good

Watching a film on Netflix can take you a few hours, but this movie is so good – people will happily watch it over and over again in one day. So have you seen it?

Scrolling through your Netflix can take ages to find something that’ll have you glued to your seats until 6am. Landing on a new series to watch is one thing, but what if you only have time for a film?

The streaming platform has a variety of genres to pick from – like comedy and horror. Sometimes people manage to watch one film, then decide to blitz through its sequels. But lately people can’t stop raving on about a movie which is about two hours long, so much so, they’re watching it multiple times in one day. So have you seen it?

Kim shared a snippet of the Tyler Perry film Doing Life which she rated a 10 out of 10. She captioned the clip: “I cried so much from beginning to end.”

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And it seems she’s not the only one to have glowing reviews of the 2026 film as one wrote in the comments: “I wish it was longer, a TV show or something. It was so good, I watched it TWICE today.”

Another admitted: “Try up to 4 times, I loved it. I can recite lines now.”

What is Doing Life about?

Starring Naomi Baker, Jay Reeves and Tamberla Perry, this Tyler Perry movie follows a single mum and prisoner forge an unlikely bond through heartfelt letters.

The romantic drama deals with real-life issues, like the cycle of poverty, absentee fathers, single mothers and incarceration. It was released on Netflix on October 2 and has already proven to be a hit.

Directed and written by Tyler Perry, along with Angi Bones and Tony L. Strickland as producers, this film is Perry’s seventh from his creative partnership with the streaming giant.

Speaking about the film, Perry said: “I was inspired by… the idea that sometimes the people we least expect can understand each other in ways no one else can.

“I wanted to tell a story about two people who, on the surface, seem like complete opposites, but who discover a deep commonality in the struggles they’re facing.”

Since its release at the start of the month, the American drama holds a 6.6 out of 10 score on IMDb, with a 69% approval rating based on general audience and social media reviews.

Meanwhile it pulled 9.3 million views in its first three days on Netflix, debuting at no.3 on the global English-language movie chart and reaching no.1 in the US.

You can watch Doing Life on Netflix UK now with a runtime of 1 hour and 48 minutes. So will you be watching it more than once in day?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Game 4. What will happen? Let’s find out together.

Game 4 thoughts

Pregame

—I’m interested to see how much energy and drive the Dodgers have in Game 4. Will they go down swinging (figuratively, not literally). Will they force the Brewers to rip the title from their hands?

—Fox did a great segment on Charley Steiner before Game 3. You can watch it here. There are things you can criticize the Dodgers for, but you also have to salute them for taking care of people like Steiner and Andrew Toles. They gave Steiner some hope during his cancer battle, and that’s very important.

—One thing about Shohei Ohtani before the game begins. It’s easy to pin the 3-0 deficit on him. He’s the most famous baseball player right now, and he’s not playing well. I wish there was a lot more clarity around his injuries. However, to pin the 3-0 deficit on him is unfair. Going into Game 4, here are the batting stats:

Miguel Rojas, 1 for 2
Mookie Betts, .250, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Kyle Tucker, .250, one double, no RBIs
Shohei Ohtani, .222, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Teoscar Hernández, .200, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Tommy Edman, .167, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Andy Pages, .125, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Max Muncy, .111, no extra-base hits or RBIs
Freddie Freeman, .091, no extra-base hits, one RBI
Will Smith, .091, one double, two RBIs
Kiké Hernández, 0 for 5
Team, .165, two doubles, five RBIs

Ohtani has hit better than most of the Dodgers this series.

First inning

—The one thing that bothers me about Tyler Glasnow: It seems he gets two quick strikes on a batter, then tries to get cute with the pitches.

—Holding the Brewers scoreless in the first is nice.

—First and second, one out. Really should score a run here.

—And a double play. This could be important later.

Second inning

—Hey, they got Jake Bauers out using only four pitches. Miracle!

—And the Brewers go down quietly.

—If you mute the TV and watch an ad, but can’t tell what the ad is for without the sound, then it’s a bad ad.

—Manny Machado was in an ad. Reminds me of the old Yogi Berra quote, “Nobody likes Manny Machado.”

—Kyle Tucker has been the star of the Dodger offense.

