Takes on Fall Season TV Series, Two Movies

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.

Most brand-new TV series premiere now in November or next January. I could find just three TV shows in October that have a “Jewish connection” with some “newish” news.

Three TV Series

Nobody Wants This, a 10-episode Netflix series, was a surprise hit when it premiered in September 2024. It follows the unexpected relationship between Noah Roklov, an unconventional American rabbi (Adam Brody , 45) and Joanne, an irascible (not Jewish) agnostic woman (Kristen Bell) who co-hosts a podcast with her sister about relationships. The 2nd season of Nobody Wants This will premiere on Oct. 23.

It’s nice to note that Jewish actors play almost all the Jewish characters: Paul Ben-Victor, 65, and Tovah Feldshuh, 75, play the parents of Rabbi Roklov; Jackie Tohn, 45, plays the rabbi’s sister-in-law; Emily Arlook, 36, plays the rabbi’s Jewish, former girlfriend and almost fiancée; and Stephen Toblowsky, 74, plays the senior rabbi at Rabbi Roklov’s synagogue.

Chicago Med premieres its 11th season on Oct. 1 (NBC). Steven Weber, 65, plays Dr. Dean Archer, a trauma and emergency physician. Weber became a “main cast” actor in the show’s 7th season. You might remember him as a co-star in Wings Weber’s father was a “Borscht Belt” comedian and he managed many “Borscht Belt” comics.

SharkTank is a hit ABC reality show. It began in 2009. The new season began on Sept. 24. Shark Tank features “regular people” pitching their business idea before a panel of wealthy business innovators. After hearing a ‘pitch,’ panel members opt to invest in the person’s company or pass.

“All sources” say that Shark Tank really took off when billionaire Marc Cuban , 67, became an investor panel member in its 3rd season. Last season, he announced he would not return for the 2025-2026 season. However, Daniel Lubetsky, 56, who joined the investor, “main cast” panel in 2023, will stay this season.

Lubetsky was born and raised in Mexico. His father was a Holocaust Survivor. He was educated in Mexico, France, and the United States. His Mexican Jewish wife is a doctor. He made his billions in snack foods. His Mexican Jewish cousin, Emanuel Lubezki, 60, a cinematographer, has won three Oscars.

Two Movies

One Battle or Another opened in theaters on Sept. 26. When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunites to rescue one of their daughters. It’s a big budget action film with “A” list actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio del Toro, and Sean Penn, 64 (his late father was Jewish; his mother was Catholic. He’s always been secular).

Alana Haim, 33, has a supporting role. The film’s director, Paul Thomas Anderson, gave Alana her first film acting role (a star role in Licorice Pizza).

Eleanor the Great opened in theaters on Sept. 26. This ‘very’ Jewish movie has a big plot twist. A 94year-old Jewish Floridian woman (June Squibb, 95) strikes up an unlikely friendship with a 19-year-old student in New York City. Squibb converted to Judaism in the ‘50s not long before she married a Jewish man. The marriage lasted six years. While not very devout, she has continued to identify as a Jew.

Eleanor was directed by actress Scarlett Johansson, 40 (Johansson’s mother is Jewish and she identifies as a Jew).

Spoiler alert — more plot: Eleanor moves to NYC to live with her daughter (Jessica Hecht, 60) after Bessie (Rita Zohar, 81), her best friend in Florida and a Holocaust Survivor, dies suddenly. A young journalist (whose mother is Jewish) talks to Eleanor and mistakenly thinks that Eleanor is a Holocaust Survivor. Eleanor really likes the journalist’s attention. So, she tells Bessie’s stories as her own.