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MAD ABOUT YOU/NBC/1992-98
*(Paul Reiser) Paul Buchman, a Jewish-American documentary filmmaker living with
his wife, Jamie (played by Helen Hunt) in a Manhattan apartment with their dog
Murray. Other cast include John Pankow as Paul's divorced cousin Ira, who ran a
sporting goods store; Robin Bartlett as Paul’s lesbian sister, Debbie; Louis
Zorach as Paul's father, Burt; Cynthia Harris as Paul's mother, Sylvia; Leila
Kenzle as Jamie's business partner and friend Fran; Richard Kind as Fran's soon
to be ex-husband Dr. Mark Devanow, a gynecologist; Al Ruscio as Paul's Uncle
Julius; Sid Caesar as Uncle Harold; and Mel Brooks as Paul's nutty Uncle Phil.
During a visit to Uncle Phil’s, he reminisced about the family which included
references to Aunt Lucy “What nerve to come into a new country like a face like
that.”; Aunt Rose; Aunt Ida; Aunt Ethyl; and Uncle Nuddy, the hat-maker to the
Czar who took his profits and moved an entire village from Russia to New York
City. There was also a relative in the 1930s named Louie Radniski, “a fighter
when they hit him, he went 'Oy!' and went down.” Although the Buchman‘s were not
directly mentioned as Jewish, their language (accents and verbalisms), and
family names worked to create a Jewish image.
MARIAH/ABC/1987
**(Tovah Feldshuh) Deena Hertz, a Jewish-American female psychiatrist working at
a fictional penitentiary located in the Northeast area of the United States.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW/CBS/1970-77
**(Valerie Harper) Rhoda Morgenstern, an insecure, slightly overweight
Jewish-American window dresser living in an attic apartment in Minneapolis.
Rhoda and her close friend/neighbor, Mary Richards, another single over thirty
career woman often wondered whether they would met "Mr. Right". Rhoda later
returned to New York City and her family. Also featured were Liberty Williams as
Rhoda's sister, Debbie Morgenstern; and Brett Somers as Rhoda's aunt, Rose. See
also RHODA.
M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83
**(Allan Arbus) Major Sidney Theodore Freedman, US Army psychiatrist who
traveled to battlefield hospitals during the Korean War to administer
psychiatric advice and counseling to tormented and confused solders. He first
appeared in season 2 and was featured in 11 episodes altogether. His most
memorable episode involved counseling a distraught Dr. Benjamin “Hawkeye”
Pierce” who was suffering from a sublimated childhood trauma involving a lake
and a near-drowning.
MENASHA THE MAGNIFICENT/NBC/1950
*(Menasha Shulnik) Menasha Shulnik (as himself), a timid Yiddish manager of a
small restaurant owned by a domineering female boss, Mrs. Davis. Menasha Shulnik
began each episode by singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning".
THE MILTON BERLE SHOW/NBC/ABC/1948-1959/ABC/1966-67
*(Milton Berle) Known as "Uncle Miltie" & "Mr. Television", Milton Berle was
TV's first clown prince of comedy premiering on his successful TEXACO STAR
THEATRE in 1948 which later changed its name to THE MILTON BERLE SHOW when
TEXACO dropped its sponsorship. Berle was one of a number of successful and very
funny Jewish-American veteran radio/vaudevillian comedians to host their own
television programs including THE JACK BENNY SHOW/CBS/NBC/1950-65; THE GEORGE
BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN SHOW/CBS/1950-58; THE JERRY LEWIS SHOW/ABC1963/NBC/1967-69;
THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW/CBS/1955-59 (a.k.a. YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH); THE RED
BUTTONS SHOW/CBS/1952-55; and YOU BET YOUR LIFE/NBC/1950-61 starring Groucho
Marx.
MRS. G. GOES TO COLLEGE /CBS/1961-62
*(Gertrude Berg) Sarah Green, elderly Jewish widow who after raising her own
children decides to enroll in college. There, she encounters a world filled with
teenagers and the pomposity of Professor Crayton, an English teacher on exchange
from Cambridge University. Also featured were Marion Ross as Susan Green;
Sarah's grown daughter; and Leo Penn as Jerry Green, Sarah's grown son. The
program was retitled THE GERTRUDE BERG SHOW, in January 1962.
