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The Jewish Stars of Summer TV

[additional-authors]
May 24, 2018
Ellie Kendrick and Felicity Jones. Photo courtesy of AcornTV.

Andy Cohen channels his inner yenta the matchmaker when “Love Connection” returns to Fox for its second season on May 29.

Howie Mandel will be back at the judges’ table with Simon Cowell, Melanie Brown and Heidi Klum when the variety competition “America’s Got Talent” begins its 13th season May 29 on NBC.

Playing a role dramatically different from Alicia in “The Good Wife,” Julianna Margulies portrays a shallow, appearance-obsessed fashion magazine editor in “Dietland,” a dark comedy that tackles such timely topics as body image, misogyny, sexual abuse and feminist revenge. Based on Sarai Walker’s 2015 best-seller, it premieres June 4 on AMC.

Alicia Silverstone is the titular lead in TV Land’s dramedy series “American Woman,” premiering June 7 on Paramount Network. Set in the 1970s and inspired by the early family life of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Kyle Richards, it’s about a suddenly single mother struggling to raise her two daughters.

The 72nd annual Tony Awards air June 10 on CBS, and there are several nominated Members of the Tribe. Film stars Amy Schumer and Andrew Garfield are nominated for their Broadway stage performances in “Meteor Shower” and the revival of “Angels in America,” respectively. “The Band’s Visit,” a musical based on the 2007 Israeli movie of the same name, is up for 11 awards, including best musical (Marc Platt and David F. Schwartz are among the producers). Its composer, David Yazbek, book author Itamar Moses and supporting actor Ari’el Stachel also are nominated.

Andy Cohen. Photo by Ray Mickshaw/Fox.
Alicia Silverstone. Photo by Ray Mickshaw/Fox.

Amy Irving will guest star on Showtime’s “The Affair,” playing a sculptor that Cole (Joshua Jackson) seeks out midway through the season. The character is a mysterious figure from his father’s past, and he visits her to get questions answered. The fourth season kicks off on June 14.

In its second season, the women wrestlers of Netflix’s “Glow” are dealing with the realities of their newfound fame, for better or worse. The ’80s-set series starring Alison
Brie and Marc Maron premieres on Netflix June 29.

First broadcast in the U.S. on PBS in 2010, the five-part BBC adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” begins streaming exclusively on AcornTV June 11. The cast includes Ellie Kendrick as Anne, Felicity Jones as Margot, and Iain Glen as their father, Otto.

The 1989 dark comedy “Heathers” has received an episodic-format reboot and a bit of a sex change: one of the teenage Heathers is male. Selma Blair plays the stripper mother of one of the girls in the series, which premieres July 10 on Paramount Network.

Julianna Margulies. Photo Credit: Patrick Harbron/AMC
Howie Mandel. Photo by Trae Patton/NBC.

Producer J.J. Abrams joins forces with Stephen King for the new horror series “Castle Rock,” about scary goings on in a Maine town. King wrote the scripts for the episodes, based on characters in his stories, and Sissy Spacek and Scott Glenn head the ensemble cast. It begins streaming July 25 on Hulu.

In “Like Father,” Seth Rogen sets the plot in motion when he leaves Kristen Bell at the altar and she goes on their planned honeymoon cruise with her estranged dad (Kelsey Grammer).  The comedy launches Aug. 3 on Netflix.

Lizzy Caplan stars opposite Michael Pena in the movie “Extinction,” about a family fighting to survive after alien force invades the planet. It premieres Aug. 10 on Netflix.

On Aug. 19, Ian Ziering returns in “Sharknado 6,” the final movie in the campy
Syfy movie series. Set post-apocalypse, it sends his character, Fin, back in time to stop the original “Sharknado” attack and save
the world.

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