Friday, March 29th 2024   |

Film & TV

Jeff Garlin will not return to ‘The Goldbergs’ after allegations of misconduct

By SHIRA HANAU

(JTA) — Jeff Garlin will not return to the ABC comedy “The Goldbergs” after an investigation into his alleged misconduct on the show’s set.

The news was reported by Deadline, which cited sources on set who said the decision was a mutual one by Garlin and the producers of the show.

Garlin plays the father on the show, which centers on a Jewish family living in a...

Steven Spielberg, Tracee Ellis Ross among Jewish Golden Globes nominees for 2022

By EMILY BURACK

(JTA) — The Golden Globes won’t be televised, but there will be Jewish honorees — among them two directors at different stages of their directing careers.

After numerous controversies have rattled the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — from a “culture of corruption” to not a single Black member — NBC decided it will not be airing the annual film and television awards show this year, and its...

‘Jeopardy!’ devotes entire category to Yiddish theater

By PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) — In recent years, Yiddish theater has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence, with Yiddish-language performances wowing audiences in New York, online and, last month, Stockholm.

But perhaps its biggest audience yet came on Thursday night, when “Jeopardy!” devoted an entire category to it. The iconic quiz show is seen by an estimated 8.7 million people every night, making it the most-watched syndicated show on the air.

This...

Jews were the creative forces behind ‘West Side Story’ decades ago and today. Should they be?

By JORDYN HAIME

(JTA) — In 1955, theater director Jerome Robbins approached writer Arthur Laurents and composer Leonard Bernstein with a new idea for a Broadway musical: a contemporary retelling of “Romeo and Juliet,” set among warring gangs of Jews and Catholics on New York City’s Lower East Side. 

It would be called “East Side Story,” and it would take place at the turn of the 20th century during the...

Cartman converts to Judaism on ‘South Park,’ after decades of tormenting Jews

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — One of television’s most notorious cartoon antisemites is now an Orthodox rabbi.

Eric Cartman, the egomaniacal, hate speech-spouting grade schooler on Comedy Central’s long-running adult animated series “South Park,” has had a change of heart in a new hour-long special of the show, which is set 40 years in the future.

In “South Park: Post COVID,” which debuted on Thanksgiving on the Paramount Plus streaming...

Alex Edelman’s new comedy show raises contentious questions about Jewish identity. He says that’s the point.

By BEN SALES

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) — If you click through Twitter, you may come upon a list of some 250 accounts called “Jewish Nat’l Fund Donors.” 

But it’s safe to say that no one on the list has ever given any money to the actual Jewish National Fund, an organization best known for acquiring land and planting trees in Israel.

That’s because the list is made...

‘My Unorthodox Life’ couple Batsheva Haart and Ben Weinstein have separated

By PHILISSA CRAMER

(JTA) — Fans of Netflix’s “My Unorthodox Life” started buzzing late Wednesday when Ben Weinstein, the husband of the star’s daughter, posted a picture of himself to Instagram with an intriguing caption: “Officially not-famous.”

Was Weinstein signaling that he had split from Batsheva Haart, the influencer and daughter of fashion executive Julia Haart whose journey out of Orthodoxy was the subject of the hit series this summer?...

Jewish actor Paul Rudd is ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ for 2021

By GABE FRIEDMAN

(JTA) — Paul Rudd, the Jewish movie star whose original family name was Rudnitsky, was named People magazine’s “sexiest man alive” in 2021.

He responded to the magazine with the signature sense of humility that has helped endear him to fans — in addition to his good looks — for over two decades of mostly comedic roles.

“When I think about myself, I think of myself as...

Gal Gadot tells a joke in Hebrew on James Corden’s ‘Late Late Show’

(JTA) — Gal Gadot is back to speaking Hebrew on late-night American TV.

In an appearance on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” on Tuesday night, host James Corden subjected the Israeli star to a game titled “Gal Ga-YES or Gal Ga-NO.” Corden challenged Gadot to perform a series of tasks, including throwing a grape in the air and catching it in her mouth, and reading a line in a British...

Mila Kunis, Neil Patrick Harris, Helen Mirren and over 200 other celebrities sign letter denouncing cultural boycott of Israel

By SHIRA HANAU

(JTA) — More than 200 celebrities, including actors Mila Kunis, Billy Porter, Neil Patrick Harris and Helen Mirren, signed an open letter opposing efforts to boycott an LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv.

The letter published Wednesday is a response to calls from activists with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to boycott the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, also called TLVFest, an annual film festival...