—Here comes Dustin May to pitch for the Brewers. The Dodgers used to have a pitcher named Dustin May. I wonder if they are related.

—First and third, nobody out. It would be advantageous to score here.

—Miguel Rojas, in what could be his final game, starts, but is pinch-hit for before getting a chance to bat. You can’t let Rojas end his career like that, so a win is in order.

—Max Muncy strikes out. The worst thing you can do in that situation.

—Now, a double play?

—Andy Pages singles! Another miracle! He’s the only Dodgers who can hit in the clutch this postseason. Dodgers 1, Brewers 0.

—Kiké flies to center. Now Ohtani.

—And a majestic home run! Ohtani let about two months of frustration out with that scream after the homer. Dodgers 4, Brewers 0.

—I feel like Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” after Geena Davis returns to the team. “We’re gonna win!”

—Now can the Dodgers stop the Brewers from responding?

Third inning

—Glasnow is pitching great.

—Max Muncy seemed to be anticipating that bunt.

—Now if Will Smith could just get going.

—The Dodgers go down quietly. But they have a four-run lead for the first time in forever.

Fourth inning

—”Buy one Subway footlong, get one free” sounds more like a punishment than a reward.

—”Meal of Horror” describes every meal at Jack in the Box, not just this special Krusty the Klown one.

—John Smoltz tried to explain why Glasnow can be dominant, but it made no sense whatsoever.

—Will Smith makes an ABS challenge and loses. Oh well, it happens.

—Brice Turang walks. Don’t walk people with a four-run lead.

—A ground-rule double. Let’s hold them to no more than one run here.

—Another ground-rule double. Uh oh. Dodgers 4, Brewers 2.

—And the Dodgers get out of it. But Glasnow will be on a short leash.

—The Dodgers can’t just rely on four runs to carry them.

—Max Muncy gets a much-needed hit for him.

—And that ends the fourth.

Fifth inning

—Please stop walking people with a lead.

—Frelick steals second. It’s not hard to steal off of Glasnow.

—And the Brewers immediately cash in. Dodgers 4, Brewers 3.

—Evan Phillips comes in. Still has never given up a run in the postseason.

—Brewers are like the Dodgers, making the pitcher work.

—Brewers load the bases with two out. And that’s it for Phillips.

—Can Alex Vesia escape the jam against the pesky Jake Bauers?

—He cannot. Bauers walked on four pitches. Remember all the little things the Dodgers did right the last two years to win the World Series? They are doing none of those things this year. Dodgers 4, Brewers 4.

—The Dodgers go down quietly. This is beginning to feel like the first three games.

Sixth inning

—And just like that, the Brewers lead. Team of destiny. Brewers 5, Dodgers 4. Some people don’t like that I’m named Houston. Will they hate that I’m named Mitchell too? Do I have to change my whole name?

—You certainly can’t blame any of the losses on Tucker. Another hit for him.

—But the Dodgers can’t cash in. This could be important later.

Seventh inning

—It’s so funny that Edwin Díaz is the steadying presence out of the bullpen after the season he had.

—But he will remain unusable, regular season or postseason in Strat-o-matic or APBA.

—Leadoff double by Pages. Can they cash in?

—Kiké bunts! Pages to third.

—And look who’s coming up.

—And Ohtani strikes out, and looks bad doing so.

—And the Dodgers waste another chance.

Eighth inning

—Well, at least it looks like the Dodgers have a closer for next season.

—Quick inning for the Brewers. Do the Dodgers have a run in them?

—Will Smith comes through. Man on third, one out. If they don’t score here, it’s over.

—And Tucker pops out.

—And Teoscar strikes out.

—Two innings in a row, the Dodgers have a runner on third and one out and fail to score.

Ninth inning

—Maybe Díaz should have pitched earlier in this series.

—Brewers add an insurance run. Brewers 6, Dodgers 4.

—Again, the Brewers are playing like the Dodgers did the last two postseasons.

—Dodgers have been out-homered 7-1 in this series.

—Bottom of the ninth. Do the Dodgers go quietly?

—Tommy Edman grounds out.

—Pages struck out.

—Kiké lines to left.

—That’s it. Remember that Tom Hanks quote from earlier? They lost that game.

