Dreyfuss' latest fish tale

The news that Richard Dreyfuss will have a guest-starring role in the upcoming season of Showtime's “Weeds” immediately brought me back to the waters off Amity Island.

No matter the stellar work Dreyfuss has done — “American Graffiti,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” just to name a few — I always associate the actor with his iconic role as Matt Hooper in “Jaws,” which, along with “The Godfather,” ranks as my favorite film of all time.

Dreyfuss, 62, has credits dating back to 1964, but I can’t help but think of him sharing fish tales aboard the Orca with Robert Shaw’s Quint, or convincing Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody that the tiger shark caught is not the eating machine that has plagued the beach community Brody is trying to protect.

Though admittedly not a “Weeds” viewer, I might check in on Nancy Botwin and Co. just to see Dreyfuss, and what he brings to the show. He won’t be spitting in his scuba mask or figuring out a way to get close enough with his shark-killing poison to pierce the skin of a Great White, but I'll take reminders of Steven Spielberg's classic any way I can get them.