Chosen TV: “How to Make it in America”

When we saw the promo material for HBO’s new comedy-ish series,How to Make it in America,we confess to experiencing a certain amount of trepidation. On the one hand, we saw that the male lead, Ben, is played by Bryan Greenberg (top, left), whomwe intervieweda few years agoand found to be just the kind of NJB you’d want to take home to momma. It also features, in the role of female lead Rachel, Lake Bell, who may have never evidenced any interest in speaking to us, and who’s mother may be a WASP, but she was born "Lake Bell Siegel," and since her dad’s a Levi and so is Jewdar, that makes us pretty much cousins (and besides, "Lake Bell" sounds like it should be the site of a Jewish Catskills resort).

On the other hand, we know a thing or two about Hollywood math, and how quickly Jew-and-a-Half Men can turn into a couple of Italians. But Jewdar, like Anne Frank, likes to think that deep down, people are really good at heart, so we decided to give the show, about a bunch of dreamy young hipster New York types of various genders and races trying to make it in the big city, it a chance.

The credits began to roll with a montage of New York scenes, and we said to the missus–"Soon we’ll see the shot of the Hasid to show that it’s really New York," and sure enough, there it was, and we were afraid that would be the last Jew we’d see. But then we see Ben in his Williamsburg apartment (which, in defense of the show, may be the smallest and most accurate depiction of a NYC apartment since The Honeymooners), and his-panic friend Cam riding to see him on the back of a bicycle ridden by a Chasidic kid, who again, to the show’s credit, actually is dressed like a real Hasidic kid and has giant peyos. Cam leaves him with a "Thanks Avi, stay strong, He-brew." which definitely stands out as a Jewy TV moment.

But this, of course, is just icing on the glatt kosher beefcake, which is that "Ben" is "Ben Epstein," and,according to Greenberg, is a Member of the Tribe. And that’s not all, because adding to the mix is Ben’s high school friend, David Kaplan, a self-identified Jew played by Eddie Kaye Thomas (top, right), who is not only an MOT in real life, but has certainly got someexperience in playing one, too.

So creator Ian Edelman, we’re sorry we doubted you–you’e already earned your place in the Jewdar TV Hall of Fame simply by having two Jewish characters.

As for the show itself, we certainly found it watchable and with potential. We would caution Edelman that dreamy as Greenberg is, they should avoid the "Fonzie Effect," since it seems they want us to know that Ben is cool. Not just cool enough to play ball with the bouncer at the hot club, but so cool that he knows the prebuscent black kid hustling candy on the train–a relationship suspiciously like the one betweenFonzie and Booker Brown in the "Football Frolics" episode of Happy Days. Leaving aside the absurdity of the show (see "Fonzie Effect, above), combined with the scene of Cam hanging out with the Hasidic kid (and since the Hasidic kid lives in Williamsburg, and Cam lives in Alphabet City, it’s not like they’re neighbors), these guys are spending a suspicious amount of time with young boys. You might want to shift gears there, Ian.

But all in all, we’ll say while we weren’t completely sold (like the character Gingy’s father, we’d like to see some actual results and not just talk), there’s enough going on (Hello,Luis Guzman!) that we’re definitely going to give it a few more weeks. And who knows, maybe Ian will go all the way, and make Rachel that rarest of TV rare birds, an NJG, and perhaps even break Hollywood’s last taboo, and present an attractive, appealing, young Jewish couple.

What do you think?