—Remember what Joe Davis said at the end of last year’s World Series? “To beat the champ, you’ve got to knock them out.” And that’s exactly what the Brewers did.

—As Max Muncy said after the game, “They were relentless with everything that they did. They just strung together good at-bat after good at-bat. That’s usually what we do. We didn’t do it this series and they did.”

—The three teams with a shot to win the World Series: The Brewers, who have never won. The Rays, who have never won. The Guardians, who haven’t won since 1948. It will be fun to see who wins.

Miguel Rojas is retiring

That was indeed the final game of Rojas’ career.

“This is it, guys,” he said, announcing his retirement after Game 4. “It’s been a lot, the last four years of my life here. And obviously making my debut here in 2014 changed my life, not just for me but for my whole family. They took care of my son, my daughter, my wife, and everybody in my family. It’s really amazing what I can think about, what happened to me and to my family the last few years.

“I just wanted to say thank you to all the veteran guys for allowing me to be myself when I got here, even though I didn’t play one game for the Los Angeles Dodgers for the last eight or nine years before I came here. They allowed me to be the leader that I wanted to be, the person that I wanted to change the culture and kind of give a little bit more of a culture, chemistry to the clubhouse. I feel like that is going to be a legacy that I wanted to leave here, other than my performance on the field. … I want them to remember me as a guy who always did everything possible to help my teammates win and to help the team get better every single day.”

You can read more here.

Wrapping it up

I had a reader email me in the ninth inning that he felt ill watching the Dodgers play. Really? The team won the last two World Series and reached the NLCS in the third year. To feel ill or angry over this team is just the wrong way to look at it. Disappointed? Sure. Sad? Sure.

But if those feeling linger into Friday, remember that this team has given you many memorable moments over the last three seasons. They were outplayed by a better team here. Tip your cap to the Brewers. And, after the disappointment ends, thank the Dodgers for three incredible seasons. In fact, here are the Dodgers since 2016:

2016, Lost in NLCS
2017, Lost in World Series*
2018, Lost in World Series
2019, Lost in NLDS
2020, Won World Series
2021, Lost in NLCS
2022, Lost in NLDS
2023, Lost in NLDS
2024, Won World Series
2025, Won World Series
2026, Lost in NLCS

*-Astros cheated to win.

An embarrassment of riches.

Up next

That concludes the 12th season of Dodgers Dugout. We’ll be back in the next couple of weeks to discuss the offseason and whether there will even be a 2027 season.

In the meantime, today’s a new day. Look at the sunshine. Look at your family and loved ones. Everything is OK.

In case you missed it

Dodgers’ three-peat dream dies with Game 4 NLCS loss to Brewers

Plaschke: The Dodgers had everything needed to three-peat. This is why they failed

Miguel Rojas announces his retirement after Dodgers’ NLCS loss

Dave Roberts on Dodgers losing the NLCS and having no regrets

And finally

The Dodgers win the 2025 World Series. Watch and listen here.

Until next time …

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

OpenAI has admitted its actions were “not good enough” after one of its rogue agents breached Australian government websites in June and apologised again.

The company’s chief strategy officer Jason Kwon faced a parliamentary hearing into AI on Tuesday in Sydney, saying the breach “should not have happened” and it “should have handled our response better”. It took weeks before Australia was notified via an email to a generic inbox.

“We are sorry and we know we have work to do to rebuild trust with the Australian people,” Kwon said.

Anthropic also appeared at the hearing and said it had carried out a “lengthy, deep investigation” in recent months and “not found any cases” of Australian breaches.

An OpenAI agent went “rogue” and “infiltrated” a private statistics portal containing “non-sensitive” data from Australia’s universal healthcare scheme Medicare in June in what cyber-security experts said was the first hack of its kind.

Asked why OpenAI had not directly contacted government ministers immediately after it found out about the breaches, Kwon acknowledged it was a mistake.

“On retrospect, we should have done what you’re suggesting,” Kwon said, in response to a question by the committee on why it had not dialled the mobile numbers of government ministers.

He said the company has changed how it handles such incidents.

“Even if we don’t fully understand the situation, we are just going to notify and start working through the sitation collaboratively with the impacted party.”

