Originally and it may still be] a-work-in-progress... Yet, I have decided to move beyond the comfort of my computer and four little walls of an apartment, and share a labor of love that has taken me twenty-five years to bring out of the closet so too speak. So pull out those old LP's or CD's of a lil Coltrane, Carol Sloane, Shirley Horn, Miles Davis and of course Lady Day. And for all of you new kids on the block, Jill Scott, Remy Shand and Ledisi Young, too So light some aroma-therapy candles, burn some incense and then allow me to transport you back to a time of growth for some and a revelation for others, for I am the product of: the Civil Rights era/the BEATLES/the SUPREMES/ both the Korean/& VIETNAM wars/the1963 march on Washington...

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

From 1989 through 2002 there was an unprecedented surge in American sitcoms featuring explicitly, Jewish lead characters, 32 compared to seven in the previous 40 years. Several of these ""Mad About You"", ""The Nanny"" and ""Friends"" - were among the most popular and influential of all shows over this period; one programme - ""Seinfeld"" - has been singled out as the ""defining"" series of the 90s. In addition, scriptwriters have increasingly created ""Jewish"" characters, although they may not be perceived to be by the show's audience. Rachel Green on ""Friends"" being only one example. Here, Vincent Brook asks two key questions: why has this trend appeared at this particular historical moment and what is the significance of this phenomenon for Jews and non-Jews alike? He takes readers through three key phases of the Jewish sitcom trend: the early years of televisions before and after the first Jewish sitcom, ""The Goldbergs"", appeared; the second phase in which America found itself ""Under the Sign of Seinfeld""; and the current era of what Brook calls ""post-Jewishness"". Interviews with key writers, producers and showrunners such as David Kohan (""Will and Grace""), Marta Kauffman (""Friends"" and ""Dream On""), Bill Prady (Dharma and Greg""), Peter Mehlman and Carol Leifer (""Seinfeld""),and close readings of individual episodes and series provoke the conclusion that we have entered uncharted ""post-Jewish"" territory. The rise of the Jewish sitcom represents a broader struggle in which American Jews and the TV industry, if not American society as a whole, are increasingly operating at cross-purposes - torn between the desire to celebrate unique ethnic identities, yet to assimilate; to assert independence, yet also to build a consensus to appeal to the widest possible audience.