Though it’s nowhere near Thanksgiving, now is as good a time as any for the release of an entertaining comedy about coming home for the holidays that may be especially enjoyable for Jewish audiences.

In Most Likely to Murder, which debuted at South by Southwest last month, Billy (Adam Pally) returns home to Long Island when his parents tell him they’re moving. He tries to rekindle a romance with his high school girlfriend, Kara (Rachel Bloom), only to learn that she is dating Lowell (Vincent Kartheiser), the neighbor he used to torment. Not only that, but Billy suspects that Lowell may have killed his own mother, leading him to a preposterous effort to convince everyone that he isn’t merely jealous but actually living across the street from a dangerous murderer. Jewcy had the chance to speak with screenwriters Dan Gregor, who also directed the film, and Doug Mand about their experience making the film.

Jewcy: This is an interesting hybrid of a film, a comedy wrapped around a murder mystery. How did you come up with the idea for this movie, and to what genre would you assign it?

Gregor: Frankly, our first thought was, how can we make a movie that we can film somewhere we know we can get? I assumed that my parents would let me shoot in their house. We knew we could shoot in the suburbs, which was the first building block. The time period of the night before Thanksgiving appealed to us for a long time – this little gem of emotion and story, where you feel all of your history coming back to you. We really wanted to find a way to tell a story within those two confines. Simultaneously, we’ve loved the mystery detective genre our whole lives, and wanted to find a way to marry those together. In terms of the genre, it’s a noir where the mystery is real and the stakes are real, but at the center of it is a total moron.

Jewcy: How did your three leads, who all have great TV roots (Happy Endings, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Mad Men, respectively) come to be involved with the film?

Mand: Adam Pally and I lived together in New York while we were going to college. Dan and I went to NYU and Adam was at the New School. When we graduated, we started doing comedy together and have been friends ever since. We wrote this movie for Adam. Rachel Bloom is also someone we came up with through the comedy scene at NYU, and Dan is married to her. She’s obviously incredibly talented, and we figured that if she would want to do this movie–and she did–we were excited to have her. She and Adam are family to us. With Vincent, we were really fortunate. He was truly our first choice for this movie, and someone knew his manager, who sent him the script. He responded to it and was on board almost immediately, which is very rare. He was immediately a part of the family and just a pleasure.

Jewcy: There is a lot of Judaism to be found in this story. The Bar Mitzvah clock that plays an important role in the mystery, a “goys vs. Jews” football game, and prime murder suspect Lowell apparently having a great davening voice. Can you talk more about those references and your own Jewish backgrounds?

Gregor: It’s pretty intertwined with my suburban experience. I’m from Long Island, and my hometown was literally 75% Jewish. All of the neighboring towns had enormous Jewish populations. It’s not strange to know someone that became a rabbi. You still do have all of your Bar Mitzvah paraphernalia around your room. Just this morning, I was drinking out of my Bar Mitzvah mug–it’s a Don Mattingly mug that I’m very in love with still. We probably had to cut a dozen more Jewish jokes because it was becoming too much. There was probably a line where we were realizing that no one who’s not Jewish is going to understand what we’re talking about. I’m still in shock that we left a joke about davening in. I feel like even among Jews that’s not something that everyone knows.

Mand: Dan and I are both Jews. I grew up in suburban Philadelphia. We had very similar upbringings. If we were going to write a comedy about coming home for the holidays, there was no way that we were going to escape certain cultural references. That’s who we are. When Didi Conn came in to audition for the role of Billy’s mom, she was immediately the most Jewish mother I’ve ever seen. In real life, she brought her own salt and pepper shakers to the set, which is like the most Jewish mom thing ever.

Jewcy: I loved seeing Billy Eichner in a brief role as Lowell’s rabbi who used his signature inflection to shout about his tzitzit and having to call the Chevra kadisha. It’s a small part–is that what you always imagined?

