Federation Star - January 2023

Stars of David

By Nate Bloom, Stars of David Contributing Columnist

Editor’s Note: Persons in bold are deemed by Nate Bloom to be Jewish for the purpose of this column. Persons identified as Jewish have at least one Jewish parent and were not raised in, or identify with, a faith other than Judaism. Converts to Judaism, of course, are also identified as Jewish.

“Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over” is a special CNN documentary that will air live on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 9 p.m. It will be available on demand starting Jan. 2. Of course, it is about the legendary singer who had a long string of popular hits from the ’60s through the ’80s. She is still performing.

Many celebrities will appear on the special, including songwriter Burt Bacharach , 94, and Clive Davis , 90, a truly legendary record producer and record company head who is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Three hit songs sung by Warwick are in the Grammy Hall of Fame (“Walk on By,” “Alfie” and “Don’t Walk Me Over”). All three were written by Bacharach (music) and the late Hal David (lyrics).

By 1979, Warwick’s career had stalled. It was revived when she signed (1979) with Arista Records, a newish record company founded and run by Davis. Davis personally guided her career, and she quickly had another big hit, “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.”

“Finding Your Roots,” the PBS celebrity ancestry show, returns for a 10th season on Jan. 3 (check your PBS schedule for exact time). The “big” name guests include Carol Burnett, Julia Roberts, Jeff Daniels and David Duchovny, 62 (he’s the secular son of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother). Also profiled is veteran character actor Richard Kind , 66 (trust me, you know his face).

The Fox series “Special Forces: The Ultimate Test” premieres Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. It is another celebrity endurance reality show. This one is truly bizarre. Sixteen “B-list” celebrities are dropped in the Jordanian desert to train with a Special Forces team in a grueling endurance test. Contestants aren’t voted out, but they can quit.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, 64, the well-known TV doctor, is a contestant. I wonder if his medical training will give him an “edge.” He’ll need it as some contestants are way younger.

“Poker Face” premieres on the streaming Peacock channel Jan. 26, 2023 (10 episodes). It is a “case-of-the-week” mystery comedy-drama. Natasha Lyonne , 43, produces the series and stars in it (I gather she plays the only actor who will appear in all 10 episodes).

An astonishing number of Jewish thespians will star in an episode: Lyonne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 41, Adrien Brody ,49, Ellen Barkin , 68, Simon Helberg , 41, Judith Light, 73, and Tim Blake Nelson , 58. (I have this image of Lyonne telling the casting people: “Hire more Jews, we need to keep my people fully employed!”)

“Wolf Pack” is a supernatural teen drama series that will begin streaming on Paramount+ on Jan. 26. The star of the series is Sarah Michelle Geller, 45. She is still best known as the star of the hit TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which ran from 1997 to 2003.

There is little advance info on the show’s plot other than it is a supernatural teen drama. Geller was a teen when “Buffy” began. But she certainly isn’t one now. My guess is that her character is the “adult in the room” overseeing a passel of actors who can pass for a teenager.

“Shrinking” is a comedy TV series that begins streaming on Apple+ on Jan. 27. It was co-created by Brett Goldstein, 42, Jason Segal, 42, and Bill Lawrence. These three guys also write the scripts.

Goldstein, a British Jew, was hired to write for “Ted Lasso,” which has become the biggest hit on Apple+. Not long after he began writing “Lasso,” he was cast to play aged soccer star Roy Kent. This role made him a household name and he’s won two successive Emmys for best supporting actor.

Segal not only co-created “Shrinking,” he costars in the series. His top-credited costar is Harrison Ford, 80. Ford can also be seen in the Paramount+ series “1923.” I suspect that Ford just loves these limited episode series (10 episodes). He can keep his hand in acting while not being exhausted by the grind of a “traditional” 22-episode TV series. Plus, it must be nice to go to a comedy series after being in a grim Western like “1923.

Ford is the “always secular” son of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father. Check out “The Frisco Kid” (1979), a comedic Western. Ford played a guy who befriends an immigrant rabbi (Gene Wilder ). Wilder said he had no idea Ford’s mother was Jewish when he started to tutor Ford on a Jewish custom. Ford told him “I know, I know,” and explained how he knew.