Esther D. Kustanowitz is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor and consultant. She co-hosts The Bagel Report, a podcast about Jews and popular culture, and speaks about #TVGoneJewy, a term she invented to describe the increase of Jewish content on television. Follow her on Twitter @EstherK.
When the rabbis, priests, imams and mystics created religious rules and customs surrounding loss and mourning, they did so with varying approaches to respecting the dead and creating the structures for mourners to reconnect to local community. But they never saw the Internet coming. Beyond the religious texts and self-help books, the Internet has vastly…
Last year, a single promo clip — a total of 19 seconds in length — provoked a controversy over the content of the show it had been created to promote. What followed was a yearlong saga of politics, professional restructuring and grassroots marketing, as the show — an Israeli sketch comedy show called “HaYehudim Ba’im”…
When a Jewish baby is born, it is traditional to say, “May she/he be worthy of ascending to Torah, the wedding canopy and good deeds.” Or, as we single Jews find ourselves saying: “Thanks for the good wishes, but what’s with all the pressure? Two out of three ain’t bad, and I’m trying. I’m even…
How long does it take for Israelis to form opinions about a TV show that hasn’t aired yet? The answer, in the case of “Hayehudim Ba’im” (“The Jews Are Coming”) – a new satire slated for fall air on Israel’s Channel 1 – is 19 seconds. Last weekend, Channel 1 premiered a 19-second promo that…
The original “Hairspray” (1988) was a weird little movie made by cult director John Waters about rock and roll and race relations in 1960s Baltimore. Then it became a smash musical on Broadway, then a 2007 film adaptation of that Broadway hit. Now, the show is coming to Jerusalem, with a community theater production featuring…
After seven seasons, “30 Rock” ends tonight on NBC. During its tenure, the show dropped Jewish references like mad, ranging from a crack about Monica Lewinsky joining JDate to contract negotiations that include “a 15% raise, a two-pic guarantee from Universal and time off for every Jewish holiday, no matter how ridiculous.” And of course,…
Teens in trouble are nothing to laugh at. But comedians, by definition, should be. That, in a nutshell, was the theory behind a series of recent comedy shows in the Holy Land, which featured professional American comedians raising funds for an organization that provides support services for English-speaking teenagers. Last month, Dwight Slade, Gary Gulman…
I have always loved books. By the time I was 16 months old I had learned to name the letters of the alphabet from “Sesame Street.” By the time I was 3, my parents had instituted the Shabbat Book Program to satisfy my voracious appetite for books: Every Saturday morning I — and later my…
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