WHAT ARE ISRAELIS WATCHING IN BETWEEN MISSILE ATTACKS? SEINFELD AND MUCH MORE

If Jerry Seinfeld were in Israel now, he might open a monologue with the words, “Don’t you just hate it when the Iranians keep firing ballistic missiles on Israel?”

And the iconic show, Seinfeld, currently available in Israel on Netflix, is one of the many series Israelis are tuning in to when they need to chill out between the booms. You might think people would be glued to the news, but not all are. “We’re living the news,” said one man. “I’ve got the app [that warns of imminent Iranian missiles] and I can’t stand hearing them talk, talk, talk about where each missile landed.” He’d rather watch “the show about nothing,” Seinfeld, he said. 

In a thoroughly unscientific study of Israelis’ viewing habits during this latest war with Iran, Seinfeld was high on many people’s lists of shows that took their minds off things – at least briefly. But the answers to the question about comfort viewing during this conflict were as diverse as Israel’s population. 

American sitcoms from years past, like Seinfeld, were high on the list. Friends is go-to comfort viewing for many, but unfortunately, because it is no longer on Netflix, many are trolling the Internet for ways to watch it. There is an Israeli Facebook group in Hebrew with over 32,000 members devoted to all things Friends, including finding a place to watch it, and to join the group, you have to submit your favorite quotes from the show. 

One Jerusalemite has recently begun to re-watch episodes of the Tina Fey comedy series, 30 Rock, about the staff of a sitcom. He admits he found it so comforting he used to watch it even through missile strikes by the Houthis from Yemen, staying put in his living room, but now that the ballistic missiles are rolling in from Iran, he hits the pause button and takes shelter. 

These light-hearted sitcoms definitely hit the sweet spot for many. Other names that came up were two thematically similar mother-daughter shows, Gilmore Girls and Ginny & Georgia, both on Netflix. The Dynasty reboot on Netflix also got a few votes, as did the appealing series, New Girl. Others are turning to the multi-generational dramedy, Parenthood, on Netflix.

One woman said that now that she can’t go into the office, she has time to delve into 20 years’ worth of the popular drama, Grey’s Anatomy. Another woman, whose partner is in hi-tech, is enjoying Silicon Valley, the very funny show about a computer genius with no business savvy trying to market an app. 

Some people look for more action to entertain them in the pauses between missile attacks. Tehran, which was originally shown and can still be seen on Kan 11 in Israel and on Apple TV+ in Israel and around the world with English subtitles, is perfect viewing for some. 

It focuses on a young, fearless Mossad agent and computer hacker, Tamar (Niv Sultan), who manages to smuggle her way into Iran in the first episode, with the goal of destroying the Iranian nuclear program. One aspect of the show, that may be particularly appropriate now, is that as she hides out in Iran, Tamar comes into contact with all kinds of Iranian people. Some, not surprisingly, are powerful generals and intelligence agents who support the regime, but many are idealistic students, feminists, and anti-regime activists. It’s a welcome reminder that Iran is full of people who oppose the regime as firmly as Israelis do.

However, some said that while they previously enjoyed Fauda, the series about an Israeli counterterrorism unit in the West Bank, Gaza, and Europe, Tehran is not their cup of tea at that moment. 

TV keeping spirits high

Various kinds of reality TV shows are keeping people’s spirits high. A few people told me they are enjoying baking shows. “It’s hard to bake when you don’t know when you’ll have to go to the bomb shelter, so I watch The Great Australian Bakeoff.” Is It Cake?, the Netflix show where people bake cakes that look like all kinds of objects, is also popular. “That’s about all my brain cells can handle now,” one woman said. Another woman said she had discovered Good Mythical Morning on YouTube, a series where two quirky guys compare restaurant foods and rate all kinds of brands, which is far more entertaining than a short description makes it sound. Hoarders is also gaining viewers. “I like to watch people get more organized while we’re dealing with all this chaos,” one man told me. 

One important point for those looking for entertainment is that the various television services, such as Hot and Yes, are opening up their premium content for free for the duration of the hostilities. 

Yes has created a program with beloved children’s entertainer Tal Mosseri and a representative of the Home Front Command, who will answer children’s questions about what’s going on now, and each episode will feature another children’s star, such as Yuval Hamebulbal. Premium content children’s channels are now free. 

Yes and Sting+ are also releasing home improvement content and sports programming for free. Details are available on their website. Hot and other platforms are making some premium content available for free now. 

There were some outliers who said they preferred violent action series. One man said that he was finding solace watching Squid Game, the Korean show on Netflix about a game with a huge prize where all the contestants but one get killed. “It’s pretty bad when you turn to Squid Game to calm down,” he said. “I hope this is over before I finish the new season.” Will he keep watching the killing fields on the series after the war ends? “I doubt it,” he said. “I won’t watch anything, I’ll go outside.”

2025-06-21T00:20:16Z