Shtisel, Seasons 3 & 4 

Available on Netflix

Created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky

Starring Doval’e Glickman, Michael Aloni, and Neta Riskin

I recommended this TV drama in April. At the time, I was just starting Season 3. I wrote the following:

The word that comes to mind when I try to describe how I like this series is “delicious.” I don’t watch it. I consume it. And it gives me the sort of aesthetic pleasure that can best be compared to a bar of Hershey’s chocolate. No, not Hershey’s. That’s too American. It’s like biting into a Toblerone.

Since then, I’ve devoured the rest of that season and all of Season 4. I’m happy to report that they were every bit as good as – maybe better than – the first two seasons. So, I’m recommending Shtisel again.

Shtisel is an Israeli television drama that tells the story of an ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) family that lives in the ultra-orthodox Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem.

It’s great TV on several levels. For starters, it provides an intimate view of a group of people that are, on the one hand, very dissimilar to us and, on the other hand, so relatable in their thoughts, feelings, and actions that they become almost like family.

Another reason Shtisel is great: Other dramas of this type struggle after a season or two to come up with new problems for their characters to solve. But the Haredi community, as journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer wrote in the Israeli publication Haaretz, “provides [plenty of] them ready-made.”

A third reason: The themes are at once universal and personal – the bonds of family, the pursuit of love, the relationship between the living and the dead, etc.

This quote from a fan summed it up for me: “I’m a Norwegian Christian, and watching Shtisel makes me long for my childhood in Geula.”

Critical Reception

The first season of Shtisel was nominated in 12 categories (and won 11 of them) at the Israeli Television Academy Awards. In the US, its reception has been as good if not better. (Its Average Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is 99%.)

Interesting Fact 

I’m not sure if this is good news or bad, but an American remake of Shtisel is in the works. It will be written by Lauren Gussis (known for the Showtime series Dexter and the Netflix Original Series Insatiable) and directed by Oscar winner Kenneth Lonegran. The question is whether the US even needs a Shtisel adaptation. In Treatment and Homeland (both of them originally Israeli series) were successfully adapted for US audiences. But in the growing new world of international television, maybe the original of Shtisel is all we need. It’s certainly enough for now.