Gregor: Billy was someone we knew previously, and we just knew that if we could get him for a day, since he’s so busy, he could literally read the phonebook and it would be funny. It worked out perfectly. He was in town for a day. He actually went to the Forest Hills Jewish Center, where my mom is the Executive Director. We knew that if we wanted someone to play a big Jew, Billy Eichner could do it right. We found out on set that he was less aware of the deep-cut Jewish stuff than we thought. I had to work through the pronunciation of Chevra kadisha with him. We used his real Bar Mitzvah photo as the image on David Spiegel’s Bar Mitzvah clock, which was fun.

Jewcy: I know that you founded the sketch comedy group Hammerkatz at NYU with Adam Pally. What’s your involvement with it today?

Gregor: We’re proud alumni. We’re going back to do some screenings in New York and going to try to do one at NYU for students. That’s a group where we were part of the founding generation, and we’re really proud of its continued existence and what they’re doing. There has been an amazing amount of alumni who have gone from there to impressive stuff. Other than being on an e-mail chain with a bunch of Hammerkatz people, there’s not much for us to do anymore.

Jewcy: You’ve both worked on Bloom’s show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Are you planning to be involved with the show more in the future?

Gregor: Yeah, we’ve been writing on that show for the last three seasons. It’s been an amazing experience. I’m going to direct an episode in season four.

Jewcy: What are some of your favorite Jewish comedies?

Gregor: History of the World, Part 1. I immediately think of the inquisition musical as my favorite Jewish musical of all time.

Mand: It’s Mel Brooks. I knew Spaceballs before I knew about Star Wars. That should tell you everything. Star Wars is just a less funny Spaceballs. He is really the ultimate for us.

Gregor: Larry David right now is holding the mantle.

Mand: Yeah, reluctantly. Seinfeld was the best show growing up, and it became Curb [Your Enthusiasm]. There’s a lot of Judaism all over there.

Jewcy: What’s next for you guys?

Mand: A pilot with Lorne Michaels’ company. We’re always writing stuff and developing ideas for us to create and produce ourselves. If you know people that are hiring, let them know. We’re going to start writing a new movie to make, most likely in the same vein.

Jewcy: Do you have any advice for Jewish viewers going to see this movie?

Gregor: Don’t drink too much water going in. You might have to pee and very exciting things happen!

Most Likely to Murder will be released on digital and on demand May 1st.

Photo: The cast and creative team of Most Likely to Murder in Austin. Credit Abe Fried-Tanzer

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Marji, my one year-old rescue cat, was less enthusiastic about the idea. She tolerates most of my obsessive cat parenting—the baby sling, the harness and leash, the automatic feeder—but made clear during this project that she has certain limits.

Menswear Dog she is not. I discovered that Marji hates sleeves even more than loud noises (which is a lot) and prefers sleeping on clothes to wearing them. Dressing her up required plenty of wrestling and a bag and a half of treats.

Still, with a few modifications to the outfits, both Marji and I survived the photo shoot. We also succeeded in paying tribute to some of my favorite Jewish women on TV, which made every minute of cat wrangling worth it.

Abbi Jacobson, Broad City, Season 1: Episode 10

This sexy dress is actually a beanie from the dollar store. Somehow I know the crafty Abbi Abrams would approve!

Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, “JAP Rap”

Much to my relief, few stores sell plunging necklines in toddler sizes. This floral number originally had a keyhole at the top.

Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Schumer, “Sexting”

I would never, ever sexualize my cat, unless it involves an adorable onesie. Thank God she can’t read.

Rachel Maddow, The Rachel Maddow Show

Okay, I realize that she identifies as Catholic. But she has a Jewish grandfather… and how cute is my cat in a blazer?!

Images by Emma Davis.

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We, like most Americans with any taste, cannot get enough of Rachel Bloom at Jewcy. From writing songs for superheroes to casting Patti LuPone as a rabbi, she never fails to impress. In our eyes, Bloom can do no wrong, and again, she managed to not do wrong. Confusing? Wait for this one.

