If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Danny Gold that premiered on May 19, 2017 on HBO.
Premise
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast follows Carl Reiner as he poses the question, "'What's the secret to living into your 90s – and loving every minute of it?' Reiner tracks down several celebrated nonagenarians, and a few others over 100, to show how the twilight years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding. Jerry Seinfeld — who's already reserved the stage at Caesar's Palace for his 100th birthday show — is also in the film, as is longevity expert Dan Buettner."
Persons featured
Carl Reiner
Iris Apfel
Tony Bennett
Alan Bergman
Mel Brooks
Dan Buettner
Kirk Douglas
Irving Fields
Fyvush Finkel
Stan Harper
Ida Keeling
Norman Lear
Stan Lee
Jim "Pee Wee" Martin
Patricia Morison
Raymond Olivere
Tao Porchon-Lynch
Estelle Reiner
Jerry Seinfeld
George Shapiro
Harriette Thompson
Dick Van Dyke
Betty White
Production
On April 5, 2017, it was announced that HBO would premiere the documentary on June 5, 2017.
Release
Marketing
On May 12, 2017, the official trailer for the documentary was released.
Premiere
On May 17, 2017, the film held its official premiere at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles, California. A question-and-answer session moderated by Tom Bergeron was held after the screening that included Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, and Norman Lear.
Reception
Critical response
The film has been met with a positive response from critics since its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 100% approval rating based on 6 reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 81 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".