MOLONEY/CBS/1996
*(Peter Strauss) Nick Moloney, a half-Jewish and half-Irish police psychiatrist
who prefers cracking wise to quoting Freud.
MURPHY BROWN/CBS/1988-98
**(Grant Shaud) Miles Silverberg, a young, short Jewish television executive
assigned to produce an on-air news magazine called "F.Y.I.". Although the
"boss," his authority and directives were often ignored by Murphy Brown, the
show's top news anchor and other staffers on the program. "I'm 27-years-old and
living on Mylanta." cried Miles. While freshman at Harvard Miles was called
"Miles Silverbrain." Also featured were Jon Tenney as Josh Silverberg, Miles'
brother; Jean Stapleton as Nana Silverberg; and Janet Leeves as Audrey Cohen,
Miles' girlfriend. On episode No. 174 Miles dates Vendela, the supermodel to
make co-worker and new romantic interest, Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford) jealous;
and on episode No. 178 "Altered States" Miles and Corky suddenly get married.
MY SO-CALLED LIFE/ABC/1994-95
**(Devon Gummersall) Brian Krakow, a.k.a. “Brain,” a student at Liberty High
School. He is the typical nerd: a genius with the books [calculus no problem]
but a failure with women. His Jewish parents included his mother Bernice, a
behavioral psychologist; and his father Bob, a Freudian psychiatrist. His older
sister is married and lives in Denver. Besides getting A's in all his classes,
Brian finds the time to be yearbook photographer and play the flute and
saxophone in the school band [he's left-handed]. In an attempt to get girl's
phone numbers and a date, Brian offered his tutoring services to the “cool”
Jordan Catalono. When Jordan slept with Rayanne Graff, Brian did the
Cyrano-thing and wrote “The Letter” that Jordon used as an apology to his
supposed girlfriend, Angela Chase [Brian's been Angela's neighbor and secret
admirer since he was five years old]. Brian later befriended fellow outcast
Enrique “Ricky” Vasguez [he's gay].
THE NANNY/CBS/1993-99
*(Fran Drescher) Fran Fine, a bridal shop worker from Flushing, New York who got
fired from her job, began selling perfume and then landed a job as a nanny to
the children of a wealthy Manhattan gentile widower (whom she later married).
Other Jewish characters on the program included Renee Taylor as Fran's mother,
Sylvia Fine; Ann Guilbert as Fran's grandmother, Yetta Rosenberg-Fine; and
Rachel Chagall as Fran's pal, Val. The program was filled with all sorts of
Yiddish vocabulary like bar-mitzvah (ceremony marking the 13th year of a Jewish
male-passage into manhood); bashert (fated or destined); bubbie (grandmother);
bubkes (nothing); farkakta (terrible or ridiculous); kvetch (to complain);
meshugeneh (a nutty person); meschpuche (member of an extended family); mozeltov
(good luck or congratulations); oy (a negative exclamation like "Oy, my back is
killing me!"); punim (face); shlep (to carry or pull something); shnoz (short
for schnozzolla meaning "nose"); shmootz (dirt or grime); shvits (to sweat);
shikse (non-Jewish woman); tuchas (rear-end, butt, ass, derriere);and yenta (a
mouthy or gossipy woman). Once when a woman declines to complain about a problem
Fran looks at her and proclaims “You’re not Jewish are you?” One of Grandma
Yetta’s letters revealed she was a Romanian immigrant and that on the way to
Ellis Island to marry Joe Fine, an American furrier, she had an affair with the
ship’s waiter. On another episode Fran and her mother hosted a Passover seder to
familiarize Fran’s adopted family with Judaism.
NED & STACEY/FOX/1995-97
*(Debra Messing/costar) Stacey Colbert, Jewish-American freelance writer for the
Village Voice who decides to participates in a sham marriage so that an
ambitious ad executive (Ned) can rise the corporate ladder (married men get
promoted). The payoff for Stacey: she gets a nicer apartment and she pacifies
her parents who bug her about being single. Over time, however, Ned & Stacey
(despite some very large arguments & disagreements) begin to really fall in love
Other cast included Nadia Dajani as Amanda Moyer, Stacey‘s sister, a real estate
agent who owned Amanda‘s Amuffin shop; Greg Germann as Eric Moyer, Amanda’s
accountant husband and Ned’s friend; Harry Goz as Stacey’s dad, Saul Colbert;
and Dori Brenner as Stacy’s mom, Ellen Colbert.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE/CBS/1990-95
*(Rob Morrow/costar) Joel Fleishman, a Jewish-American Yuppie physician from New
York who was required to spend time working in small northern community of
Cicely to repay his medical scholarship funded by the State of Alaska. Jessica
Lundy appeared as Joel's Jewish girlfriend Elaine Shulman who visited Alaska to
see Joel a few times before breaking up with him. Rob Morrow also played the
role of Jules Fleischman, Joel's twin brother.
