Famed ventriloquist and creator of the iconic puppet Lamb Chop, Shari Lewis was one of the few women to run her own television production company at a time when most women were shut out of the industry. Lewis and Lamb Chop entertained generations of children with their many television shows, including specials about Hanukkah and Passover. Mallory Lewis, Emmy Award-winning performer and daughter of Shari, and TV writer-producer Nat Segaloff, join Moment editor Sarah Breger for a conversation about Lewis’ stage and TV career, how Judaism influenced her work, the challenges of being a businesswoman in a male dominated field and how she and her puppet became iconic stars loved by millions. Mallory Lewis and Segaloff are the authors of the forthcoming book Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop: The Team That Changed Children’s Television.
This program is in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month.
Aimee Ginsburg Bikel was the wife of the late Theodore Bikel, the renowned actor, folksinger and activist. She reflects on her friendship with actor Ed Asner, best known for playing Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, who passed away on August 29.
TV became the preeminent communication force in society from the 1960s onward, with Jews at the creative and business forefront. Walter J. Podrazik and Harry Castleman continue their entertaining survey of the medium’s history with a focus on influential figures such as Fred Silverman, Brandon Tartikoff, Barry Diller and Sumner Redstone and the groundbreaking shows they brought to the screen such as Seinfeld, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angels, Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, The Simpsons and The Big Bang Theory plus made-for-TV movies and miniseries such as Roots. Their achievements paved the way for the growth of cable, and eventually streaming.
For some younger, hipper members of the hat-conscious, ultra-Orthodox crowd, the old black is also the new black.
But in the Israeli-made streaming series The New...
B.F. Pierce is a brilliantly developed, multifaceted character, perhaps best analyzed by M.A.S.H.’s Army psychiatrist, the Jewish Dr. Sydney Friedman (played by Alan Arbus). The doctor’s observation that “while anger turned inward becomes depression, anger turned sideways is Hawkeye Pierce.”