OpenAI has also added “more precautions” to its training environments since the incidents, Kwon told the 12-member committee which is made up of Labor, Liberal and independent MPs who are looking at AI and it’s impact on Australia.

The company was also establishing a local taskforce in Australia to investigate “how to better manage the risks associated with increasingly capable AI”.

Ben Gannon-Doak turned North Macedonia inside out and upside down. He is woefully short of minutes for his club, Bournemouth, and lacks sharpness and ruthlessness as a consequence. His delivery has always lacked accuracy.

His raw materials, though, are exhilarating. His pace, his involvement, his number of touches, his chances.

He never left North Macedonia alone. They survived only because he blasted over with one of his chances, shot tamely with another, lost composure with a third one. Having tormented North Macedonia, he allowed them off the hook, but he was a one-man thrill-fest.

He’s 20, that can’t be forgotten. He’s going to be around for a lot of years and will play a heap of big games, but with his club he’s got some decisions to make.

Two minutes against Liverpool, 19 against Sociedad, eight against Brentford, one minute against Newcastle and Man City. The only game he has started this season was a League Cup tie against Lincoln.

Bournemouth is a tough team to get into, but he needs more time on the grass, more opportunity to develop. Maybe a loan move in January would make sense for him, if his club allows him to go. A big ‘if’.

That’s a situation Gannon-Doak needs to resolve for himself – and for Scotland.

Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh and Kate Garraway spoke to the UK’s Minister for Aviation, Keir Mather, on Friday’s show.

Good Morning Britain viewers were quick to call out Kate Garraway.

On Friday’s instalment of the ITV show (October 2), Kate and her co-star Ranvir Singh welcomed Aviation Minister Keir Mather onto the programme to speak about the proposed plan to stop airlines charging parents who want to sit by their children.

However, before the interview had even begun, the Good Morning Britain star was quick to remark on the 28-year-old’s youthful appearance, which didn’t go down well with people watching.

She commented: “We’re joined here now by Aviation Minister, Keir Mather, first time on Good Morning Britain, you’re there in Manchester airport this morning. When we saw you pop up, I have to say, we thought, ‘My goodness, ministers are getting younger every day’. You’re going to please a lot of people if you are the new prefect, because there’ll be a lot of people cheering about this.”

The MP didn’t address the remark as he dived straight into the topic he was on the show to speak about. However, as the interview came to an end, The ITV star touched on his age once again.

She said: “I understand you are indeed the youngest Minister since Gladstone in 1834, so it’s not just my old eyes that see you as young, good to speak to you this morning.”

As Kate and Ranvir went to address what he had spoken about with their panellists, Salma Shah and Caroline Flint, the presenter asked if they also felt old listening to the MP speak.

Salma commented: “I mean, I’ve never felt so old.” With Caroline adding: “He answered your questions, he did say yes, no, and what have you, we’ve seen people much older, not doing that.”

It wasn’t long before people commented on the interview, with many quick to call out Kate for her remark to the MP. One person on X said: “How outrageously patronising! Ooh, aren’t you young!”

Someone else wrote: “How patronising to remark on his age and call him a prefect! @GMB #gmb.” Another viewer commented: “@GMB Not cool to patronise the MP just because he’s young.”

While one person said: “Just watched @Mather_Keir on @GMB this morning, a great interview, I’m just really disappointed in the hosts and panel guests, that the conversation following was about his age and ‘how well he answered the questions for his age’ rather than discussing the issue in hand, bit shocking really.”

Meanwhile, one person praised the MP, commenting: “Excellent interview on @GMB from @Mather_Keir from @manairport this morning. Nice to see young govt ministers on TV.”

Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITV weekdays from 6am.

Russell also pointed out that this was the first significant mistake Antonelli had made in a competitive session all year.

Asked if he believed Antonelli’s mistake was a result of “title jitters”, Russell said: “When you look at every championship campaign, even for the winners, there are mistakes along the way.

“So, I still keep on believing and keep on fighting until it isn’t possible any more. But I don’t feel any pressure.

“I feel excitement every time I jump in the car now, purely because I feel more confident in myself.

“When that confidence starts to build, it’s just like this upward cycle.

