Julia Jacobs

They spent a lot of time together.

And in fact, on Saturday night, some of my colleagues were told that Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner were at the house of Conan O'Brien for a Christmas party.

The night before.

And that, you know, one person told my colleague that...

Rob Reiner said something about his son's behavior, something to the effect of, you can't act this way.

And this was the night before Rob and his wife Michelle were found stabbed to death, allegedly by Nick.

So after the news of Rob Reiner's tragic death, everyone automatically started reliving his career.

And something that he talked about a lot is his father, Carl Reiner.

He was a giant of 20th century television.

He helped define the medium of television comedy.

He was a performer, a writer, director.

He created The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the most celebrated comedies of all time.

He won nine Emmys and directed many movies.

He worked as a close collaborator with Steve Martin.

And throughout Rob's long career in Hollywood, he could actually be quite candid about how overwhelming it could be to live in the shadow of his father.

He talked about feeling misunderstood as a child once he was quoted as saying it was frightening to be compared to him.

And he tells this story about how a friend of his father, Norman Lear, another giant of television, pointed out to Carl Reiner that, you know, his son Rob was quite funny, but Carl Reiner was surprised.

He's like, my son, funny.

I think he's quite quiet and sullen.

And in Rob's later years, he would tell that story a lot as an example of how he just felt like his father didn't get him.