To Be or Not T• Be A look at some favorite TV characters. LYNNE MEREDITH COHN STAFF WRITER A Warner Brothers spokesperson re- vealed that "the religion of the characters on 'Friends' has never been established, but viewers can make the educated guess that Monica and Ross are half-Jewish and that Rachel and her ex-fiance Barry are Jew- ish." "But," she added, "the 'Friends' produc- ers have never come out and established their characters' religion in an overt way." (In real life, David Schwimmer and Lisa Kudrow, who plays Phoebe on the show, are Jewish.) The there's "Seinfeld." Everybody knows Jerry Seinfeld is Jewish — on the tube and off. But what about the rest of the gang— Kramer, Elaine and George? No, no and no — and no to George's par- ents, as well. "The religion of the characters on 'Friends' has never been established, but viewers can make the educated guess that Monica and Ross are half-Jewish and that Rachel and her ex-fiance Barry are Jewish," says an NBC spokeswoman. PHOTO COU RTESY O F FOX BROADCASTI NG CO. y ou may think they're Jew- ish. But those in the know say some of those prime-time TV characters you're sure are Jew- ish are not necessarily "members of the tribe." And, except for a few strongly identifying individuals —some of 4m bordering on stereotypes — the majorii-yvi.)f TV Jewish characters have a schizophrenic religiosity: marginal- ly Jewish but blending well into the gentile mainstream. Take Paul Reiser's character and his ex- tended family on "Mad About You." Reiser plays Paul Buchman, his parents are named Bert and Sylvia, he's best buds with his cousin Ira, and he's got a dog named Murray. The very Jewish Mel Brooks plays Paul's Uncle Phil, and Sid Caesar is Uncle Harold. Think they're Jewish? Think again. Reiser says religion has never been dis- cussed "on that show and probably never will be," according to an NBC spokes- woman. Religion, he says, is "an issue that he doesn't get into comedically." The same air of nebulousness is true for other NBC shows. For example, on NBC's hit show "ER," Dr. Mark Greene acknowledged his Jew- ish father — and Christian mother — but considers himself to be "nothing." None of the characters on the show is Jewish, says the NBC spokeswoman (although two ac- tors, Juliana Margulies and Noah Wyle, each have one Jewish parent, just like Dr. Greene). Although Vicki (Kathy Griffin), the red- head on NBC's "Suddenly Susan," may seem to be Jewish, a spokeswoman says her religious identity hasn't been defined. `The actress is Catholic. I thought she made jokes about not being Jewish," she says. Two popular NBC sitcoms — "Friends" and "Seinfeld" — have a hard time defin- ing their characters' religious identity. On "Friends," some of the names sound Jewish: Monica and Ross Geller, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston). And of course, don't forget Rachel's ex-fiance, Barry, who married Rachel's best friend. The wedding was typical Long Island Jewish — as is Chandler's girlfriend, Janice. While Rachel's father appears to be Jew- ish, her mother, played by Marlo Thomas, has never been pegged for a Jew. In fact, Thomas' father, Danny Thomas, was of Lebanese descent. Two Christmases ago, a "Friends" episode featured Ross (David Schwimmer) cleaning the wax out of a Chanukah meno- rah while his on-screen sister, Monica (Courtney Cox), baked Christmas cookies and opened a package of Christmas lights sent by their mother. The very Jewish El- liott Gould plays the part of the siblings' fa- ther. .0 "The Simpson's" Krusty the Clown (real name Herschel Krustofsky) was disowned by his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, until Bart and Lisa stepped in.