Best of 2021: Jewish (and Jew-ish) TV By Mira Fox This week, we're reviewing the best 2021 had to offer. Today, the TV that made us laugh, cry and yearn for more.
 It’s been a long year – again. The pandemic that kept us locked inside last winter is rearing its ugly head again, people are still protesting vaccines while wearing yellow Stars of David and now, just to make sure we have no small pleasures left, there’s a cream cheese shortage. Thankfully, though, it’s been a good year for TV, with plenty of series that allowed us to escape the exhausting slog of headlines. At its best, a good series can get everyone talking, providing good conversation fodder and common experience in a time when little of note was happening in people’s personal lives as we huddled in our apartments. Plus, a series can be meted out over weeks, which is essential with so much empty time to kill in the pandemic. So, here are the series that transported us out of the slushy New York winter, comforted us after a stressful news week or, as all good art does, gave us perspective to process the topsy-turvy world we’re all living through.
My top eight are below. Read the full list of 12 here. 1) "Checkout"
An Israeli show about neither Haredim nor Mossad is a rare bird, but this comedy about the mishaps at a small grocery store still offers sharp social commentary on the class divides and social stereotypes that pervade Israeli life. Streaming on ChaiFlicks. 2) "Midnight Mass"
A polemic against charismatic religious leaders, “Midnight Mass” is a horror series with a lot of Tony Kushner in its DNA. Is it Jewish? Not so much. Yet the character of the Muslim sherif (Rahul Kohli), who challenges the Christian hegemony of the local school, is certainly one Jews can identify with. Streaming on Netflix. 3) "Hacks"
Hannah Einbinder was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her role in this show as Ava, a writer who lands a gig writing jokes for a once-legendary comic struggling to stay relevant. Ava might be a lapsed Catholic, but her neuroticisms feel pretty Jewish, and the comedian herself posts her bat mitzvah photos on Instagram. Streaming on HBOMax. 4) "The Chair"
Netflix miniseries "The Chair" asks: when is a Nazi salute not a Nazi salute? Starring Sandra Oh as a department chair trying to revitalize the English department at a liberal arts college, the show doesn't explicitly address antisemitism, but it’s a thought-provoking exploration of cancel culture. Streaming on Netflix. 6) "Shtisel"
The long-awaited third season of this slow, atmospheric Israeli drama about a Haredi family picks up six years after events of the previous season, excels in its thoughtful depiction of an insular religious community and its deeply human characters. You have to watch the first two seasons for the third to be worth it, but you probably should anyway. Streaming on Netflix. 6) "Only Murders in the Building"
Who knew a show about a podcast could be so delightful? Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short star as Manhattan neighbors who set out to solve a neighbor's mysterious death and make a podcast about it. There are plenty of nods to Upper West Side life, like a character obsessed with schmears. Streaming on Hulu. 7) "Squid Game"
This Korean mega-hit follows a group of haggard debtors who compete in deadly versions of schoolyard games in the hopes of winning a huge jackpot. The show poses challenging moral conundrums about human nature and society that we should all be grappling with – especially during a shmita year. Streaming on Netflix. Support Independent Jewish Journalism The Forward is a non-profit 501(c)3 so our journalism depends on support from readers like you. You can support our work today by donating or subscribing. All donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of US law. Make a donation ➤ Subscribe to Forward.com ➤ "America’s most prominent Jewish newspaper" — The New York Times, 2021 |
