Jewish Stars
Shine This
Season
Fred Savage, with briefcase, has moved
beyond the "wonder years" to the
"Working" world.
Some fresh faces join old favorites in
the galaxy of Jewish stars who debut
in this fall's new TV shows.
"Hiller & Diller" (ABC, Tuesday,
9:30 p.m.)
Comedian Richard Lewis
("Anything But Love"), known for his
neurotic, self-deprecating comedy rou-
tines, plays none other than a divorced
neurotic who earns a living as a TV
writer. His writing partner is
played by Kevin Nealon
A ("Saturday Night Live").
Eugene Levy plays their
ts demanding boss.
JULIE WEINGARDEN
Special to The Jewish News
W
hen a celebrity says
tuchus on prime time
TV, you smile.
When that
performer is Bob Newhart,
you laugh. No, Newhart
does not play a Jew, but his
character is trying to relate
to his cantankerous in-law,
Leo, a Jewish crook with a
good heart, played by Judd
Hirsch (a Jew) on the CBS
show "George & Leo."
Some of the other Jewish Bob Newhart and
Judd Hirsch play in-
actors (not necessarily play-
ing Jewish characters) on the laws in "George and
Leo."
new prime time TV shows
this fall are Jonathan
Lipnicki, Richard Lewis, Eugene Levy,
Fred Savage, Carol Leifer, Don Stark
and Shaun Weiss. What follows is a
brief synopsis of their new shows.
"Alright Already" (WB, Sunday, 9:30
p.m.)
Comedian-writer-producer Carol
Leifer takes her turn in front of the
camera as Carol Lerner, a thir-
tysomething single woman who owns
an optical shop in South Beach.
Leifer's past writing gigs include
"The Larry Sanders Show" and
"Seinfeld," where she was the real
inspiration for the character Elaine.
Like Seinfeld, Leifer uses observa-
tional humor, taking small, quirky
everyday life nuances and revolving a
Julie Weingarden is a West
Bloomfield-based freelance writer.
9/26
1997
172
Ashley Malinger, Majandra Delfina,
Tony Danza, Shaun Weiss and Maria
Canals in "The Tony Danza Show."
Carol Liefer, playing a character named Carol Lerner, is
joined by, clockwise from left, Amy Yasbeck (Renee), Stacy
Galina (Jessica Lerner), Jerry Adler (Alvin Lerner),
Maury Sterling (Vau;hn Lerner) and Mitzi McCall
(Miriam Lerner) in Alright Already."
show around them. She deals with
her aging, kvetching, condo-living
parents and her relationship-hopping
sidekick, Renee, played by Amy
Yasbeck ("Wings").
"Timecop" (ABC, Monday, 8 p.m.)
A spin-off of the Jean-Claude Van
Damme movie, "Timecop" takes
place in the year 2007 where the sci-
ence of time travel has fallen into the
wrong hands and the "cops" police
the time continuum for criminals
looking to change the course of his-
tory. It stars newcomer T.W. King as
Richard Lewis plays
Diller to Kevin
Nealon's Hiller on
"Hiller and Diller"
cocky Jack Logan and Don Stark as
Eugene Matuzek.
"George & Leo" (CBS, Monday, 9:30
p.m.)
Bob Newhart plays George, a
straight-laced, soft-spoken bookstore
owner on Martha's Vineyard. Hirsch is
Leo, a flashy-dressed hoodlum
who had a run-in with the Mafia.
These opposites are stuck with one
another once Leo's daughter, Casey,
marries George's son (Jason Bateman).
Leo and Casey are supposed to be
Jewish, according to CBS.
"The Tony Danza Show"
(NBC, Wednesday, 8 p.m.)
Tony Danza ("Taxi") is a New
York sportswriter trying to
raise his two daughters after
his wife leaves. Maria Canals
plays Carmen, Tony's comput
er whiz assistant, and Shaun
Weiss plays Stuey, the support-
ive doorman.
"Working" (NBC, Wednesday, 9:30
.p.m.)
Fred Savage, the pudgy-faced pre-
pubescent of "The Wonder Years" is
now all grown up and playing an ide-
alistic employee of a multinational
corporation. This may be as close as
Savage — who just finished his
junior year at Stanford University —
will ever have to get to an office cubi-
cle.
"Meego" (CBS, Friday, 8:30. p.m.)
Jonathan Lipnicki, the scene-steal-
ing darling of "Jerry Maguire," makes
it to prime-time. He's paired with
Bronson Pinchot ("Perfect Strangers"),
the nanny who happens to be an
alien.