- - Rob Reiner's posthumous appearance in Mel Brooks HBO documentary is profound

Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYJanuary 16, 2026 at 8:54 PM

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Rob Reiner’s appearance in "Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!" makes the upcoming HBO documentary about the comedy legend feel even more profound.

The two-part documentary premiering Jan. 22 and 23 on HBO (8 ET/PT), by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, focuses on the life and enduring appeal of Mel Brooks, who turns 100 on June 28.

Reiner, who died tragically on Dec. 14 with his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, gives valuable insight speaking about his father, Carl Reiner, who died at age 98 in 2020.

Carl Reiner was Brooks' best friend of 70 years and comedy partner. The friendship and partnership was truly special. Rob Reiner gives the most poignant and authoritative view on the famed duo.

Rob Reiner, in 2017, talks about his father Carl in the documentary "Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man."

Reiner talks about meeting Brooks for the first time at age 4 when the comedy writer slept over at the family household. Brooks became a fixture at the Reiner household from then on.

The son also speaks about how Carl Reiner would play the straight man in sketches with Brooks, such as their famed "The 2000 Year Old Man" routine.

"My father was like a second banana. He never felt like he needed to be the star," Reiner says in the documentary. "He would push Mel into a corner that would make Mel explode with creativity and humor."

Brooks, who lost his father at 2 to tuberculosis, revered the older Carl Reiner.

"I always thought that, even though Mel was only like four years younger than my dad, he looked to my dad as a father figure," Reiner says.

In the later years of the friendship, Carl and Mel would spend most of their evenings sitting at Reiner's home, watching TV and movies while eating dinner on TV trays.

Best friends Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks in 2010.

"Mel was there when my dad died,” Rob Reiner says, relating how Brooks found his father collapsed at his home. "My dad died like right after that."

Still, Brooks continued to visit his friend's home.

"For months, months and months (Brooks) would come to the house after my father died, sit there, watch television, and have dinner. And he did that for months," Reiner says. "He was that close to my dad that he wanted to be close to him, even when my dad was gone."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rob Reiner appears in 'Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!' documentary

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”