Long Story Short - A New Animated Jewish Family Dramedy is Now Available on Netflix

Netflix has just released a new very Jewish 10-episode animated comedy drama created by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob Waksberg. We think it's worth watching the 25 minute episodes.

As Mira Fox, PJ Grisar, Olivia Haynie and Nora Berman wrote in The Forward, 

The Schwooper family, the central figures in the new animated Netflix series Long Story Short, are diverse and unique — religious and atheist, gay and straight, farmers and businesswomen. Simultaneously, they are basically like every Jewish family you’ve ever met. 

Naomi (Lisa Edelstein), the family’s domineering matriarch, is constantly nagging her kids to do better — her youngest son Yoshi (Max Greenfield) should be more professional; Shira (Abbi Jacobson), the middle child, should wear more dresses; her oldest, Avi (Ben Feldman) should be more observant. Her kids are constantly rolling their eyes and responding with sarcastic jabs. You’ve certainly seen this family. Maybe you’ve lived it.

Here's the official trailer. Enjoy! 

"Jewish Matchmaking", a New TV Series, is Now Streaming on Netflix

Jewish matchmaking has come to streaming TV in the form of an eight part series released on Netflix this week. All episodes are online now so you can binge if you want to.

As the host of Jewish Matchmaking on Netflix, Aleeza Ben Shalom adapts the model of Orthodox arranged matches to Jewish singles from a variety of religious and cultural backgrounds, including secular, Reform and Conservative Jews from across the United States and Israel.

As Jackie Hajdenberg writes for JTA,

The Jews cast on the show are all in different places in their lives, some grieving serious breakups or committed to specific religious identities, some picky about looks or hoping their partner will be OK with riding motorcycles. Some of them are looking for particular Jewish commitments to concepts such as tikkun olam, which means “repairing the world” and has come to represent a social justice imperative for many liberal Jews; others want to be sure they’re matched only with people who share their approaches to observing Shabbat and keeping kosher.

Want a preview? Here's the official trailer. Enjoy!

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Bar Mitzvah Musical Movie Coming to Netflix August 12

In 2008, a musical show titled 13 made its appearance on Broadway and lasted for 105 performances. It was about a 12 year old boy who grapples with his parents' divorce, moves to a small town in Indiana, prepares for his impending Bar Mitzvah, and navigates the complicated social circles of a new school. 13 is the only Broadway musical ever with a cast and band entirely made of teenagers.

Now it's a movie coming to Netflix on August 12. As Lior Zaltzman wrote on Kveller:

The movie musical stars actor Eli Golden as Evan Goldman, a 12-year-old teen preparing for his bar mitzvah in New York City. “A bar mitzvah is the event that defines you, the Jewish Superbowl,” Goldman says in the trailer. Unfortunately, his plans for the epic bar mitzvah are foiled by the dissolution of his parents’ marriage.

Instead of spending his days planning a tony Manhattan coming-of-age party, Evan has to move with his mom, played by IRL Jewish mom Debra Messing, to the small town of Walkerton, Indiana — a place that inspires the song “The Lamest Place on Earth.”

Evan and his mom shack up with his Jewish grandma Ruth, played by the wonderful Rhea Pearlman. “If it took a divorce to get you to come back, maybe it’s a good thing,” Ruth tells her daughter, in true Jewish mom fashion. “I look at the bright side,” she professes.

The very easy-on-the-eyes Peter Hermann of “Younger” plays Evan’s dad, Joel, who stays behind in New York City with Evan’s very congenial rabbi, Rabbi Shapiro, played by Jewish comedian and dad Josh Peck. Peck makes for the perfect movie rabbi, and he is full of Jewish jokes and zingers for his young student. In the trailer, after Evan attempts to chant his Hebrew Torah portion, Rabbi Shapiro answers a pretend call and tells the teen: “It’s God, he wants his language back.”

Here's the trailer for the movie. Enjoy! 

