New TV series, Ken Burns Holocaust documentary, Bar Mitzvah musical

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 identifi ed 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.

Here are the TV/streaming series with a Jewish connection that premiered last month or will premiere this month.

“A League of Their Own” is an Amazon 8-episode series that began streaming (in its entirety) on Aug. 12. It is based on the hit 1992 film of the same name. The series, like the film, is about an all-female (real) pro baseball league that was founded during WWII. The “League” series was co-created by Abby Jacobson, 38, who also co-created and costarred in the hit Comedy Central series “Broad City.”

Jacobson also acts in “League.” She plays Carson Shaw, a top pitcher. The recurring cast includes Molly Ephraim, 36 (“Last Man Standing” on ABC), as Maybelle Fox, a player.

“American Gigolo” premieres on Showtime Sept. 11 and new episodes will be released on subsequent Fridays. It’s based on the hit 1980 film of the same name. In the film, Richard Gere played Julian Kaye, a Hollywood gigolo who fell in love with a client, a wealthy married woman. Kaye is framed for a murder but, at the end of film, the wealthy woman gives the police alibi information that clears him.

The series alters the film’s ending. As the series opens, Kaye (who is played by Jon Bernthal, 45) has just been released from jail after serving 15 years for a murder he didn’t commit. The series follows him as he makes contact with the wealthy woman (played by Gretchen Mol) and tries to cope with the present. Meanwhile, a police detective decides to take a fresh look at the murder and uncovers a large conspiracy.

“Reboot,” a comedy, premieres on Hulu on Sept. 20. A Hulu press release lays outs the premise: “Hulu reboots an early 2000s family sitcom, forcing its dysfunctional cast back together.” The “dysfunctional” cast includes Johnny Knoxville, Judy Greer (who has played several Jewish characters but isn’t Jewish), Paul Reiser, 66, and Rachel Bloom, 35.

The “big Jewish TV event” this month will be “U.S. and the Holocaust,” a three-episode PBS documentary that will air over three nights (Sept. 18-20, 8-10 p.m.). Here is the PBS description: “Inspired in part by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s ‘Americans and the Holocaust’ exhibition, and supported by its historical resources, the film examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, the eugenics movement in the United States and race laws in the American south. The series, written by Geoffrey Ward, sheds light on what the U.S. government and American people knew and did as the catastrophe unfolded in Europe.”

The documentary was co-directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, 60, and Sarah Botstein, 46. The latter two have long collaborated with Burns, who is the most famous American documentary maker. The Holocaust was more than “just mentioned” in previous Burns films about WWII. He also made “Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War” (2016), about an American Unitarian minister who rescued, with his wife, hundreds of European Jewish refugees. Footnotes: Burns’ wife is Jewish, and Sarah Botstein is the daughter of Leon Botstein, 76, a famous, still active music conductor who has been the president of Bard College since 1975.

Finally, there is “13,” a “very Jewish” Netflix original film that somehow eluded my radar before last month’s column was written. It premiered on Aug. 12 and perhaps it eluded your radar too. “13” is based on a 2008 Broadway musical of the same name that got so/so reviews.

Eli Golden, a total newcomer, stars as Evan Goldman, the bar mitzvah boy (I assume Golden is Jewish, but I haven’t “verified” him). Goldman is a New York City kid about to hand out his bar mitzvah invitations when his life radically changes. His father leaves his mother for a young flight attendant.

Evan and his mother, Jessica (Debra Messing, 52) flee to a tiny town in Indiana. They live with Jessica’s mother, Ruth (Rhea Perlman, 74). The bar mitzvah is still on, and Evan is tutored by his New York City rabbi (via Zoom). He’s played by the very likable Josh Peck, 35.

There are few Jews in the town, and there are a few hateful remarks, but antisemitism is a quite minor theme in the film. “Teen politics” is the real theme. Early on, Evan becomes friends with two teens who aren’t popular in school.

Things change when Evan manages to get into the good graces of a very popular jock. This sets in motion a very complex series of events that ultimately force Evan to make hard, ethical choices about who will attend his bar mitzvah.