All the Jewish TV to Watch This June

Henry Winkler, Barbara Walters and a supremely Jewish comedy special.

The TV offerings this June are strong, as are the fun Jewish angles on them! Here are all the Jewish and Jew-ish shows premiering this month, ranked by Jewishness. Let’s GOOOO.

June 4: “Stick” (Apple TV+)

The trailer for this new TV show, in which Owen Wilson plays Pryce Cahill, a former golf star who takes a young prodigy under his wing, features Wilson teaching golf to an old Jewish lady called Mrs. Nussbaum. I feel like that’s worth a mention, and I’m also always happy for more Owen Wilson on my screen, and I even love that we’re getting more Marc Maron (who plays Pryce’s good friend and golf caddy, Mitts). I also love that their way to relax is to watch Housewives together.

Judaism score: 1.25/4 couch potato latkes for Marc Maron and Mrs. Nussbaum

June 5: “Liz Glazer: Do You Know Who I’m Not” (YouTube)

Comedian Liz Glazer’s first comedy special is now streaming for free on YouTube and it is so funny and so very Jewish — yes, she jokes about being the granddaughter of four survivors (a perfect score!) and about being married to a rabbi.

Judaism score: 4/4 couch potato latkes, a perfect score

June 8: The 78th Tony Awards (Paramount+)

There were so many awesome Jewish nominees at the Tonys this year, from Itamar Moses to Jessica Hecht (who you know as Susan from “Friends” and who is just so good in everything) and Cynthia Erivo hosted a wonderful, hammy show.

There was a well-deserved lifetime achievement award for now five-time Tony winning theater maven Harvey Fierstein, but Daddy Sondheim was arguably the big Jewish winner of the night. He got a shoutout from Michael Arden, the director of “Maybe Happy Ending,” which won many well-deserved awards, too.

Anne Frank also got a shoutout in the song “Dead,” from Moses’ “Dead Outlaw.” I’ve loved both of these shows; “Maybe Happy Ending” is about two out-of-commission robots who fall in love and “Dead Outlaw” is based on the true story of Elmer McCurdy, whose mummified body travelled the country for decades after his death. While the premises both feel pretty out there, what they have to say about the meaning that love colors our lives with, and the nonsensical nature of death, both hit hard, particularly this year.

Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes, because BROADWAY!

June 12: "The Anne Frank Gift Shop” (ChaiFlicks) Short Film

This Oscars-shortlisted short is a really interesting commentary on commercial Holocaust culture and is also truly really funny. It stars Ari Graynor (“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”) and Chris Perfetti (“Abbott Elementary”). You can read my interview with director Mickey Rapkin on Kveller.

Judaism rating: 3/4 couch potato latkes

June 15: “Hazardous History” with Henry Winkler (History)

Henry Winkler, aka the nation’s Jewish grandpa, is getting his own History Channel TV show and I love the kvetchy/neurotic Jewish premise. In the show Winkler will explore some really stupid (in hindsight!) and life-threatening (also in hindsight!) chapters from American history, like when we used asbestos for fake snow. Lots of “oy veys” forthcoming.

Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes, for Henry

June 16: “Super Mega Cakes” (Food Network)

Jewish cake maven Duff Goldman hosts this new, larger-than-life reality cake competition. We love a good family-friendly cake show in this house, and this one looks full of jaw-dropping feats of baking and fondant-ing (is that a word??).

duffgoldman

A post shared by @duffgoldman

Judaism score: 1/4 couch potato latkes, for Duff

June 18: “Somebody Feed Phil,” season 8 (Netflix)

Another delicious season of Phil Rosenthal traveling the world and eating delicious foods and giving us his hammy delighted dad smiles awaits! This season, Phil is going to Amsterdam, Tbilisi, Sydney, Adelaide, Manila, Las Vegas, Guatemala, Basque Country and Boston to sample their best noshes, meet locals and break bread with new and old friends.

Judaism rating: 3/4 couch potato latkes, for Phil's Jewish dad jokes and haimish spirit

June 18: “House of Promises” (ChaiFlicks)

This show, from the creators of "Babylon Berlin," is a kind of German "The Paradise." It is about an ambitious young woman from Berlin's working class, Vicky Maler (Naemi Florez), who chases her dreams and finds work and romance at Jonass, a glamorous, Jewish-owned department store that's central to the economic boom in the German capital during the Weimar Republic.

Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes

June 19: “We Were Liars “ (Prime Video)

This adaptation of the bestselling teen thriller by Jewish author E. Lockhart is about a group of teens who call themselves the Liars who vacation on an island off Martha’s Vineyard together each summer. It stars Esther McGregor, aka Ewan McGregor and production designer Eve Mavrakis’s Jewish daughter, as Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, a member of the rich Sinclair family that owns the Island and one of the the Liars. Esther is a super talented actress, model, musician and… tattoo artist?! Check out this 2021 tattoo she did of the Hebrew word for love, “ahava.”

Judaism score: 0.5/4 couch potato latkes.

June 23: “Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything” (Hulu) Documentary

This new documentary about the late and great news maven Barbara Walters will explore her life and the groundbreaking interviews she did with celebrities and word leaders. Nobody had chutzpah quite like Barbara, and I can’t wait to watch it. I’m especially interested to see the film explore the controversial interview with Monica Lewinsky and the way the two became friends afterwards. (Lewinsky is one of many Jewish celebrities featured in the doc.)

Judaism score: 2/4 couch potato latkes

June 27: “Smoke “ (Apple TV+)

Jewish actress Jurnee Smollett (“Lovecraft Country,” “True Blood”) stars as detective Michelle Calderone in this new show based on the real arsons of John Leonard Orr. Her character pairs up with an arson investigator played by Taron Egerton as they try to catch the serial arsonist. Jurnee is always magnetizing on screen and this show, from “The Wire,” “Mystic River,” “Shutter Island” and “Boardwalk Empire” writer Dennis Lehane, seems super promising.

Judaism score: 0.25/4 couch potato latkes