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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:SMURF::FENSTER
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1524
Total number of notes:18709

776.0. "Chicken Soup" by ABE::STARIN (Standby to standby) Wed Sep 20 1989 09:47

    I've found myself getting hooked on "Chicken Soup" with Jackie Mason
    and Lynn Redgrave.
    
    I guess what really has caught my attention is how Mason weaves
    his Judaic outlook on life (not to mention his rabbinic background)
    in with his jokes. He also manages to put a couple of references
    to G_d in each show, something not ordinarily found on network TV.
    
    Not to mention, the actress who plays his mother on the show steals
    a few scenes herself, usually when she's in a conversation with
    Mason.
    
    The critics have said it's a recycle of "Bridget Loves Bernie" but
    I think Mason makes it just different enough to put a new perspective
    on it, especially with his monologues at the beginning and end of
    the show.
    
    Mark
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
776.1In stereo-type, where available.BAGELS::SREBNICKBad pblm now? Wait 'til we solve it!Fri Sep 22 1989 17:4320
I will admit that the humor in the show I saw was quite good.  I could get used
to it.  If I can get by being offended by the stereotypes, and overlook the
fact that people's accents regularly change from American to British to Irish
and back again, often within the same sentence, I think the humor is funny.

I do have a question for all you trivia buffs:  How many sit-coms and weekly
series can you think of that have a non-intermarried Jewish couple in a 
major role? (I don't mean that the actors are Jewish, I mean the characters. 
People's Court doesn't count.)  Ever seen a somewhat religious Jewish person 
who wasn't a Rabbi?

I don't mean to offend anyone on the intermarriage issue.  I don't want to
start a discussion on intermarriage.

It's just  that the media's portrayal of Jews, especailly in sit-coms (but
excluding documentaries and mini-series), is limited to about 4 categories of
people: Chassidim, Jewish grandmothers and grandfathers with eastern European
accents, Orthodox Rabbis, and intermarried couples.

Hey Hollywood: how about a role model or two for us Conservative Jews?
776.2Wit and WisdomABE::STARINStandby to standbyTue Sep 26 1989 13:3624
    Re .1:
    
    I agree that Hollywood stereotypes characters. For example, it's
    popular now to characterize in general caucasian women with blond hair
    as "dumb" and all black people as "smart" just as 30 years ago in
    Marilyn Monroe's heyday blond was "in" and 50 years ago all
    blacks had was Stepin Fetchit as a role model.
    
    I was also a little concerned at first about Jackie Mason's characterization
    being almost stereotypical. I thought to myself, "No self-respecting
    person would allow themselves to be stereotyped in this way." Then I
    began to ignore the accent and listen to what he was saying thru his
    character; I came to the realization that this was a Rabbi who happened
    also to be a comedian. He was teaching (as I'm sure he does in "The
    World According To Me") while cracking jokes.
    
    Not that the story line of "Chicken Soup" is always profound but
    it does at least offer Mason a chance to slip a profound statement
    or two into the story which is more than can be said for some of
    the sitcoms on the tube today.
    
    Just some opinions.....
    
    Mark
776.3the lawyer in Frank's PlaceSHALOT::GELBERTue Sep 26 1989 15:244
<I do have a question for all you trivia buffs:  . . .
<Ever seen a somewhat religious Jewish person 
<who wasn't a Rabbi?