“On the flip side, when you’re on the back foot, you start losing that confidence and then you start pushing the limits more, and that’s when mistakes happen.

“But he’s been flawless this season. It’s the first mistake he’s made in a qualifying or race this whole year.”

Russell’s pole margin was a massive 0.837secs, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc second and Piastri third.

The Baku street circuit has a long straight that affords good overtaking possibilities and has a reputation for producing incident-packed races.

Something’s in the air this fall — and it’s not just the autumnal chill. For some reason, survival thrillers are all the rage; there are even two featuring a man and his dog. First, we had Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars” with Jacob Elordi and a Belgian Malinois traversing a postapocalyptic landscape.

The latest is “Heart of the Beast,” an Alaskan-set story about two combat veterans — one human, one canine — who set out for a post-retirement camping trip and find themselves in a perilous situation after the human, retired Special Forces officer James (Brad Pitt), suffers a heart attack while piloting his seaplane. James and his combat dog Odin survive the crash, just barely, but they’re stranded deep in the wilderness, miles from civilization.

The film is directed by David Ayer, a purveyor of wild action flicks and ballads of masculinity; the screenplay is the debut effort of Cameron Alexander. Their intent is to deliver something muscle-bound and emotional — if a man can’t cry about an Army dog, what can he cry about? But until the last two minutes of the film, “Heart of the Beast” is essentially “Homeward Bound” for adults. You know, the 1993 kids adventure film featuring a golden retriever, a bulldog and a cat named Sassy who have to make their way home through the wild. Marry the structure of that film with a Jack London-inspired milieu, add some blood, gore and rather cheesy Iraq war flashbacks, and you have “Heart of the Beast.”

We watch James as he’s rained on, chewed on, pulls trunks out of an icy lake, falls off a log, breaks his arm, faces down a bear, fights off wolves, sustains many head injuries and inexplicably keeps going, in hopes of saving if not himself his dog, the most important creature in his life.

And oh, is Odin worth it. Played by four different dogs named Uber, Seeka, Ryker and Hondo, the performance that these dogs collectively deliver is worthy company to an Oscar winner — the dogs may even eclipse Pitt for sheer screen presence. With every whimper, sigh, howl, bark and head tilt, these dogs create an empathetic portrayal of a highly intelligent creature that has been through battle and has the scars (and nightmares) to prove it. Odin is a bionic dog, with titanium teeth and a prosthetic foot from injuries sustained during wartime, but nothing slows him down, not even a plane crash. However, the film does have its limitations when it comes to the other wildlife, all digitally created and the CGI isn’t convincing in the slightest.

“Heart of the Beast” is an onslaught of danger and misery, alleviated only by the pleasure of watching James’ survival skills and ingenuity. This man makes a lot of mistakes on this journey (he’s constantly calling himself “stupid” and “dumb”), but he’s also kind of a MacGyver. He starts a fire with cotton balls and Neosporin. He carries an alarming number of knives. He splints his own arm. If anything, it’s an excellent lesson on carrying the right gear and always taking medical supplies on a camping trip — if you ever go camping again after this.

Pitt typically excels when there’s a little (or a lot) of levity for him to exercise his loose-limbed charms and there’s precisely none of that in “Heart of the Beast.” Ayer pushes the emotional and physical extremes and it feels like a dirge: a forced march through the muddy Alaskan wilderness with plenty of body horror on top. The one moment of camaraderie comes in the beginning, when James shares a beer with a mysterious stranger (J.K. Simmons) who happens upon his camp and might even be an apparition of an old miner. James does share moments of affection and victory with Odin but there’s nothing to relieve the constant danger, even though structurally, the film has already sapped its potential suspense.

“Heart of the Beast” has its highs and lows but cinematically, it’s a mixed bag — entirely predictable and just not great. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that the star of the movie is indeed Odin and he’s a very, very good boy.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

Iranian media has reported the sound of an explosion near Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, though the cause remains unclear.

Filming a broadcast television show can leave even the most seasoned actors feeling like they’ve lost sense of time. But by afternoon on a recent weekday, Josh Charles actually looks like he teleported to the past as he collapses into a seat inside his production trailer in upstate New York.

