With PBS in the lead, there will be a large number of television shows with Jewish themes airing this fall and winter.
A full slate of programming from the Shalom TV cable network will join them. And CBS will offer a comedy-drama imported from Israel — but wholly Americanized.
PBS
KQED Channel 9 will air “The Jewish People: A Story of Survival” on three dates in September. The program has aired before, but here’s another opportunity to see an often-interesting abridgment of 5,000-plus years. The show airs Sept. 12 at 3:30 a.m., Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. and Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Filmmaker Joanna Rudnick was 27 years old when she tested positive for a breast cancer gene. Her documentary, “In the Family,” recounts how she confronts her mortality and the difficult decisions she must make about her body. While this is not a Jewish show, per se, the gene in question is common among Ashkenazi women. The documentary airs Oct. 1 at 10 p.m.
“God on Trial” (see sidebar) is a compelling drama about a group of prisoners in Auschwitz who put God on trial. It stars Antony Sher and Rupert Graves, and airs Nov. 9 at 9 p.m.
A two-hour Nova special, “The Bible’s Buried Secrets,” will have its share of controversy, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times, in part for disputing literal readings of the Bible.
The special combines scholarship and science to investigate the origins of the Israelites, their belief in a single omnipotent God and the creation of the Bible. It suggests that the Hebrews continued to worship pagan gods even after Abraham’s covenant. In fact, many Israelites believed God had a wife, and worshipped her as an idol. That changed with the destruction of the First Temple and exile to Babylon. It was then that the idea of a single universal god emerged. It is scheduled to air Nov. 18 at 8 p.m.
“Inheritance” (see sidebar) refers to the legacy Amon Goeth, the infamous concentration camp commander, left for his daughter, Monika Hertwig. She searches for redemption in the form of Helene Jonas, a prisoner who worked in Goeth’s house. It airs in December, time and date to be determined.
No time and date has been set yet for “Lights! A Hanukkah Celebration.” It includes Michelle Citrin, a folksinger who has become well known through her YouTube videos (“Rosh Hashanah Girl” and “20 Things to Do With Matzoh.” Other performers include the Klezmatics (doing the music of Woody Guthrie), Mare Winningham (the actress, singer and recent Jew-by-choice) and saxophonist Dave Koz.
CBS
Elizabeth Reaser plays Betsy Bloom a single, 30-something business owner who is surprised when a psychic tells her that she’s already dated her future husband, but if she doesn’t find out who he is she’ll be single for the rest of her life.
The show, called “The Ex List,” is based on the hit Israeli TV series “Mythological X,” but the American version has lost all vestiges of Jewishness. The one-hour show airs Fridays at 9 p.m. starting Oct. 3.
Shalom TV
Shalom TV, a channel devoted to Jewish themes and the State of Israel, is a free service on digital cable available in more than 20 million homes nationwide. A U.S.-based network with shows in English, it is carried as a video-on-demand feature on Comcast, Time Warner Cable and other digital cable systems. Shows don’t air at a specific time, but each show runs for only a certain time period (a new programming lineup appears every Sunday).
In September, the network will air what it calls the “Babi Yar Concert and Poem.” The backstory: On Sept. 29 and 30, 1941, the Nazi SS, supported by other German troops, collaborators and Ukrainian police murdered nearly 34,000 Jewish civilians near Babi Yar, a ravine just outside the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. The special will include the two-piano first movement of the Shostakovich Symphony No. 13, inspired by the Yevgeny Yevtushenko poem “Babi Yar.” Following the performance, Yevtushenko will read his work. The show is available from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30.
The network will air two High Holy Day specials, both part of its regular series, “L’Chaym for Rosh Hashanah” (airing Sept. 21 to Oct. 1). Series host Rabbi Mark S. Golub will explain the traditions of the holiday. For the Yom Kippur edition (airing Sept. 28 to Oct. 9), he’ll be joined by Rabbi Eugene Borowitz for a discussion on the Jewish view of God.