52 | DECEMBER 5 • 2024 J
N
UNUSUAL MOVIE, TWO
‘JEWISH’ HALLMARK HOLIDAY
MOVIES
Nightbitch, a drama/fantasy,
opens on Dec. 6 in theaters. It
focuses on a stay-at-home mom
(Amy Adams) who sometimes
(literally) becomes a tough dog
(!). Marielle Heller, 48, directed,
and she wrote the screenplay,
too. Heller’s the secular daugh-
ter of a Jewish father. Her most
recent movie, A Beautiful Day
in the Neighborhood (2019),
was a critical and box office hit.
THE HOLIDAYS ON
HALLMARK CHANNEL
This year, the Hallmark channel
has more than 30 original 2024
“holiday” movies. Hallmark was
kind enough to give Jewish
viewers two “sort-of” Jewish
holiday films. I do have to credit
Hallmark with almost exclusive-
ly hiring Jewish actors to play
Jews in its holiday films.
Leah’s Perfect Gift premieres
on Dec. 8. Leah (Emily Arlook,
34) loves all the stuff associ-
ated with Christmas, but she’s
Jewish and she’s never had
the chance to revel in Xmas
stuff (like trees). This year, her
Christian boyfriend invites
her to visit his parents on
Christmas. Leah quickly realizes
she doesn’t quite fit in. His par-
ents are “uptight” and not very
welcoming.
You might know Arlook as
Rebecca, the Jewish ex-girl-
friend of the rabbi who is the
central character of Nobody
Wants This, the hit Netflix
series. Critics were split on
Nobody, but it got a truly amaz-
ing high number of viewers —
worldwide.
Erin Foster, 42, the creator
of Nobody, and the screen-
writer of most of the episodes,
recently (Nov. 24) gave an inter-
view full of interesting things
I didn’t know. Before Nobody
premiered last September, I
did report that the series was
inspired by Foster’s marriage to
a Jewish man (who isn’t a rabbi)
and I noted her conversion to
Judaism.
In the new interview, Foster
described how hard it was to
get a production “greenlight”
from leading streaming chan-
nels. She said: “Everybody
passed [on the series]. Hulu
passed. FX passed. Apple
passed. Then, eventually, we
went to Netflix with our last
pitch and, honestly, I wanted
them to pass. The whole thing
had just been really tough.”
It was hard going, Foster said,
even after Netflix “greenlit” the
series. It took three years to
make Nobody. There was a lot
of writing, filming and editing to
do and, on top of this — they
were delayed by a writer and
an actor strike.
But, Foster said, it was all
worth it: “It surprised me when it
became a monster hit. I remem-
ber just thinking, ‘If people like
it at all, I’m going to feel good
about this.’” (Season 2 has been
greenlit and it will premiere late
in 2025),
Hanukkah on the Rocks pre-
mieres on the Hallmark Channel
on Dec. 13. Plot: Tory (Stacey
Farber, 37) is an attorney who
unexpectedly loses her job
just before Chanukah. Tory is
at her grandma’s home for the
first night of Chanukah. Then
she realizes she has to go out
to buy Chanukah candles. She
walks around Manhattan and
ends up at a “cool” bar. There
she meets a charming Jewish
doctor (Daren Kagasoff, 37) and
his cute father (Marc Summers,
72). She takes a job as a “cool
bar” bartender and everything
romantic goes perfect during
the eight days of Chanukah and
— I guess — forever.
Farber, who was born and
raised in Toronto, is the co-star
of The Spencer Series, a
Canadian series. It sounds inter-
esting: a former policewoman
(Farber) works, with her mother,
a big-selling mystery writer, to
solve real- life mysteries. Farber
also has a recurring role on
Virgin River, a hit Netflix series.
She plays Tara Anderson.
Kasagoff’s first TV role was
his best to date. He was a
co-star of The Secret of An
American Teenager. It ran on
ABC Family (2008-2013). Since
Secret ended, he has strug-
gled, like many young actors.
He’s had just one recurring role
(seven episodes) and a main
role in two very quicky can-
celed series.
My gut says that he got
the Hallmark role because
he is a seasoned actor, he’s
a nice-looking guy and he’s
“really” Jewish. He deserved a
break, like this role.
NOTES ON WICKED
Wicked has become a “mega-
hit” at theaters. It opened on
Friday, Nov. 22. It earned $114
million in just three days. This
box-office haul beats out most
movies ever made. A sequel
to Wicked will open in about a
year and, no doubt, it will make
“mucho gelt.”
Of course, the huge popular-
ity of The Wizard of Oz (1939)
movie “gave birth” to The
Wiz and Wicked. I just “nailed
down” that a virtually unknown
actor in Oz (1939) was Jewish.
Everyone sort of knows this
actor — in character, he sang
straight at the (Oz) camera for a
few minutes. He comes from a
very interesting family. By next
week, my research will be com-
plete and I, like some wizards,
will reveal it all.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
BY TECHCRUNCH
Erin Foster
HALLMARK CHANNEL
Emily Arlook
Stacey Farber
HALLMARK CHANNEL