Celebrity Jews
benyamin cohen
Shyne on
Rapper Shyne is currently serving the fourth year of a 10-year sentence for taking part in a 1999 shooting brawl with his then-mentor Sean “Puffy” Combs and Jennifer Lopez. While Combs and Lopez got off scot-free, Shyne doesn’t hold a grudge. His faith — the Brooklyn-born Shyne considers himself Jewish and says his great-grandmother was an Ethiopian Jew — is carrying him through the hard times. And he’s using the High Holy Day season to show his remorse, and release his new album. “I pray five times a day,” he told Rolling Stone. “I went through that, then I understood it’s about loyalty. The same loyalty I expected from my co-defendant is the same loyalty the maker of the universe expect[s] from me.”
No Sharona
Bitty Schram, who splays the spunky sidekick Sharona on the USA network’s hit series “Monk,” is leaving the detective business. “‘Monk’ has decided to go in a different creative direction with some of its characters,” a USA spokesman said. “Bitty will not continue with the cast, and we thank her for her notable contributions and wish her the very best.” While the split sounds amicable, there have actually been rumblings in recent weeks that Schram wasn’t happy with her current contract and had salary disputes. That may explain why a recently filmed episode didn’t even feature Schram.
Survivor: Brooklyn
For those of you who have been enjoying UPN’s “Amish in the City” this summer, boy do we have a show for you. Producers of “The Mazel Tov Chronicles,” a 13-part documentary series that will follow a family as it travels to Israel and observes Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat, is currently casting. If you’re interested, send an e-mail to [email protected]. But keep in mind that conflict is what sells on television. “If they happen to be screaming or yelling at each other, even better,” says Daniel Leipnik, the president of Vibrance Alive Entertainment, the company producing the show.
Shul of rock
According to Internet chatter, “Saturday Night Live” scribe Tina Fey has just sold her script about a Chassidic Jew and a grizzled rock musician who form a band. Yes, but will it star Lindsay Lohan?
KISS and makeup
What have we done to deserve such an outpouring of love from the TV gods? A report has surfaced that KISS frontman and perennial Jewboy Gene Simmons will be getting a makeover — gay style. Bravo has confirmed that it is in talks with the makeup wearing rocker to appear on an upcoming episode of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” If you don’t already have a TiVo, get one. This is one hour of television you don’t want to miss.
Schwimmer gains weight
What’s a guy to do when his No. 1-rated sitcom goes off the air? Direct, of course. David Schwimmer of “Friends” has been tapped to direct the romantic comedy “Run, Fat Boy, Run,” the offbeat story of an overweight guy who leaves his bride at the altar only to decide he wants her back years later. And the running reference? Well, that has something to do with said fat guy running the New York Marathon in an attempt to win her back. The script, written by “Ed’s” Michael Ian Black, is not the first directing gig for Schwimmer. He directed 10 episodes of “Friends” and will be directing several episodes of the “Friends”-spinoff “Joey.” This is all well and good, but how does Rachel play into all of this?
Columnist Benyamin Cohen is the editor of Jewsweek magazine (www.jewsweek.com).