Slow down, guys — “Hardcore Pawn” is not what it sounds like. It’s actually a hit show for the truTV cable network about third-generation pawnbroker Les Gold and his family, and their 50,000-square-foot business, American Jewelry and Loan. Located in the tough Eight Mile section of Detroit, the business has customers lining up outside hours…
Vulgar. Distasteful. Primitive. Ugly. These are just a few of the adjectives Russian speakers spat out in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn on August 12, the day after the premiere of Lifetime’s new reality show, “Russian Dolls.” But for all their feelings about the negative light in which the show cast them, some were…
For the past few days, I’ve been planning to write about a young woman from the “Teen Mom” series on MTV and her apparent suicide attempt. I’ve been pondering this genre of “teen fertility reality TV” for a long time, particularly whether there’s a genuine educational benefit and how that benefit might weigh against the…
“I’m travelling to L.A. with a dream in my suitcase and butterflies in my stomach. I’m looking for the end of a string to grab and create an opportunity to conquer the world,” sings Dudu Aharon in the first seconds of the opening sequence for “Chai b’LaLa Land” (“Living in LaLa Land”), a new Israeli…
Jennifer Pozner’s new book, “Reality Bites Back,” is out this week. In its pages, she takes our favorite “guilty pleasure” genre of TV to task for racism, sexism and manipulation of its audience. Pozner spoke recently with The Sisterhood. Her satirical book trailer is below, and the interview follows. Sarah Seltzer: How did your interest…
Malkah Winter feels the need to express herself creatively, and she comes by it genetically. The daughter of the late Yiddish theater owner and producer, Oscar Ostroff, Winter has been single-handedly directing, producing and editing Jewish Life TV’s new reality show, “In Over Our Heads.” The show aims to smash stereotypes surrounding suburban Orthodox Jews…
In the world of Israeli popular culture, the most popular maternal figure at the moment is a very different kind of Jewish mother — a proud Arab Muslim who prays five times daily, calls the Koran her favorite book, obsessively puffs on a hookah pipe and proudly wears a keffiyah. Futna Jabber is one of…
Israeli entertainment just can’t seem to stop generating controversy at the moment. In recent days, we have had Holocaust survivors taking offense at a skit with Hitler looking for parking in Tel Aviv, Christians taking offense at a skit on Jesus and Mary, and now it is Muslims who have been insulted. Settler Natan Beshevkin,…
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