James L. Brooks, Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner: Three Great Talents
Ella McCay opens in theaters on Dec. 12. It’s called a comedy/drama. The film is set in late 2008. Ella McCay (Emma Mackey) is the lieutenant governor of an unnamed state. She is getting ready to take over from Gov. Bill, the state’s longtime incumbent (played by Albert Brooks, 78). Gov. Bill is taking an Obama cabinet post.
Jamie Lee Curtis, 66, co-stars as Helen McCay, Ella’s aunt. Julie Kavner, 75, has a supporting role as Estelle, Ella’s secretary (Kavner also narrates the film).
Julie Kavner co-starred in Rhoda (a 1970s TV show) as the Jewish sister of the (Jewish) Rhoda. Kavner has been the voice of Marge Simpson since the The Simpsons began in 1987. She now makes $300K per episode!
James L. Brooks, 85, directed and wrote Ella McKay. I recommend you read his Wikipedia entry. I can only touch on his amazing career. He began his career as a writer for TV news programs. In the mid-1960s, he moved to writing for TV sit-coms. In 1969, he began creating or co-creating TV shows. He also co-wrote these TV series, and he also often directed these series, too. Here’s a few: Room 222, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Taxi and The Simpsons.
James L. Brooks has made nine films. Three films he wrote and directed were huge hits: Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News (co-starring Albert Brooks, no relation), and As Good as It Gets. James L. Brooks’ last film was How Do You Know (2010), a romantic comedy. It flopped with critics and moviegoers.
I am totally rooting for an 85-year-old legendary talent who’s won six Oscars.
Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner
Dick Van Dyke, 2021
On Dec. 13, Dick Van Dyke will celebrate his 100th birthday. Two documentaries about his life almost overlap. The first premieres on Dec. 12 (Friday, 9 p.m.) on most PBS stations. It is an American Masters series program. PBS publicity says: “Tune in for this retrospective documentary of never-seen-before footage, photos and home movies detailing his legacy in show business across film, radio, TV and live theater.”
On the PBS app/website, some clips of the documentary were posted a few weeks ago. I learned from one clip that Van Dyke was an early and strong supporter of the civil rights movement.
A documentary called Dick Van Dyke: 100th Celebration will play in theaters on (only) Dec. 13 and 14. I couldn’t find who wrote or directed this film. I gather it covers much of the same ground as the PBS film. There are interviews with Van Dyke’s now-deceased colleagues. This includes Carl Reiner (1922-2020), the creator and main writer of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Morey Amsterdam (1908-1996). He had a co-star role (“Buddy”) on the Van Dyke show.
Over the years, I learned Carl Reiner and Van Dyke were not only amazingly talented — but they were mensches— always kind to their actors, writers, etc. Van Dyke often said that Reiner was the kindest person he ever knew. Reiner said the same thing about Van Dyke, and he called Van Dyke “the best physical comic I ever saw.”
No doubt, Van Dyke’s best TV and film work was aided by a very big number of top Jewish producers, actors, composers, etc. But it was a two way street; Van Dyke offered a lot in return.
Reiner was a writer for the 1950s Sid Caesar comedy sketch show. He then wrote 13 episodes (1959) for a comedy show that was very close to what the Dick Van Dyke Show became. Reiner made a pilot (1960) and he starred in basically the same lead role that Van Dyke later got.
The network saw the pilot, and they didn’t like Reiner as the lead. Reiner then looked for somebody else to be the star of his series. Dick Van Dyke had just become somewhat famous as the star of Bye, Bye, Birdie, a hit Broadway show (1960). Van Dyke agreed to star in Reiner’s show right after he read Reiner’s very funny scripts.
Carl Reiner wrote all the scripts for the first two years of Dick Van Dyke (1961-63), and he supervised other writers for the next three years.
One more Jewish connection: the Jewish team of (the late) Charles Strouse and Lee Adams (now 101) wrote the Bye, Bye, Birdie songs (stage and 1963 movie) — and the (late) Jewish brother team of Robert and Richard Sherman composed the Mary Poppins (1964) songs and the Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (1968) songs.
Van Dyke had a good career for many, many, years. But his career apex was the Van Dyke TV series (1961-66) and the three hit musical films (1963-88) noted above.
Put together Dick Van Dyke and a lot of first-rate Jews and you get great entertainment.