This post originally ran on our Jewish TV Club Substack.
If February made your soul weary, I’m pleased to let you know that March is here and it is full of diverting and fabulous Jewish TV. It is, after all, also the Jewish month of Adar, when we celebrate Purim, and as the Jewish saying goes, “When Adar enters, joy increases.” Turns out that’s also true for your TV diet, too.
From countless comedy specials by some of my all-time favorites to a new Jew-y show about Hollywood, to some delightful movie streaming premieres, here’s what you can look forward to watching this March.
March 4: “Ester Steinberg: Schmear Campaign” (Amazon Prime)
One of my all time favorite Jewish comedians is out with a new special! I’m so thrilled. Steinberg always puts her Jewish identity front and center in her humor, and she’s also so wonderfully candid and delightfully raunchy. Her 2021 special “Burning Bush” both made me feel seen as a Jewish mom and made me laugh my tuches off. I have equally high hopes for the excellently named “Schmear Campaign.”
March 7: “Heretic” (Max)
There are some Jewish bits in this horror movie which stars Hugh Grant as an anti-religion serial killer who traps two Mormon missionaries in his home. I was too scared to watch it in the theater, so I’m excited (and also still scared) to watch it with one to two eyes closed at all times — if only for Hugh Grant and his Jewish theology musings. (Who else here still can’t handle horror films?? Shout out to you!)
March 11: “Iliza Shlesinger: A Different Animal” (Prime Video)
Jewish comedian Iliza Shlesinger is back for the first time since her 2022 Netflix “Hot Forever.” This new special appears to be a millennial rallying cry, and as a millennial, I am here for it and for Iliza’s outfit, too.
March 13: “The Parenting” (Max)
I’m obligated to tell you that real life Jewish mom Lisa Kudrow plays a mom in this queer horror movie in which a gay couple bring their parents to meet each other at a quaint bed and breakfast only to discover it is haunted by a 400-year-old entity, you know, as it happens. Kudrow’s son is also played by a nice Jewish actor, the very easy on the eyes Brandon Flynn. This movie comes from Craig Johnson who directed and co-wrote “The Skeleton Twins,” one of my personal faves. I can’t believe I am going to watch two horror movies this month!!
March 14: “Beau Is Afraid” (Max)
One last horror film for this list, and one that I will most definitely not be watching, is “Beau Is Afraid” from Jewish “Midsommar” director Ari Aster. Unlike the other horror movies on this list, this one actually centers a Jewish family and mentions Jewish mourning and burial rituals. Our protagonist Beau Wasserman is played by Joaquin Phoenix and his Jewish mother by Patti Lupone and Zoe Lister-Jones in flashbacks. Her attorney is played by Richard Kind. Yet despite this incredible cast, there’s absolutely zero chance I will ever sleep again if I watch one of Aster’s movies, so I’m going to pass on this one.
March 17: “Anora” (Hulu)
That’s right, Oscar darling “Anora” will finally be available to stream. The movie has two incredible young Jewish stars at its center, Mikey Madison who plays Brighton Beach-bred stripper Ani, and Russian Jewish star Mark Eydelshteyn who plays the spoiled and infectiously energetic Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch. While there are some clues that the characters might be Jewish and Brighton Beach is home to many a Russian Jew, none of it is ever really explicitly spelled out in the film, but every moment with Mark and Mikey on screen is full of acting excellence. Warning: This is not a movie for family movie night!
March 20: “Family Therapy” (ChaiFlicks)
This award-winning Argentinian comedy about Susi, a therapist who decides to split from her husband but continues their work as co-psychotherapists after her father’s death, features an independent and entrepreneurial Jewish bubbe, or bobe, played by Nora Cárpena.
March 25: “Chelsea Handler: The Feeling” (Netflix)
Comedian and host Chelsea Handler is back with her raunchy and irreverent humor in this new special. Is there anything more Jewish than having a trailer for your special that features an R-rated joke about pickles? I think not.
March 26: “The Studio” (Apple TV+)
With all due respect to all the other excellent contenders on this list, this is my most anticipated show of March 2025. Seth Rogen stars as a newly promoted Hollywood studio exec named Mark Resnick who tries to prove himself worthy of the job while keeping true to what brought him there in the first place, a love of film. Ike Barinholtz and Dave Krumholz are just some of the exciting Jewish stars who appear to be playing Jews in Hollywood, but the cast of this show is truly legendary, from a guest appearance of Martin Scorcese to the much-anticipated TV return of our beloved Catherine O’Hara (we miss “Schitt’s Creek” so MUCH!) and former TV rabbi Kathryn Hahn to Bryan Cranston playing a Hollywood big shot. As a TV lover who is also a huge film buff, I am so sold on this show.
March 27: “Paul American” (Max)
This new show centers boxer and social media influencer brothers Jake and Logan Paul. As it turns out, the Paul family has some Jewish roots, and Jake Paul recently proudly shared that he’s Jewish on X. Do with that information what you will.
March 28: “Reformed” (Max)
OK, just kidding, this is actually my most anticipated new show of March 2025. It’s based on the real-life story of famous French Rabbi Delphine Horvielleur, the third female rabbi in the country and a celebrated writer and Jewish leader, and it looks funny and heartfelt. It’s based on Horvilleur’s book “Vivre avec nos morts,” or “Living With Our Dead” in English, and it stars Elsa Guedj (“Standing Up”) as Lea, a character based on Horvilleur, working to support her Jewish community through simchas and tragedies. I’m just so excited for it.
March 28: “Mid-Century Modern” (Hulu)
This is the last TV project of the legendary Linda Lavin. In this show, Lavin plays Nathan Lane’s mother, Sybil Schniederman, an overly critical but loving Jewish mom. Pamela Adlon plays his sister, Mindy. The show centers on Lane’s Bunny Schneiderman, who moves his two gay best friends — Matt Bomer’s Jerry Frank and Nathan Lee Graham’s Arthur Broussard — into the fancy Palm Springs home where he lives with his mother. And just as exciting as all that — the show is helmed by two legendary TV Jews, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, the geniuses who brought us “Will & Grace.” Season one will feature an episode wishing Lavin and her character farewell, titled “Here’s to you, Mrs Schneiderman.”
“Saying goodbye to Linda Lavin was heartbreaking,” Mutchnick shared on his Instagram. After she passed away, the producer and writer shared a picture of the star with a Hanukkah menorah, lit for the holiday’s second night. “You were a Festival of Lights. I will miss you,” he wrote. May her memory be for a blessing.
