Welcome to the inaugural JCTV Awards! A tough couple of years has seen television promoted to not just the opiate of the masses, but loads of other drugs as well. With the black box our literal portal to the outside world, here we celebrate the pleasures of reconnecting to our peoplehood, whilst reposed on the sofa, wearing our pyjamas three days in a row.
TOUGHEST TV JEW
What a time we live in, where not only can this be a category, but there’s so much choice! Brett Goldstein in Ted Lasso might seem like an obvious victor, but the character’s violence is only ever implied, and his Judaism non-existent. Not so with Tracy-Ann Oberman, and the fact I’m scared of what she’ll do to me if she doesn’t win speaks to how she had to soften her portrayal of a Jew that fights back in Ridley Road. Special shout out to the Mizrahi tank crew in Valley of Tears who consistently stepped up and kicked ass, even when the society they were protecting weren’t protecting them.
Winner: Lior Raz in Hit & Run. As if there was any doubt. Taking his real life experiences in an elite army unit first to Fauda, then America in this show, Lior is the Jewish Stallone, Stratham, and Willis all in one. But, unlike them, he can also make up a minyan.
MOST RELIGIOUS MOMENT
On screen the perennial shorthand for illustrating someone’s a practicing Jew is lighting the candles on Shabbat. A vintage year with The Club, Ridley Road, Luxe Listings Sydney, and Scenes from a Marriage all embracing the trope. Special points to Curb Your Enthusiasm for utilising the shofar as a burglar alarm.
Unfortunately Shtisel has requested to be prohibited from this category, as they don’t watch TV. A shame, as otherwise they’d have wiped the floor with the others.
Winner: The Shrink Next Door. Paul Rudd’s beautiful rendition of the blessing before the reading of the Torah is the golden standard, and should be used to teach all future barmitzvah classes.
