‘Checkout’s super return, what’s up in ‘Widow’s Bay,’ Pacino's ‘Serpico’ makes a comeback

SEPTEMBER 25, 2026 09:11Sometimes a series is so consistently good that it doesn’t always get the praise it deserves, and that’s the case with 'Checkout' (Kupa Rashit), the supermarket sitcom on KAN 11 (also available on kan.org.il) and on Netflix.Its sixth season about the travails and triumphs of the staff of the supermarket, Shefa Issachar, and its customers just started airing on KAN, and this episode has some of the funniest moments I have watched in a long, long time.Much of the comedy in the season opener involves what Ramzi (Amir Shurush), the indefatigably upbeat employee, refers to as a “poetry slum” (he means “slam”) organized by Shira (Noa Koler), the ambitious and awkward manager, in which she takes part.The show’s writers - who recently gave The Jerusalem Post a peek at what they have planned for this season, including the election-night episode - have been to a few pretentious poetry readings, it seems.They have great fun with the culture clash of talentless avant-garde poets and the staff of the supermarket, who attend the “slum” at Ramzi’s urging - and he trades shifts with them, giving them the hours they want, so Shira won’t be all alone out there.NOA KOLER as Shira in ‘Checkout.’ (credit: COURTESY KAN 11)When Shira stands up to share her poetry, all the resentment that she has ever felt at her employees for ignoring and insulting her comes out and then some.But my favorite moment was when Kochava (Keren Mor), the self-centered, lazy cashier, gives a dry, one-line put-down to a spoiled, insufferable poet who performs before Shira.There’s also a plotline concerning Amnon (Dov Navon), a cheap, fussy customer, who takes on the last role in the world anyone would have expected of him – but it won’t be as funny if you know what it is, so no spoilers here. Let’s just say that the more things change, the more Amnon stays Amnon.'Widow's Bay' keeps the horror horrible and comedy funnyThe series 'Widow’s Bay' just won 14 Emmys, breaking the record for most wins for a comedy, but if you don’t have Apple TV+, you might not have heard of it. It’s a quirky hybrid of comedy and horror, and plays like a Stephen King novel meets 'Schitt’s Creek', with a little bit of Jaws thrown in.The challenge in a series like this is to keep the horror horrible and the comedy funny, and 'Widow’s Bay' manages to do that, for the most part, although I like it best as a workplace comedy about the hapless mayor of a cursed town who just wants to do his job and keeps getting derailed by crazy supernatural stuff.The series pulls that off because its lead actor Matthew Rhys is so good you might suspect he has gotten a bit of help from otherworldly powers.Rhys gave one of the greatest performances in television history as Philip, the increasingly reluctant Soviet spy in Washington, in 'The Americans', where his character’s sarcasm and suppressed but inherent playfulness made him instantly relatable.He has appeared in several other series since then, including 'The Beast in Me' with Claire Danes, where he played a vile businessman suspected of murder, but none of his roles since 'The Americans' has fit his skills as perfectly as 'Widow’s Bay.'(If you haven’t seen 'The Americans' or want to rewatch it, it’s available on Disney+. I saw most of it a second time last year, and I enjoyed it even more than the first time. It’s right up there with 'The Sopranos,' 'The Wire,' and 'Mad Men' as one of the greatest series this golden age of television has produced.)MATTHEW RHYS in ‘Widow’s Bay.’ (credit: Courtesy Apple TV+)A haunted community in New England that residents can't leaveIn 'Widow’s Bay,' he plays Tom Loftis, the befuddled mayor of a New England island community known for its ghost stories and myths, and he wants to turn it into a tourist destination. The twist, of course, is that the ghost stories are all true.The pilot opens with him anxiously waiting for a visitor to arrive by ferry, a New York Times writer he hopes will crown 'Widow’s Bay' the next Martha’s Vineyard. But only the night before, a fog rolled in over the bay, which in most places would be inconvenient, but which here means that it rolls over certain people and puts them in a kind of coma, from which they awaken as murderous zombies.The island has a few other quirks. Not only is there no cellphone reception, but there are frequent power outages. Most people who spend the night in the Captain’s Suite at the inn go insane because they see visions of evil clowns and that kind of thing.And those who were born on the island - Loftis wasn’t - die when they leave.But it’s also a sitcom that might remind you of 'Checkout,' and Loftis has his hands full managing his staff, who are incompetent or just weird.There are also moments where, like in Jaws, people are telling the mayor to shut the town down because of the danger from the spirit world, just as tourists are arriving on a packed ferry.This genre mix doesn’t always work smoothly.Remember 'BrainDead,' the political comedy by Michelle and Robert King, the creators of 'The Good Wife,' which mixed a plotline about aliens invading the brains of Washingtonians and getting their cues from songs by The Cars, with a satire on political corruption? It sounds better than it was, and it didn’t last very long.'Widow’s Bay,' from its first season, seems likely to have more staying power, largely because Rhys can sell the sillier aspects of the series.'Serpico,' true story of a NYPD officer who blew the whistle on corruptionAnd speaking of great actors, Al Pacino starred in Serpico (1973), which just became available to stream on Netflix. It’s based on the true story of a New York cop who blew the whistle on corruption at every level of the police force.Directed by Sidney Lumet, the movie isn’t really a great film, and almost everyone who sees it knows how it ends.But Pacino gives an incredible, riveting performance, and without this shaggy, glowering star at its center, no one would be watching it. He shows the stubbornness that drives whistleblowers and what they sacrifice as they ignore and push away loved ones and feel contempt for anyone who urges them to compromise.Pacino convinces you that Serpico is so deeply wounded by the major and petty corruption all around him that he would pay any price - even give his life - to see the wrongdoers brought to justice, and he nearly does.Another interesting dimension of the film is watching this working-class guy move to Manhattan and discover a new world as he begins dressing like a hippie for his undercover work.The cast features a who’s who of 1970s American character actors, including John Randolph, Tony Roberts, and M. Emmet Walsh, but it’s really a one-man show.Pacino lost the Best Actor Oscar that year to Jack Lemmon for his role in the far more dated 'Save the Tiger.' The other also-rans were Robert Redford for The Sting, Jack Nicholson for The Last Detail, and Marlon Brando for Last Tango in Paris. They made some pretty good movies in the 1970s.Follow us on Google