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If you, like me, enjoy learning about how Jewish geography extends to cool Jewish lady celebrities, you’ll enjoy the following tidbit: Mayim Bialik, of The Big Bang Theory (and this great video), and Rachel Bloom, better known as Rebecca Bunch on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, are apparently buddies. Watered by some mayim, their friendship began to bloom last April, when Bialik interviewed Bloom for her website. A couple weeks ago, they had a coffee date, but it was interrupted by a fan who seemed more interested in Rachel than in Mayim. Personally, I’d like to tag along with both of them. What a squad.

Speaking of funny, outspoken Jewish feminist actresses, remember how Rachel Bloom used to be roommates with Broad City’s Ilana Glazer? Naturally, they take amazing selfies. Looking at them, I was reminded of the episode from last season of Girls when Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham’s character) gets a visit from a college friend, played amazingly by Jenny Slate. What if the four of them were all friends?!

And in case you forgot, Ilana is (distantly) related to Abbi Jacobson in real life. Which makes the sexual nature of Abbi and Ilana’s friendship (mostly on Ilana’s side) on the show a little awkward.

But most Ashkenazi Jews are basically related to each other anyway (though unlike most Ashkenazi Jews, all six of these ladies competed in Jewcy‘s ongoing “Jewish Celebrity March Madness“). So I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before all these yiddishe mavens of comedy discover that I am their long-lost cousin and want to be best friends with me too.

Image via Instagram.

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How do you take a superhero TV show and make it even more epic? Add a crossover episode and musical numbers penned by Hollywood’s best, brightest, and funniest, of course. On March 21, the CW will air a Flash/Supergirl crossover, “Duet.” The special will feature a song by our favorite Jewish, feminist powerhouse Rachel Bloom, who writes and stars in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (also on the CW). Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the increasingly lauded songwriting team behind Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land, are also contributing a tune (Pasek is Jewish; Paul isn’t). (The musical premise will be set up in Supergirl’s March 20 installment.)

“I immediately offered them [executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg] my services,” Bloom wrote in a statement released to Buzzfeed News. “As soon as they picked one of my song ideas, I hopped on the phone with my old Robot Chicken boss Tom Root and we brainstormed and, based on that brainstorm, I wrote up the song ‘Super Friend.’ I am so excited to contribute more to the upward trend that is musicals in television and film. Music can be one of the most amazing and efficient forms of storytelling and character development. Also, it was really fun to write a comedy song for two superheroes.”

Said superheroes singing Bloom’s song will be Grant Gustin as the Flash and Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, while Gustin alone will perform Pasek and Paul’s “Runnin’ Home to You.” Both actors have backgrounds in theatre and proved their vocal chops on Glee.  Fellow Glee cast member Darren Criss will co-star as the nefarious song-and-dance mastermind Music Meister.

While it’s not likely that “Duet” will share Crazy Ex’s Jewish flavor, we can at least anticipate that Bloom’s contribution will feature her delightfully oddball comic verve. But who knows? Even her YouTube hit “You Can Touch My Boobies” had a Semitic twist:

Zoe Miller is Tablet’s editorial intern. Follow her on Twitter here.

Image via Flickr.

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And yea, was the year of 2016, generally speaking, a steaming pile of crap. And lo, did the Lord look unto the people of America and say, “For thy pains, this reprieve.” And behold! In the dawn of 2017 was it announced that Patti LuPone would guest star on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

And not just as anyone— the great musical theatre diva is set to play a rabbi. On an episode entitled, “Will Scarsdale Like Josh’s Shayna Punim?” (yes, really), Rebecca Bunch (show creator and star Rachel Bloom) has to go to Westchester for a family Bar Mitzvah, and LuPone plays her rabbi (perhaps from childhood? We shall see.). Tovah Feldshuh is also back in her recurring role as Rebecca’s mother.

Here they are together. Hallelujah.

LuPone isn’t personally a Member of the Tribe, but in addition to being besties with Mandy Patinkin as sufficient cred, she has played Jews before— in fact, she’ll star on Broadway as Helena Rubinstein in War Paint in just two months.

