were married for 65 years.

 

Estelle got some fame as the deli customer in “Harry and Sally” who said, “I’ll have what she got”, to a waiter. She was referencing Sally loudly faking orgasms at a table close to Estelle.

 

My heart broke when Estelle came in with her three children. Seeing Rob was the biggest heart breaker. He was in a nice suit and tie. I am not being nice—he was a handsome young man.

 

I realized Rob was 13 when he was on the show. I soon thought he really looks like a handsome, bar mitzvah boy.

 

I looked it up: Rob Reiner had a bar mitzvah ceremony. He was thirteen on March 6, 1960. The “This Is Your Life: Carl Reiner” aired on March 23, 1960.

 

Of course, some young Jews don’t have their bar or bat mitzvah on their 13th birthday. But most have their bar/bat mitzvah pretty close to their birthday. It’s possible that nice suit Rob wore on TV was his bar mitzvah suit.

 

A lot of emotions when you watch this video.