96 | JULY 14 • 2022 

E

very month, the NY Times describes 
a handful of series that are about to 
premiere as “notable.”

The Rehearsal, which begins on HBO on 
July 15, made the July premiere list.
Nathan Fielder, 39, writes, directs and 
stars in this “sort of” reality series. Here’s 
the Times description of Rehearsal: “Fielder 
helps ordinary people with their ordinary 
problems by going to absurd lengths. In 
this case, he prepares his clients for poten-
tially stressful or uncomfortable interac-
tions with their friends and families by 
hiring actors and constructing detailed sets 
so that these men and women can practice 
what they want to say.”
You might know Fielder as the co-cre-
ator, writer and host of Nathan for You, a 
Comedy Central series (2013-18) that had 
a similar premise. He provided outrageous 
marketing schemes for real small business-
es. The owners did know that the market-
ing plan’s progress was being filmed for 
TV
, but they didn’t realize they were part 
of a comedy series. 
Nathan For You got 
great reviews and 
attracted a quite 
large audience. 
Fielder grew-
up in Vancouver, 
Canada. Seth 
Rogen, now 40, 
was a high school 
classmate, and they 
were in their high 
school’s comedy 
improv group. 
Rogen’s frequent film writing partner, 
Evan Goldberg, now 39, was another high 
school classmate. 

Fielder made “Jewish news” when 
he discovered (in 2017) that Taiga, a 
Vancouver-based maker of outdoor jack-
ets, lauded a notorious Holocaust denier 
when he died in 2001. Fielder responded 
by launching his own line of outdoor jack-
ets, and he opened a pop-up store to sell 

the jackets. The proceeds (about $150K) 
went to Holocaust awareness and educa-
tion. Fielder did a lot of unusual things 
to get publicity — customers could turn 
in a Taiga jacket and get a free Fielder 
jacket, and if a customer said he believed 
the Holocaust happened, he got a “Deny 
Nothing” button. 

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has 
recently become the sponsor of one-night 
theater showings of classic movies. On 
July 17, the Maple Theater in Bloomfield 
Township will screen Cabaret, the great 
1972 film based on the 1969 Broadway 
musical of the same name. 
Liza Minnelli won the best 
actress Oscar for playing an 
American who performed in 
a Berlin cabaret just before 
the Nazi takeover. Joel Grey, 
now 90, won the best sup-
porting actor Oscar, playing 
the cabaret’s master-of-cere-
monies. The songs were writ-
ten by John Kander, now 95, 
and the late Fred Ebb (They 
also wrote Chicago and New 
York, New York). 
Each year, TCM holds a 
film festival in Los Angeles, 
and a number of older celeb-
rities are interviewed. This 
year, TCM posted those 
interviews on YouTube. 
The most notable Jewish 
interviewees were Steven 
Spielberg, 75, and Piper 
Laurie, 90. The title of both 
interviews are misleading — they make 
you think they talk about just one thing. 
Both interviews are wide-ranging, if not 
exhaustive. (Search for TCM and Spielberg 
or Laurie). 
I particularly liked how Spielberg 
explained how making E.T. helped con-
vince him he could find the time to be a 
father (he went on to have seven children). 
Laurie, a three-time Oscar nominee, 

covers most of her long career, and she 
explains why she took a long hiatus from 
acting (1964-1976). 
Laurie (original name Rosetta Jacobs) 
was born in Detroit but grew up in Los 
Angeles. The film clips shown during the 
interview reveal how attractive Laurie was 
well into her 70s. She’s now quite portly 
and walks with a cane. But her mind and 
memory, the most important things, are 
still totally there. 
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris opens in theaters 
on July 15. It’s about a cleaning lady in 
1950s London who decides she must 
have an expensive Dior dress. 
British Jewish actor Jason 
Isaacs, 58, co-stars. 
Black Bird is a true-crime 
series that recently began 
streaming on Apple TV+. It’s 
about a young prisoner who 
can get out early if he gets 
another prisoner to talk about 
his crimes. Ray Liotta, who 
died in May, co-stars as an old 
prisoner. While researching 
this series, I stumbled 
on something “uber-weird.
” 
Liotta often played criminals, 
but he had a totally “clean” 
record. However, Liotta’s fian-
cée, Jacy Woodman Nittollo, 
47, has a crime connection. 
Her father, Stewart Woodman, 
died in prison in 2014.
 Stewart and his brother, 
Neil (now serving a life sen-
tence), were convicted of hir-
ing two men to kill the Woodman broth-
ers’ parents in 1985. The murders were 
all about money. The Los Angeles media 
labeled the killings the “Yom Kippur mur-
ders.” The brothers had their parents mur-
dered on Yom Kippur because the brothers 
knew exactly where their parents would 
be on Yom Kippur (Oy!). Liotta’s odd con-
nection to these notorious murders hasn’t 
been noted in any other media source. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

Genuinely Funny Reality Shows; 
TCM — In Theaters and on YouTube

Nathan Fielder

NORTHWEST - OWN WORK

Piper Laurie, circa 1990

ALAN LIGHT, CC 

Jason Isaacs

DOD NEWS FEATURES

