The ‘Chase’ is on
The NBC action-drama “Chase,” which began this week, is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer of “CSI” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” fame.
The series, airing Mondays at 10 p.m., centers on a female U.S. marshal whose elite team includes Cole Hauser, 35, a handsome fellow who has been in a lot of films and starred in the short-lived TV series “K-Ville.”
Hauser’s non-Jewish father, Wings Hauser, is a famous Hollywood stuntman. His Jewish mother, film producer Cass Warner, is the granddaughter of Harry Warner, one of the founders of Warner Brothers. Cole is secular.
Going ‘Undercovers’
Also starting this week was the NBC series “Undercovers,” a new show created by J.J. Abrams, the co-creator of “Lost” and “Fringe.” It airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
“Undercovers” aims to be a stylish drama about a black married couple, Steven and Samantha Bloom, who are secretly top CIA agents. As the series begins, the Blooms are running a small catering business in Los Angeles. But when one of their best friends, an active CIA agent, goes missing, they are re-instated to try and save him.
Ben Schwartz, a 20-something Jewish actor, plays one of the members of the CIA team supporting the Blooms. Schwartz is a comedy writer (“SNL,” “David Letterman”) who has appeared in three episodes of “Parks and Recreation.” He also does funny Web video interviews for ESPN.
The actor playing Steven Bloom is Boris Kodjoe, 37, whose good looks helped launch a successful acting career that includes a starring role in the Showtime series “Soul Food.” Kodjoe was born in Austria, the son of a black physician from Ghana and a German-born psychologist mother whom he describes as “Jewish.”
My sense, from his one long interview about his religious background, is that Kodjoe’s maternal grandmother, in common parlance, was “fully Jewish” and that his mother is “half-Jewish.” He made clear in the interview that he’s aware that he is Jewish, as defined by traditional Jewish religious law.
Kodjoe’s parents split up when he was very young and he was raised in Germany by his mother. He says that he was raised secular, but when he came to the United States — he went to Virginia on a tennis scholarship — he “sampled” various Christian denominations and found his spiritual home in the United Methodist church.
As for the often Jewish surname Bloom, I wonder it was inspired by Abrams’ Jewish background.
‘Wall Street’ redux
Opening Friday, Sept. 24, is “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” the sequel to 1987’s “Wall Street.” Michael Douglas, 65, reprises his Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gecko, an amoral high-stakes financier.
As the film opens, Gecko has just been released from a lengthy prison term and is looking to re-establish a relationship with his daughter. In this, he finds an ally in her daughter’s fiancé (Shia LaBeouf, 24). The excellent cast includes Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin, Frank Langella, Carey Mulligan and Eli Wallach, 94.
Last week, Michael’s father, Kirk Douglas, 93, posted this on his MySpace page: “I want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts and comments … The other night he [Michael] appeared on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ to talk about ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.’ I think it will be even better than the first. He also talked with dignity and humor about his bout with cancer. I admire my son; he’s quite a guy.”