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Shtisel is Back! Season 3 Episode 1 Debuts in Live Virtual Event on the Last Night of Chanukah

Back in September we shared the good news that Season 3 of Shtisel completed production and will be available in 2021. Yesterday we learned that the World Premiere of the first episode will be shown on the last night of Chanukah as part of a live virtual event hosted by the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York.

Season 3 begins seven years after the end of Season 2.

The event will include most of the Shtisel mishpacha. Here is the invitation:

Is Akiva still painting? Did his engagement to Libbi last? Did Ruchami and Hanina survive their wedding? And who’s baby is it?

The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center invites you to be the first to find out what has been happening in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem with an exclusive opportunity to attend the World Premiere of season 3, episode 1 of the award-winning show and join a live discussion and Chanukah candle lighting with:   Michael Aloni (Akiva Shtisel)   Doval’e Glickman (Shulem Shtisel)   Shira Haas (Ruchami Weiss)   Neta Riskin (Giti Weiss) Additional panelists to be announced. Tickets for the virtual event are $36 for each email address. Here is the link to register: https://streicker.nyc/events/shtisel-season-3 Here is the trailer for the third season. Enjoy! A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Shtisel Season 3 is Coming - Here's a First Look

Good news for fans of Shtisel. The trailer for Season 3 of the popular Israeli drama about a (complicated) Haredi Orthodox family in Jerusalem has been released.

The show aired originally in Israel in 2013 and ran for two seasons. The new season picks up four years after the end of the second season.

Production of the episodes took place during the coronavirus crisis and was accomplished following social distancing rules. It was completed early this month.

The nine episodes will be aired in Israel at the end of the year and on Netflix sometime in 2021.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Yoely (Modi Rosenfeld) Reviews Netflix Series "The Crown"

We've been following the career and shtick of comedian Modi Rosenfeld ever since we started Jewish Humor Central in 2009. Whether it's his standup comedy or clever skits and short films, he always leaves us laughing.

Like many performers right now, the stay-at-home order has forced Modi to remain home in New York City for longer than he has in the last 20 years. Without a face-to-face audience, Modi has turned to social media to fuel his creativity and engage with his followers.

Modi’s breakout quarantine success came from a new character he created called “Yoely.” In this character, Modi appealed to his niche Jewish following with a comedic take on a Chasidic man reacting to mainstream trends while in quarantine.

In this episode, Yoely has watched The Crown, the Netflix biographical series about the life of Queen Elizabeth, and offers a review in character as a Brooklyn chasid, describing the main events in the life of the British royal family, as seen through a Yiddish chasidishe lens.

Enjoy!

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Shtisel, Ultra Orthodox Israeli TV Series, Now Available with English Titles on Netflix

Shtisel, the award winning Israeli TV series, is now playing on Netflix in Hebrew with English subtitles. We're hooked on it and are watching the 18th of the 24 episodes. We want to recommend it highly to all Jewish Humor Central readers.

Although the series is not billed as a comedy, it contains many comic moments -- moments that you may recognize as snapshots or sequences that remind you of similar events in the lives of your family or acquaintances. We found many familiar situations even though we don't dress in the black and white clothing that is ever present in the homes and streets of the Ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Shtisel follows Akiva, a young ultra-orthodox (Haredi) bachelor, and his widowed father who share an apartment while searching for love within the strict rules of religious observance. The drama is said to allow a window into the world of ultra-orthodox Jews while introducing audiences to the story of the multi-generational Shtisel family as they deal with grief, companionship and every day struggles.

As Esther Kustanowitz wrote in J, The Jewish News of Northern California,

The drama also contains a lot of comedy, if you know where to look. Akiva is charming in a stammering, funny, artistic way that endears him to the ladies and frustrates his father. Yiddish curses — “may you swallow an umbrella that will open in your gut” — make cameo appearances. Shulem’s mother, living in a senior center, falls in love with television, which is off-limits to the haredi community. And one narcoleptic local is named Farshluffen, which translates as “Sleepy.”

In this video clip from Israeli TV channel JN1, Ron Jacobsohn attends the Shtisel premiere in Tel Aviv and interviews cast members and the show's producer. Just below the clip you'll find the trailer for the series.

Enjoy!

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