Hashoter Hatov is a satirical portrayal of Israel

Arts&Life

TV Review

A Very Israeli Cop Comedy

PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX VIA JTA.ORG

The cast of Hashoter Hatov Hashoter Hatov is a satirical portrayal of Israel that looks different against our global dialogue on police brutality.

MICHAEL ELIAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

There couldn’t be a better Israelis joke about how insignifisetting for Hashoter Hatov cant the city is. If you want to see (The Good Cop) than what’s living day-to-day in Israel Petakh Tikva, one of the earliest is really like beyond the headJewish settlements in the center lines, Hashoter Hatov will show of Israel, just a short ride from you. Tel Aviv. The cop comedy, whose first

Petakh Tikva has become a season is available to American symbol of peripherality; many viewers on Netflix, follows Israeli

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celebrity jews

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

CELEB’S DIY VIDEOS AND A GOOD NETFLIX FILM

Celebrity Show-Off will start on TBS on Tuesday, June 23, at 10 p.m. Mayim Bialik, 44, hosts this 10-episode series, which is based on a hit Korean show. Each week, five celebs will compete via videos they created and were shot at their homes. The goal is to entertain the most viewers any which way. The first episode will acquaint viewers with the format and introduce the first five contestants. The next day, June 24, the videos they created will be posted on TBS’s YouTube channel. The videos will be judged on number of views and view duration. The next episode will feature the five celebs viewing the videos and commenting on them. Then 38 |

Mayim Bialik

MARK NEYMAN / GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE/ISRAEL

the celeb with the lowest rated video will be ousted and replaced the next week with a new celeb. About 15 celebs have confirmed they’ll compete, and, frankly, they aren’t “A” listers. The first 15 includes Tori Spelling, 47. Her career has faded since Beverly Hills, 90210 ended 20 years ago. But I’m curious what she’ll do to entertain us.

Wasp Network, a Cuban political thriller starring Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez, will begin streaming on June 19. Variety gave it a good review. Wasp was policeman Danny Konfino (Yuval Semo) and family and his friends and coworkers in the station. After Danny’s fiancée cheats on him and they break up, he’s forced to move back in with his parents.

Danny’s journey is one of learning to control his anger and open his heart, but also one of trying to live in a country that barely gives a damn about him.

Though the show occasionally crosses the thin line from satire to offensive humor, its goal is a novel one: to deconstruct toxic behaviors and show an unglamorized version of Israel.

Some notes before I recommend the show. First, the cast includes Moshe Ivgy, who was accused by several women of sexual harassment and indecent acts in 2016 and indicted in four cases in 2020 (Hashoter’s first season was filmed in 2015). Ivgy’s presence on my screen tells another Israeli story — one of a society that too often neglects its women.

That isn’t the only problem. As

directed by Olivier Assayas, 65, a French director who has made many good films.

SURPRISES EVERY WHICH WAY

The Vast of Night, an original Amazon Prime film, started streaming on May 29. This small budget film, without any name actors, has got real buzz. It is rated 92% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, and leading critics have given it the thumbs-up. A short summary: In the late 1950s, on one fateful night in New Mexico, a young, switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) and charismatic radio DJ Everett (Jake Horowitz, 25) discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever.

Horowitz’s Jewish father, Peter Horowitz, 70ish, is an actor and the founder/artistic director of a Brooklyn theater company where Jake got his start. Peter grew up in Miami, where his father, the

WHERE TO WATCH

The first season of Hashoter Hatov (and its American remake) is now available on Netflix. Two more seasons have already aired in Israel.

waves of protests against police brutality erupt in the U.S. and all over the world, I cannot turn a blind eye to how, as with any cop comedy, Hashoter Hatov essentially treats Danny’s violent behavior toward suspects and criminals as a joke.

Violence is a fact within an organization that forgives and encourages it, and the show does acknowledge that. What’s missing is a deeper acknowledgment of how unfunny police brutality actually is and who suffers from it the most.

Nevertheless, the ugliness that often appears in the show and surrounds parts of it adds to its authenticity, which is the show’s heart. That’s Israel, for better or worse.

late Arthur Horowitz, founded and ran a very successful restaurant chain called Junior’s. Arthur and his wife, Peter’s mother, were very involved in the Jewish community and took a very tough line on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Jake’s mother is a practicing Catholic and a lay organization leader. Jake’s two sides are very different, and I simply don’t know how he identifies religiously. But, wait, there’s more unusual stuff: There’s a Brooklyn restaurant chain named Junior’s, famous for its great cheesecake (It is great!). There were historical ties between the Miami chain and the Brooklyn chain. A claim was made around 2006 that the cheesecake recipe originated with the Miami chain. Brooklyn said no. The NY Times ran a long article about the controversy. Peter Horowitz was interviewed. The Times said that no conclusion was possible because so many of the “players” were deceased.