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

