Nate Bloom blogs on this week's Jews in the News.

 

A Catch-Up Column About Two Comedies & Jake’s Big Streaming Hits

 

“Spinal Tap II :The End Continues”, is a sequel to “This is Spinal Tap” (1984) a hilarious “mockumentary”. It opened on Sept. 12 in theaters and it’s still running. Spinal Tap is the name of a British hard rock band that isn’t very good. But, somehow, they attract some concert goers. ROB REINER, now 78, co-wrote the 1984 film, directed the film, and acted in the film as a reporter following the band. Reiner acts-in and directs the sequel, too.

 

The band members, and Reiner, co-wrote both films. The band members are HARRY SHEARER, 81, CHRISTOPHER GUEST, 76, and Michael McKean. Guest’s British father converted to Judaism when he married Guest’s Jewish American mother.

 

FRAN DRESCHER, 67, has a big supporting role and Paul McCartney has a cameo role.

 

Somehow, I missed the Sept. 4 premiere of “The Paper” on the Peacock channel. The entire first season (10 episodes) was “dropped” on the 4th.

 

“The Paper” is a follow-up and spinoff of “The Office” (2005-2013), a hit “mockumentary” NBC series. The office, this time, is the office of a struggling, Toledo, Ohio, newspaper. The paper has a great past, but most subscribers have fallen-away. They can get their news, free, on the Internet.

 

The two star characters of the series are Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson), the new chief editor of the paper, and Esmeralda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore). Grand was the interim chief editor of the paper until Ned got the job.

 

The paper hardly covered the local news before Sampson arrived. It published mostly ads, wire service stories and sports scores. Ned hopes to revive the paper by recruiting “volunteer” journalists.

 

An” Office” character is also a character in “The Paper”: Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez) was a smart accountant in “The Office”, and he’s the newspaper’s accountant.

 

ALEX EDELMAN, 36, is a “main cast” actor. He plays Adam Cooper, an incompetent accountant.

 

Edelman was raised Orthodox, and he’s still observant. He’s best known for his one-man show, “Just for Us”. This play, which more than just touched on anti-Semitism, was a Broadway hit (2022) and a Tony winner. The play was streamed by HBO in 2024. Edelman won an Emmy for the play (Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special).

 

“The Paper” was created by Greg Daniels (the creator of the American version of “The Office”) and MICHAEL KOMAN, 49. Koman’s comedy writing resume includes writing for “Late Night With Conan O’Brien”, “Saturday Night Live”, and “Nathan For You”.

 

A few weeks ago, I said that JAKE GYLLENHAAL (hereafter “Jake”) is the most popular Jewish actor and few people are aware of that. I said I would explain in my next column. But other breaking news delayed me. Now I will finally explain.

 

My statement about Jake, 44, was based on an extraordinary, positive audience reaction to his performances in an Amazon Prime original film and in an Apple+ series. In 2024, Jake starred in “Road House”, a re-make of a 1989 film of the same name. He played a former professional fighter who took a job “cooling” down a rowdy bar. He’s the head bouncer.

 

The film (which was directed by DOUG LIMAN) got mixed reviews. However, it got among the biggest audiences that Amazon Prime ever received. A sequel is now in the works.

 

Jake also starred in another re-make: “Presumed Innocent” (2024). A novel of the same name was a 1987 bestseller written by SCOTT TUROW. A film adaption of the same novel opened in 1990. HARRISON FORD played Rusty Sabich, an assistant district attorney who is charged with the murder of a female district attorney. The 1990 movie (directed by ALAN PAKULA ) got good reviews and made $221M. It “only” cost $20M to make it.

 

The 2024 (Gyllenhaal) re-make was made as an 8-episode series. The 2024 series got huge ratings for Apple+ and the four actors who starred in the series got 2025 Emmy nominations. Jake was one of the nominees.

 

Apple+ so loves Jake that Apple+ has already green-lighted another Rusty Sabich series-- starring, of course, Jake. The very capable Rachel Brosnahan (“Mrs. Maisel”) will co-star.

 

Right now, Jake Gyllenhaal is about as hot as an actor can be. Streaming is now as important as theater premiere films. I can only imagine how much Jake’s salaries are for the sequels of “Road House” and “Presumed Innocence”.

 

Upon reflection, I can think, now, of two Jewish actors who possibly draw in bigger audiences, and/or make more money, than Jake Gyllenhaal: SCARLETT JOHANSSON and TIMOTHEE CHALAMET. (Nice club to be in ).