open mike Mike Vaccaro Robert Duvall captured the essence of journalism in movies better than anyone By Mike Vaccaro Published Feb. 21, 2026, 3:19 p.m. ET Robert Duvall talks on the phone in a scene from the film "The Natural" 1984. Getty Images There was a hilarious short bit on my Reels feed the other day which showed a husband and wife watching “The Pitt,” with the husband — an ER doctor himself — providing a running commentary, either predicting the diagnoses of Dr. Robby a few seconds before they arrive, or critiquing various and sundry lab orders, blood squirts and other fun details.
I get that. I have a buddy, Dr. Paul, who spent the entire 15-year run of “ER” (and the shorter but even better six-season stint of “Chicago Hope”) taking great joy in spoiling most of those shows’ more intriguing plot points.
I have another friend, a financial planner I’ll call Charlie Back, who has gone to great pains explaining the finer points of “Wall Street” and “Margin Call” and “The Big Short” — it’s easy to tell the unrealistic aspects of those movies by the disgust in his voice.
And I can only imagine what “Breaking Bad” did to high school chemistry teachers.