NOW AND AGAIN/CBS/1999
*(John Goodman/Eric Close) Michael Wiseman, is a portly middle-aged insurance
salesman from new York City. Lisa Schleigelmilch Wiseman (Margaret Colin) is a
homemaker. Heather (Heather Matarazzo) is their teenage daughter. She's
smart-mouthed, snide and materialistic but she really loves her parents. All's
well in the Wiseman family until one day Michael accidentally fell (shoved) into
the path of an oncoming subway train. Declared dead, Michael's still functioning
brain was harvested by a special covert government group and transplanted into
an athletically trim genetically bio-engineered twenty-something body [designed
to be the ultimate warrior and spy]. When Michael awoke from this trauma, the
image in the mirror was quite a shock but not as shocking as what the project
coordinator Dr. Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert) told him. For all intents and
purposes, Michael was dead. Any attempt at revealing himself to his friends or
family would be grounds for all of their immediate termination (like he meant to
kill them all, man!). So while his widowed Lisa and daughter Heather coped with
life without Dad, Dad was trying his darndest to communicate with them
[surreptitiously, of course] and get back to his former life. Caught in the
middle of this whole scenario is Michael's wacky but spineless friend, Roger
Bender (Gerrit Graham), who shivers in the presence of the intimidating Dr.
Morris. Unfortunately, when a chance meeting and conversation in a bookstore
between the new Michael and his wife Lisa was observed by Dr. Morris, Michael
decided to warn his family and escape with them instead of taking the chance
that Dr. Moore might kill them all. Luckily Michael had fled before an
electronic chip (a tracking device) could be implanted back into his body.
Despite that advantage, Michael and company were now the target of an intensive
manhunt. Shades of The Fugitive.
NUMB3RS/CBS/2005+
*(Rob Morrow) Ron Eppes, Jewish FBI agent stationed in Southern California
who enlists the aid of his genius mathematician brother, Charlie (David
Krumholtz) to calculate the probabilities of crime and criminals using
equations. Judd Hirsch appeared as Alan Eppes, the boy's widowed father who is
now retired. He previously worked for the City of Los Angeles in the Water
Department and is familiar with much of the city's infra-structure.
NURSES/NBC/1991-94
*(Kip Gilman/costar) Dr. Hank Kaplan, a Jewish-American physician working at
Miami's Community Medical Center.
ONCE AND AGAIN
**(Billy Campbell) Richard "Rick" Sammler is a 40-year-old divorced architect
from Chicago. One day at a school soccer game he meets single parent Lily Brooks
Manning and it is love all over again. Will this relationship work out? Who's to
say? Richard's family included Karen Davies Sammler, his 39-year-old ex-wife
[they divorced three years ago]; Eli Edward Sammler, his academically challenged
but athletically active 16-year-old son [he's got a girlfriend named Jennifer];
and Jessie Elizabeth Sammler, his 12-year-old daughter [who secretly fears
she'll turn out like her parents].
PICKET FENCES/CBS/1992-95
**(Fyvush Finkel) Douglas Wambaugh, an annoying, outspoken Yiddish defense
attorney living in the small town of Rome. Wisconsin. He was so mouthy that even
the members of his synagogue voted to refuse him entry to worship. In court
Wambaugh was candidly blunt and borderline disrespectful to the judge. He said
things that real life attorneys would love to say. Once he told his clients "If
you two want to have an honest conversation, leave me out of it. I'm a lawyer!"
Fyvush Finkel is a veteran of the Borscht Belt in New York's Catskill Mountains.
In 1967, he starred as Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" for a national touring
company; and from 1982-87 appeared as Mr. Musnick in the original off-Broadway
production of "Little Shop of Horrors." Fyvush roughly translates as "Phillip"
in Yiddish.
PLATYPUS MAN/UPN/1995
(Ron Orbach) Lou Golumbiewski, a Jewish-American television producer of "The
Platypus Man", a cooking show based in New York City.
