TCA: Mark Feuerstein Brings It Home on CBS

Weamp8217ve talked over the years but thereamp8217s an immediate bond as this show is set at 505 E 79th Street where Josh Feuerstein lives in an apartment between his parents Judy and Harry Linda Lavin pictured at top with Feuerstein and Elliott Gould and his brother Andrew David Walton amp160I know the building well as it was a selling point when my daughter moved into a walkup across the street amp160His much nicer building has a doorman and I had cautioned her to walk on that side of the block and then cross to hers Now that doorman building and the onlyinNewYork setup are fodder for 9JKL on CBS premiering Monday Oct 2After Royal Pains The West Wing and many other shows and films Feuerstein is certainly accustomed to being in front of the camera amp160This time however heamp8217s also a cocreator and executive producer with his wife of 12 years Dana KleinThe transition has been fascinating for him as he mines his life for plotlinesFeuerstein was at CBSamp8217 Upfront in May promoting the show amp160amp8220How do you get to Carnegie Hallamp8221 he said riffing on the old joke with the classic punch line amp8220practice practice practiceamp8221 amp160His version amp160amp8220Exploit your family Exploit your family Exploit your familyamp8221So he draws from the wackiness of his family for the sitcom amp160A few hours earlier he and the cast gathered on the soundstage to meet with members of the Television Critics Association seeamp160image below amp160The 9JKL sets is on hallowed sitcom ground The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Roseanne shot there amp160Set designers replicated his parentsamp8217 apartment down to the PostIts on the refrigerator which is what they use in lieu of an address bookLavin was a natural to play his mom amp160amp8220Mark and I played mother and son in a show in 1998 called Conrad Bloom so I know how to be his motheramp8221 she saidWhile Gould amp8220sometimes seems as if heamp8217s on his own planetamp8221 Feuerstein confides amp8220heamp8217s fantastic and he takes notesamp8221Thereamp8217s a genuine kindness to the show evidenced in how Feuerstein talks about his parents and how the actors talk to one another amp160Not every panel at TCA is like thisFeuerstein 46 acknowledges that when taking this on amp8220I was terrified to be in the writersamp8217 room amp160Even though the show is personal Iamp8217m not an expert in threeact structure my wife isamp8221Klein was a writer and producer on Friends and Fresh off the Boat amp160While Feuerstein was on Royal Pains he commuted between California to spend time with her and their three children and Manhattan where he stayed in the 79th Street apartment between his parentsamp8217 and brotheramp8217s flatsamp8220Every morning I would wake up to my father coming in in his tightywhities going amp8216Mark what would you like for breakfastamp8217amp8221 Feuerstein recalled amp8220Every night after a 15amp8209hour day of shooting my mother would be waiting by her door like a gunslinger in a nightgown amp160The second my hand would touch the doorknob sheamp8217d whip it open and go amp8216Hi Markamp160 Would you like to come in for a saladamp8217 amp160Which of course I would do and sit with her from 1100 till midnight talking about the dayamp8217s eventsamp8221amp160In the comedy Josh is on a nowcanceled show Blind Cop and is divorced amp160The family is not one where boundaries are clearly drawn or drawn at all amp160Feuerstein loves that whatever ethnic group sees it thinks itamp8217s about them amp160amp8220Italians are going amp8216Is that an Italian familyamp8217 amp160Russians ask if itamp8217s about a Russian family amp160Spanish people think itamp8217s about themamp8221 Feuerstein said amp160amp8220I say amp8216Yesamp8217 amp8221Family dynamics are universal though Walton is not the first actor one considers when casting Feuersteinamp8217s brother amp160Granted siblings donamp8217t always resemble one another but Walton and Feuerstein as blood brothers is a stretch amp160Feuerstein canamp8217t help but laugh about thatamp8220If people accuse us of being too Jewish we point to himamp8221 he saidThe family could be nothing but and Feuerstein said heamp8217s amp8220very proud to be Jewishamp8221 adding that the show will feature the holidays and cultural touchstonesamp160 This could open the door for all kinds of product placements Kedem Manischewitz Zabaramp8217s but as of yet there are noneamp8220When we have a bike I will contact my favorite bike company Santa Cruz and get a Santa Cruz bikeamp8221 he saidAs a producer Feuerstein has details to attend to that he didnamp8217t as an actor amp160For example the morning after the TCA event there was a table read Rather than just type it into his calendar Feuerstein found himself reminding the other producers and actorsBeing in the writersamp8217 room with its staff of 11 delights him amp160amp8220I am learning while trying to writeamp8221 Feuerstein said amp160amp8220Thereamp8217s that song in Hamilton about this is the room where it happens and I am in the room where it happensamp8221Feuerstein who was oddly crisp and unruffled while everyone else is wilting and messy in the stifling heat and humidity said amp8220This is my Rocky amp160It is my chance to be a writer and benefit by the writing amp160I am so excitedamp8221Click on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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TCA: Mark Feuerstein Brings It Home on CBS

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Jacqueline Cutler

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