Not only do we get another female rabbi on mainstream television (joining the ranks of shows like Transparent, of course), but we get to see Patti LuPone rocking a tallit, kippah, and magen david necklace. Baruch HaShem.

The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend episode in question airs Friday, January 13th. Yes, which is Shabbos, if you don’t watch TV then. But the Lord also giveth DVR and a host of streaming platforms.

Amen.

Image credits: Scott Everett White/The CW — ©2016 The CW Network, LLC All Rights Reserved. Via BroadwayWorld.

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Ask anyone to make a list of their top ten favorite people, and Rachel Bloom and Ilana Glazer will both make the cut. If they don’t, you need to rewrite that list.

Regardless, it has come to our attention at Jewcy that not everyone knows the superhero origins of the two comedians, and that of course they’re friends. Not only that, but they used to live together!

On the one hand, this seems almost obvious— both are TV stars with comedy shows that reflect what it is to be a young Jewish woman nowadays. But on the other hand, what an unlikely duo! First of all, there’s the coastal issue: Bloom from Los Angeles, and Glazer is from New York (can you say, star-crossed?). Weirdly, their comedy personas are flipped, and it’s the Californian who plays the neurotic on the TV, and the New Yorker who’s the easygoing stoner. Rebecca Bunch and Ilana Wexler are both extremely Jewish characters, and have absolutely nothing to do with one another. It’s a miracle of modern on-screen representation.

But in reality, the two had plenty do to with each other. Glazer and Bloom became roommates about 7 years ago when they were fresh out of college (NYU ’09) and aspiring comedians, and they both got started in the comedy scene through the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. They lived together for more than a year, and any two people who can be friends at all after living together have to have a special connection.

When Broad City and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend both end (God forbid), obviously Ilana and Rachel’s next project should be an Odd Couple-esque show about the two. Abbi is invited too, of course.

Here are more pictures of them being lovely and adorable:

Images via Instagram

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Who doesn’t love an anti-hero? Sure, they’re not paragons of virtue. They may lack basic morals. They hurt a lot of people, including their loved ones, and you wouldn’t want to know them in real life… but they make for great TV.

Now, in UnReal and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, women get their chance, not just as those boring housewives who care about the welfare of their family (ugh), but as harm-causing protagonists in and of themselves.

They happen to be Jewish, too.

“Happens to be Jewish” describes the main character of UnReal. Her name is Rachel Goldberg, she’s played by Shiri Appleby…That’s about it, to be honest. In an interview with Tribe Magazine, Appleby says, “Judaism isn’t a focus of the show… but Rachel is definitely a Jewish girl. You see the relationship with my mother… and in the second episode, I say, ‘Sheket b’vakasha [Quiet please].’”

Not exactly in-your-face representation. Perhaps that’s better since Rachel does reprehensible things. Her job is to create drama—essentially, to destroy people— for Everlasting, a reality TV show that is legally not The Bachelor. Her greatest asset is emotional acuity. She moves like Othello’s Iago, earning people’s trust, finding their insecurities, and orchestrating their breakdowns. She compels her victims to ruin their own lives on nationally broadcast television, and they don’t realize until it’s too late.

According to co-workers, Rachel’s skills come from her own instability (self-destructive tendencies, ambiguous personality disorder, requisite toxic relationships). It’s heavily implied that Rachel’s mental and emotional problems are caused by her mother, a psychiatrist who used “treatment” to control and abuse Rachel. Unfortunately, that’s the relationship with her mother that Appleby was referring to when she talked about the show’s Judaism.

