ENTERTAINMENT: CATCH-UP, 
LOOK AHEAD, BASEBALL!
The eight-episode HBO series 
Perry Mason began on June 21. 
New episodes stream Sundays. 
It’
s set in Los Angeles during the 
Great Depression (1932). Mason 
(Matthew Rhys) is not yet an 
attorney. He’
s a private inves-
tigator scrambling to make a 
living. Reviews range from very 
good to mixed (I like it). 
 There is only one Jewish 
actor with a big role in the series 
and, oddly, advance publicity 
didn’
t specify his Perry Mason 
role. I now know that Justin 
Kirk, 51, shows up midway in 
the series as lawyer Hamilton 
Burger, whom longtime Mason 
fans know as Mason’
s courtroom 
opponent. In the HBO series, 
Burger actually aids Mason. 
(Kirk’
s mother is Jewish, and he 
co-starred as the Jewish charac-
ter Andy Botwin in the Showtime 
series Weeds.) 
Palm Springs, a comedy 
starring Andy Samberg, 41, 
got great reviews at the 2020 
Sundance Festival. Hulu bought 
the rights to stream it after a 
theater opening. But COVID-19 
intervened, and it began stream-
ing on Hulu on July 10. Basic 
Groundhog Day-like plot: Nyles 
(Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin 
Milioti) meet at a wedding and 
hit it off. The downside is that 
they are trapped in a time loop 
and have to live the day of the 
wedding over and over. Oscar 
nominee June Squibb, 90, has a 
small role as a grandma attend-
ing the wedding. 
30 Rock: A One Time Special, 
airs on NBC on July 16, at 8 
p.m. The main characters of 
the original TV show (played 
by the original cast members) 
reunite to help a friend with an 

ad campaign. This special is 
openly marketed as a vehicle to 
promote current and upcoming 
NBC/Peacock network shows via 
appearances by those shows’
 
stars. No doubt, some will be 
Jewish, like Samberg, who stars 
in NBC’
s Brooklyn, Nine-Nine, 
and Alden Ehrenreich, 30, a 
Peacock series star (Brave New 
World). 

THE TRIBE ON THE DIAMOND 
(FOR A LIMITED TIME!)
The special 60-game baseball 
season begins on July 23. Here 
are the Jewish players that 
almost certainly will be with 
a MLB club on opening day 
(rosters aren’
t yet set in stone): 
Richard Bleier, 32, relief pitcher, 
Baltimore Orioles; Ryan Braun, 
36, right fielder, Milwaukee 
Brewers; Alex Bregman, 26, 
third baseman, Houston Astros; 
Max Fried, 26, pitcher (starting), 
Atlanta Braves; Kevin Pillar, 31, 
right fielder, Boston Red Sox; 
and Rowdy Tellez, 25, designat-
ed hitter, Toronto Blue Jays. 
Several players in the majors 
in 2019 aren’
t on a roster for the 
special season: Joc Pederson, 
27, a hard-hitting Dodgers’
 out-
fielder, is still recovering from 
a hip injury; Robert Stock, 30, 
a Philadelphia pitcher, had a 
bad year in 2019; and Garrett 
Stubbs, 27, a 2019 Astros’
 rook-
ie catcher. Houston has two vet-
eran catchers. They don’
t need a 
third for a very short season. 

Arts&Life

celebrity jews

42 | JULY 16 • 2020 

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

Justin Kirk

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