It is a fantastic show, for sure. The writing is very sharp there. The 2 months summer vacation thing tho - that's a world that does not exist anymore for anyone but the super rich (I guess they are super rich for the era as well, but I doubt a family of a college professor can easily handle this every year nowadays if they are not already rich).
I thought he was very good in The Siege with Denzel Washington. A very well done movie about terrorism before 9/11 happened.
No, you nailed it. Catskills it is. It is actually quite a nice region to visit. I spent quite a bit of time in Kingston and Binghamton NY. A Sunday afternoon trip into the villages in the Catskills for a dinner in their local community eating establishments is very nice experience.