UnReal is astoundingly on Lifetime, not HBO. The ensemble consists of beautiful women, not tough Jersey mafiosos.  Instead of a drug empire, Rachel has a mushy romance show, complete with horse-drawn carriages and ball gowns, but the UnReal writers openly aspire to the heights and depths of  The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad—and the critical consensus is, UnReal reaches them.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a musical comedy, so its tone is considerably lighter tone than UnReal’s. Rebecca comes off as cringe-inducing, not dangerous. Her vulnerability and often-addressed mental health issues make her relatable. However, away from the quirky charm, it’s easy to see how toxic Rebecca is. In any other show, Rebecca would be the, well, crazy ex-girlfriend. Here, she’s our protagonist—and it works, thanks to show creator/lead actress Rachel Bloom’s performance and the show’s willingness to address certain issues openly and with nuance. The narrative neither completely absolves nor condemns Rebecca Bunch’s actions, and the same is true of Breaking Bad and Walter White.

Like UnReal‘s Rachel, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rebecca Bunch is an excellent manipulator and a consummate liar. (She’s a lawyer after all, ha ha.) When she runs into a long-ago summer camp fling, he mentions he’s moving to California, so she abandons her New York job and follows him, playing it off as a coincidence. Then, she insinuates herself into his life and wins over his friends with her helpfulness and and supposed altruism. Feigned compassion might be an occasional trick for male anti-heroes, but it’s Rachel’s and Rebecca’s M.O.

Unlike in UnReal, there’s no coyness about Rebecca’s heritage. The  career-driven, Ivy League-educated New York-based lawyer isn’t just coded as Jewish; it’s explicit. Not surprising, considering Rachel Bloom’s YouTube videos include “Chanukah Honey” (a parody of “Santa Baby”), and “You Can Touch My Boobies,” about a boy fantasizing about his Hebrew school teacher.

In one episode, Rebecca squares off against her lifelong rival. Their “JAP Rap Battle” is as densely packed as Hamilton’s “Cabinet Battle,” so listing all the Jewish references would be too much. Some noteworthy ones include:

• “Shebrews from Scarsdale”
• “Translating for the goys” what “shondeh” means
• “Sheket bavaka-shut the hell up.”
• “Should we shake hands/And erase the hate/Created by our mothers pitting us against each other/ for accolades and grades/ We were egged on like Seder plates.”

Apparently there’s no escaping the Jewish mother stereotype. Rebecca’s mother, Naomi (played by Tovah Feldshuh) made an earlier appearance in the Christmas episode (natch). Upon arrival, Naomi repeatedly demands to use the bathroom while criticizing Rebecca’s weight, apartment, job, home decor, appearance, and life choices. When Rebecca tries to respond, Naomi chastises her for interrupting.

At the end of the episode, Rebecca confronts her mother and says,  “If I ever have a kid, I will only care if they’re happy.” Naomi responds, “‘Happy?’ What’s ‘happy?’ …Our people are not about happy. We’re about survival. That is why I’m glad that you stood up to me. Because that means, when the Cossacks come, you can fight back.”

It’s far from a moment of redemption, it doesn’t quell the problematic Jewish mother stereotype—it may even exacerbate it— but these shows are not about feel-good moments or palatable role models. They’re about women who are as troubled as iconic male anti-heroes.

Rachel Goldberg first appears sprawled on a limo floor in a rumpled “THIS IS WHAT A FEMINIST LOOKS LIKE” T-shirt. It’s a tone-establishing, tongue-in-cheek visual: can feminism look like a dirty Jewish woman who does profoundly un-heroic things?

In a world full of Heisenberg t-shirts, yes.

A final note: I would be journalistically remiss to not mention Girls, so here I am, mentioning Girls.

Image credit: Rachel Bloom on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, via YouTube

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Comedian and singer Rachel Bloom, of “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury” fame, has a new album out, spiritedly titled Suck It, Christmas!!! (A Chanukah Album). With co-writers Jack Dolgen and Dan Gregor, the album is a worthy, explicit holiday gift for your Jewish and your non-Jewish friends (who’ll give you Michael Buble’s Chistmas and you’ll win the gift exchange war).

Watch the video for “Chanukah Honey,” a parody of “Santa Baby” about hitting on Jewish guys for their MBAs and their 5’8 frames.

If you want the whole album, Suck It, Christmas is available for purchase on Amazon.

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