By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
What Dads Do; ‘Doc’, the Jewish angles; Mr. Handsome
“Rolling Loud” opens in theaters on Oct. 2. Here’s the premise: An overprotective father (Owen Wilson) attempts to bond with his 13-year-old son by sneaking him into the Rolling Loud (a hip-hop music festival). HENRY WINKLER, 80, has a smallish supporting role.
The film was directed by JEREMY GARELICK, 50. He also wrote this film. Garelick has a long record of writing, and sometimes directing, films and TV series (including the hits “The Break-Up” and “The Hangover”).
In 2006, Garelick told a reporter that he had become an observant Jew and he was about to marry a Jewish woman. Twenty years later, they are still married, have four children, and are very active in the L.A. Jewish community.
“Doc,” a Fox/Hulu TV series, has become an international hit. The series was based on an Italian TV series that featured a medical surgeon (male) who was in an accident. He lost memories going about five years back. The Italian series was a hit in several countries.
In 2021, Sony asked HANK STEINBERG, now 57, to develop an American version. He agreed and brought on BARBIE KLIGMAN, now 55, to write, with him, scripts for the series and be a series co-showrunner with him. Showrunners are “overall directors.”
Steinberg, a Long Island native, got a B.A. (1991) in literature from the University of Pennsylvania. He got his break (1997) when HBO bought a script he wrote. It dramatized Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, famous baseball players. This movie, entitled “61*,” got 12 Emmy nominations.
Steinberg went on to create and run “Without a Trace,” a hit series featuring the FBI (2002-09). He co-wrote and co-produced two other shows: “The Last Ship” (TNT, 2014-19) and “For Life” (ABC, 2020-21).
Hadassah Magazine (online, free) interviewed Barbie Kligman (October 2025). The interview focused on the “Jewish stuff” in “Doc.”
This article and a 1997 profile of Kligman in the New York Daily News gave me some of her background. She grew up in Brooklyn, her father was a doctor, and she went to a yeshiva. In 1996 she created and edited “Plotz, The Zine for the Vaclempt.” “Plotz” focused on Jewish celebs. (Zines were paper magazines for the youngish hip. Zines had a short life—the Net killed them.)Kligman moved to Los Angeles around 2003 and began writing TV series scripts. She has written or co-written for 14 TV series.
Kligman and Steinberg made a bold choice: to change the “Doc” character from a man to a woman. This change gave a dramatic “wow” to the Doc character. The series was so popular that the Italian TV bought the U.S. version!
Kligman told Hadassah that she and Steinberg are proud Jews and they wanted to create Jewish doctor characters. Kligman said they purposely created Dr. Jake Heller, a model Jewish doctor. He’s competent, kind, religious, and he wears a chai.
In two prior columns I said that I found the “arguably” best-looking Jewish TV journalist. Here I reveal him: It’s PETER ALEXANDER, 50. If you can get the MS NOW channel, you can watch him daily as the host and anchor of “State of Play with Peter Alexander.” (PS: He has a “manly” face with an athlete’s body.)
Alexander grew up in Oakland, California. His father was a lawyer. His family belonged to a Reform synagogue. His brother, DAVID, is a lawyer, too.
His sister, REBECCA, 47, is a psychotherapist and author. She is a great athlete even though she’s disabled. She’s a disability rights advocate. She got her B.A. at the University of Michigan. In 2017, she received the University of Michigan Bicentennial Alumni Award.
In my next column I will cover Rebecca in some depth. She will be in a news event on Oct. 17, she is an amazing person, and Peter is a great brother to her.
Peter held just about every NBC journalist position from 2004 to 2026. He made his move over, in August, to MS NOW. Just a few of his prior posts: “Today Saturday” host, “Dateline” NBC host, and NBC White House correspondent.
Peter said he left NBC because he wants to spend much more time with his two daughters, ages 13 and 11. In a 2018 news interview he said: “I’m Jewish, the girls go to a Jewish preschool. One of my favorite joys is sharing Shabbat with them on Friday nights. The girls light the candles and we sing the blessings together. My wife [journalist Alison Starling] is not Jewish but is the world’s best mom and has totally embraced these traditions and I look forward to the girls being Bat Mitzvah’d one day. I love being together, and the girls love challah.”