PRINCESSES/CBS/1991
*(Fran Drescher) Melissa Kirschner, a wisecracking, gum-chewing Jewish-American
"princess" from Brooklyn who lived in a roomy Manhattan apartment with her best
friend and a real European princess.
RHODA/CBS/1974-78
*(Valerie Harper) Rhoda Morgenstern, a Jewish-American window dresser whose
prime motivation in life seemed to be getting married and losing weight. Rhoda
eventually got both. Slimming down, she moved from Minneapolis to her hometown
of New York City where she shared an apartment with her sister Brenda (Julie
Kavner). Rhoda met and married Joe Gerard (David Groh), a divorced Wrecking
Company owner on October 24, 1974. However, the marriage which was so ballyhooed
soon went into the dumpers. Rhoda soon found a job at the Doyle Costume Company.
Nancy Walker appeared as Ida Morgenstern, the queen of guilt and manipulation
(at least where her children were concerned) was abandoned by her husband,
Martin (Harold J. Gould) during the last season of the series, leaving the
Morgenstern women single and searching once again for "Mr. Right" (or maybe
not). Also featured were Barbara Sharma as Myrna Morgenstein; and Ron Silver as
Gary Levy. On the made-for-TV reunion movie Mary & Rhoda (2000) Rhoda is now a
successful artist with teenage daughter from a second marriage. She tells her
friend Mary “I’ve studied every religion from Shakers to Judaism. Now, I can
make my own furniture and sell it wholesale.” TRIVIA NOTE: Valerie Harper is not
Jewish but her performance was so convincing that many people she meets are
surprised to hear otherwise.
THE RUGRATS/NIK/1991-2004
* (Cartoon characters) Stu and Didi Pickles (voices of Jack Riley and Melanie
Charoff), a Jewish-American couple with a cute little boy named Tommy Pickles.
{and a later addition to the family, Baby, Dil.] Actually it is only Didi who is
Jewish. Her parents Boris and Minka Kerpacketer (voice of Michael Bell and
Melanie Chartoff) came from Russia, referred to as the “Old Country.” The
remainder of the characters on the show like Stu, Drew, Charlotte and Angelica
are gentiles while baby Chuckie and his father Chaz have no religious
affiliation. Grandpa Boris mentioned taht hea had a brother, Sparky; and that he
had a feud with an old high school nemesis named Schlomo (seen in “A’Rugrats
Chanukah” as the “Meany of Chanukah.“). The Jewish faith is highlighted in two
classic episode “Passover” and “A Rugrats Chanukah” (ranked #5 in “TV Guides’s
10 Best Classic Family Holiday Specials” in 1999.) On the Passover episode
Grandpa Boris, a marvelous storyteller, gets locked in the attic with family
members and tells the story of how Passover began (with Angelica playing the
part of the Pharaoh, Tommy as Moses and the rest of the babies as Hebrew
slaves). The Chanukah episode recounted King of Syria King Antiochis IV forcing
Greek culture on the Jews, the rebellious Judas the Macchabees leading his
fellow Jews to war, and the miracle of the oil (as told in the Talmud). Another
Jewish character is the Pickles’ goateed, freeloading child psychologist Dr.
Lipschitz, M.D. Ph., D, M.S. In fact the Pickles’ baby, Dil was born at The
Werner P. Lipschitz Center for Holistic Birthing. Although the animated Rugrats
series portrayed “Jewishness” in a favorable light, the Rugrats daily comic
strip [which is a gag a day format] was a cause for concern for some in the
Jewish faith. The controversy began in the Sunday 9/20/98 Rugrats strip, when
Grandpa Boris and his synagogue congregation recited a “light-hearted” version
of the Mourner’s Kaddish during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Consequently, the
Jewish Anti-Defamation League complained about the portrayal of Jews in the
strip and targeted the Grandpa Boris as being drawn in the manner similar to
Nazi-era Jewish stereotypes. To quell objections from the ADL, the Boris
character was removed from the strip and references to religion and religious
observances were discontinued. An Associated Press story reported the words of
the Rugrat’s Jewish co-creator Arlene Klasky saying “No one ever complained
about Grandpa [Boris] before; when you see him in the series he’s such an
adorable, lovable character...Portraying Boris in the two-dimensional format,
without hearing the folksy voice that enlivens his personality, is probably what
sparked the controversy.”
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