He’s in the throes of filming Season 2 of “Best Medicine,” the Fox dramedy he headlines that’s set in a small fishing village in Maine, and the reason he’s shed his character’s usual suit and tie for gaitered trousers and a navy coat with red facings eventually reveals itself: Port Wenn, the show’s fictional town, is putting on a Revolutionary War reenactment. And if you’re familiar with Martin Best, the curmudgeonly doctor with an almost permanently furrowed brow portrayed by Charles, the character’s willingness to don such a getup likely took some coaxing.

That’s the fun of it all for Charles.

He’s been a working actor since childhood — making his debut at 15 in John Waters’ cult classic “Hairspray,” followed soon after by his turn as Knox Overstreet in “Dead Poets Society” — and a fixture in TV and film ever since.

While best known for dramatic roles like high-powered lawyer Will Gardner in “The Good Wife,” Charles easily pivots to comedy — like the time he memorably played the triple-collared, snobby camp ringleader in “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.” Now, “Best Medicine” lets Charles leans into the push and pull of the comedy and drama within his tightly wound alter ego.

Josh Charles as Martin Best in Fox’s “Best Medicine.”

(Francisco Roman / Fox)

Created by Liz Tuccillo (“How to Be Single,” “Sex and the City”), the series follows a brilliant but cranky heart surgeon who, after developing a crippling blood phobia spurred by a traumatic medical case, abandons his thriving career in Boston to become a general practitioner in the town where he spent summers as a child. Martin Best is a doc whose bedside manner could use some TLC, but he came to town hoping he can still practice medicine — that is, if the townspeople would actually do as he says.

“I have been really wanting to do more comedy lately and looking — especially if I was going to call a place home for a particular period of time, like you do in a television show — for something that was a little more lighter air than I had been networking in of late,” says Charles, whose recent credits include dystopian drama “The Handmaid’s Tale” and spy thriller “The Veil.”

The series is based on the beloved British dramedy “Doc Martin,” which starred Martin Clunes as a doctor with a similar storyline, that aired between 2004 and 2022. Tuccillo says Charles brought an elegance and depth to the fish-out-of-water dynamic his character navigates in the quirky town.

“He never hits a false note,” she says in a separate video call. “I knew the material would be in great hands in that he would always elevate it just by his artistry and being. I knew he was going to be able to play the gruffness, but any time that you’re doing a show, there is a question mark on so many things. To be honest, we were like, ‘But is he going to be super funny? Is he going to want to do pratfalls? Is he going to be game for the comedy part of it?’ When we started working, it was clear he was game for all the shenanigans … he likes to laugh. So I try to devise things that I think will amuse him.”

A special advance preview of the Season 2 premiere aired Sunday, but the show will move into its regular time slot Tuesday. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation with Charles.

Josh Charles poses for photos on the “Best Medicine” set in upstate New York. He says he was drawn to the Fox dramedy because it was “a little more lighter air” than the other work he had done recently.

(Ebru Yildiz / For The Times)

“Best Medicine” hit Netflix after its first season aired. Building an audience outside the traditional linear viewing has become such a key component of television today. How do you feel about it?

One of my dad’s best friends told me, “I’m watching the show on Netflix!” He’s like, “I just can’t watch shows with commercials anymore” — as people are programmed now. That is the new shift. You go into these platforms for periods of time, build your audience in a different way and hopefully keep growing that audience. [Television] keeps evolving and growing in a way that I don’t fully understand, but I do know that it’s a different world right now. Netflix has a great reach, and it’s great that we’re on there and that people are discovering it. And apparently we did very well.

Season 2 opens with Martin on probation and under review by the medical board. What is Martin in for this season?

When it starts off, he’s really in it. Eden [Martin’s ex-girlfriend played by Eliza Coupe] is now back in the picture. She’s coming from Boston every weekend, and she’s rubbed a lot of people in town the wrong way. And the progress that Martin made, we see him maybe take a few steps back in the way that he interacts with people. He’s with her and I think there’s feelings there, but I think their relationship feels very — I don’t know, it’s interesting. It doesn’t have the fire. But she doesn’t make him feel bad about himself. She respects him, and I think those things are important. And he’s around in this town where nobody’s listening to him half the time. People are just always mad at him about something, and she’s not. She puts him a little bit on a pedestal, and I think he really needs that.

