Leslie Berkowitz

**Dr. Leslie Berkowitz** is a central character in Pop TV's *One Day at a Time*. He is portrayed by Stephen Tobolowsky.

## Personality

**Leslie Berkowitz** doesn't like confrontation and has trouble saying no to his daughter, Katie, who takes advantage of his inability to stand up for himself.

## Physical Appearance

**Leslie Berkowitz** is a middle-aged man about Lydia's age who is balding. He is very tall and lanky and always wears rectangular framed glasses. In the episode "Hermanos," he described himself as having an "alien-ish physique."

He is frequently seen in button-down collared shirts, neckties, dress pants, shoes, and lab coats while at work.

## Bio

**Leslie Berkowitz** is Jewish and can speak Yiddish.

He is a very close friend of the Alvarezes and Penelope's boss. He is in a "non-sexual platonic companionship" with Lydia who still considers herself to be married to her late husband Berto, although Doctor Berkowitz clearly has feelings for her.

However, those feelings are not returned by Lydia, as she only sees him as a friend. He was dating another woman, Esme, in order to make Lydia jealous; but broke up with her because she wasn't Lydia.

He is also good friends with Schneider. In the episode, "Hermanos" Schneider gets emotional and tells the doctor he sees him as an adoptive father figure after Dr. Berkowitz tells him he's proud of his eight-year sobriety. The two of them get teary-eyed and hug.

## Storyline

### Season 1

**Leslie Berkowitz** is first mentioned in "This Is It," when Penelope Alvarez is examining a patient named Carl. She tells him that his blood pressure looks good. She then tells him they are going to do the thing where he lies to her about basic health questions. She asks him how many alcoholic beverages he consumes per week and he replies that he has two, maybe three.

Penelope then questions why she is lying to him and she asks if he would also like to lie to her about smoking. Carl tells her he stopped smoking. She tells him the mouthwash works but she guesses he smells like Virginia Slims. He tells her they make his hands look bigger. Penelope tells him she's not going to write that down and Doctor Berkowtiz will be here in a minute.

He notices a photo on her clipboard and questions what it is and if it's from Halloween. Penelope then responds the photo was taken closer to Christmas. He questions why she is wearing army clothes. She tells him camouflage was all the rage in Afghanistan. Carl then inquires if she went to Afghanistan for Christmas. Penelope tells him she'll give him a second to figure it out. With realization, he figures she's an army was a vet, who went to Afghanistan.

He starts to ask her some more questions but she cuts him off with a response saying she never killed anyone, it was hot over there, and he is welcome for her service. Carl then questions if her husband was also a badass soldier and she tells him he was. Thinking her husband died over there, Carl apologizes. Penelope apologizes saying her husband was a badass soldier but he's still alive and does Private Security in Afghanistan, as they are separated. Carl attempts to ask her out, but after finding out she has kids, he decides against it. Penelope then remarks that this was fun, putting an end to the awkward conversation with Carl.

Penelope has a conversation with Schneider who comes over to fix her sink about the pills Dr. Berkowitz prescribed to and Schneider found in the trash. She then says he doesn't know what he's talking about and she doesn't want her mom to find out about him. She says that they are antidepressants her doctor gave her but that she isn't going to take them—and doesn't want her mom to find out about them.

At work, Dr. Berkowitz asks Penelope if she ever took the antidepressants he prescribed her and she says no.

## Trivia

* The name of his ex-wife is revealed in "Perfect" to be Sophie:
	+ Sophie left him after having an affair with her podiatrist.
* He speaks Yiddish.