All that presents an obstacle for the show’s slow burn: Martin and Louisa (Abigail Spencer). There’s been some discourse about the art of the slow burn and how the pacing has changed in an era of short episode orders and unpredictable renewals. You have experience in this department with “The Good Wife.”

Liz and I have talked about it a little bit. You don’t want to muck bait it and drag it out for the sake of dragging it out. I think they’ve done a good job of putting the obstacles in a way that still feels organic and genuine and not yet a reach. In the British show, things accelerated so much faster. They only made eight [episodes] a year. We want to also have it feel like it’s plausible. It is really fun to have Eliza Coupe here. It’s fun to play scenes with her and [see] the different side that brought out in Martin. That is the challenge because I don’t think we’re as interested in doing it quite that fast [as the British show]. I have faith in them that we’ll land it in a good way.

Ellen Soraya Nikbakht as a peculiar patient and Josh Charles as Martin Best in the Season 2 premiere of “Best Medicine.”

(Danielle Mathias / Fox)

You’ve played in comedy and drama in your career. It’s fun to watch you straddle both sides with this character. How has it been finding the rhythm or tone with him?

A lot of the comedy I’ve done, I’ve done some stuff that’s more silly and kind of over the top. I love playing the fool. What’s really fun [here], to me, are the circumstances they put Martin in where things are blowing up in front of him and he’s just trying to deal. I’ve enjoyed doing a lot of the physical comedy on the show.

I [also] found it really interesting to have a character who doesn’t want to be around people, but he actually does. He just doesn’t really know how to do it, and he’s never really had any kind of practice at it in his life. And he’s gone through a lot of trauma in his life. He’s a really specific kind of workaholic. For him to grow up with what he did, and losing his sister really young in his life — I did research on that and what that does to people and how that can sort of frame your life. I imagine he went to private school, maybe a boarding school, then he goes on the track of going to college and medical school — we know how hard that is, the kind of hours they put in; then to be really successful at it, you put everything you have into your work. There’s this other side of his life that is completely empty. This town kind of just softens off the edges of him a little bit and helps him become a little more authentic version of who he was maybe meant to be. That gives me some place to build off of and to go with the character, other than it feeling kind of just very one-note.

Matthew Goode, left, as Finn Polmar and Josh Charles as Will Gardner in a scene from Season 5 of “The Good Wife.”

(CBS)

This series marks your return to broadcast television after leaving “The Good Wife” in its fifth season. You’ve done TV since then, of course. But a big reason you left broadcast was because of the grind of a 20-plus episode season. With “Best Medicine,” you’re the lead and the second season will have 14 episodes. Does that feel like the sweet spot?

If “The Good Wife” was “The Good Fight,” I would have done that until the wheels come off. I would have never wanted to leave that because I would have had a life. I could have been able to go do a play, travel with my family, see my kids. At the time of “The Good Wife,” I didn’t have kids, but we were about to get married and wanted to have children. I was only going to do 18 [episodes] at most with this show, if they wanted it. And then I asked them this year, “Well, we’re just at 14. What was the decision [there]?” And I’m happy about it. They also agree. This just feels like where the show wants to live creatively. You work really hard for four or five months, and then you get to go explore other projects and travel and live your life.

Your departure from “The Good Wife,” with your character Will Gardner dying, felt like an out–of–body viewing experience as it happened. The fact that it was kept under wraps —

I can’t believe we did it, honestly. There was one journalist who obviously had a source somewhere and did find out. Part of being able to keep that silent until the moment was an agreement that they would come to set and be there as long as it was [kept secret]. I remember like when the episode aired, I was in the editing bay with the editors in L.A. [for an episode I directed]. I’m seeing things come in and I was like, “Oh my God!” I thought it was going to get ruined for people on the West Coast. These days, you know how they make something, how much this cost, how they did this scene … we used to be surprised by things. To be able to truly shock people you know like in an Orson Welles-style “War of the Worlds” way. I felt like in our own sort of network TV way, this was the equivalent of that. We really got to narratively pack a punch. That season was one of the great treats of my career. I just felt the writing on that show that season was at another level.