Jewish Comedy

Perhaps not (and in particular this movie, which focuses on the 'stereotypical' Jewish mother/son relationship), but you're generalizing a bit much, as to what constitutes 'Jewish Humor," and how relatable it is to most audiences (next time you watch the Emmys, Tonys or Oscars, check out how many writers, directors, actors etc are Jewish, percentage-wise, compared to the general population (Jews only make up about 2-3% of the US population, but have always had a lot of power in Hollywood).

For instance, Norman Lear, who produced at least 5 hit shows in the 70s (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Good Times and One Day at a Time) was Jewish, yet none of the MAIN characters in any of those series were supposed to be Jewish. Of course, there were plenty of supporting actors who were and portrayed as such, but perhaps the country wasn't ready for any of the main characters to be Jewish - even those actors who WERE Jewish IRL (eg, Rob Reiner, as "Mike Stivic" on "All in the Family," yet he was written as a Polish Christian). Also, Sherwood Schwartz and Aaron Spelling, also 2 giants in TV, who were are/were both Jewish, wrote shows with plenty of supporting Jewish characters, but again their shows had MASS APPEAL among all Americans. Now, as far as movies, I think the Jews felt like they had more leeway: eg, Woody Allen tends to cast Jews (or actors who play Jews) - esp himself, lol. But regardless, Jews have had a HUGE influence in Hollywood, since the beginning - esp in comedy.

More recently, "Seinfeld," which had practically all Jewish writers, producers and actors had a mass appeal with a wide range of American audience, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, including those in the heartland, many of whom perhaps never even met a Jew (and Larry David, of course, has become even more famous "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which IMO is much better than Seinfeld).

As far as I know, the first show whose MAIN, MAIN character was Jewish was "The Nanny" (with Fran Dresher). Obviously, plenty of shows preceding it had major characters who were Jewish, but as far as THE MAIN character?? I really can't think of one preceding "The Nanny" (if anyone thinks of one, please post!!). And the interesting back story to that was that when Fran Dresher and her now ex-husband and co-producer/writer husband first pitched the show, the network (I forget which) asked them to change her character to an Italian woman from Queens. But she didn't give in, as she wanted to portray a lot of 'herself' and her family into the character of 'Fran Fine,' so she stuck to her guns and it paid off (I think one thing that the networks saw as a potential problem was that the general public weren't used to seeing Jews as coming from blue collar families - even though there are plenty. Plus, the inevitable pairing of Fran with her rich and WASPY Englishman boss (played by the 'delicious; Charles Shaughnessy, lol:) was perhaps seen as a potential 'problem' by networkhard producers (which is hard to believe, since the show was broadcast relatively recently, as it ran from '93-'99!!).

Three other major players with mass appeal (which immediately come to mind) are Mel Brooks, Woody Allen (previously mentioned) and Billy Crystal - Mel and Woody (esp.) each wrote, directed and starred in very funny movies with TONS of Jewish undertones and almost always played Jews (how could they NOT?? LOL). And both were writers (along with Carl Reiner and Sid Caeser) for the Sid Caeser show, back in the 50s, which practically EVERY American, at least those with a TV within a few block's radius, watched. And while I love everything (esp) Mel Brooks has done, two of my favorite TV shows of all time were written by and starred Jackie Gleason and Desi Arnaz/Lucille Ball, who were all huge non-Jewish players in 50s comedy; however, if you ever watch the credits on their respective shows, many of the writers and producers were also Jewish).

So besides Jews having made up a traditionally large percentage of doctors and lawyers in this country, they also made (and continue to make up) perhaps an equally large percentage of those in front, as well as behind the camera in TV and movies, again, at least as compared to their overall population, which is only about 2-3% among Americans.

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I didn't see a lot of those jokes and I wouldn't really classify this as Jewish comedy.

It seemed more like a 1950's or 1960's comedy that was a little predictable and I could have lived without the "heartwarming" part. It reminded me of a Rock Hudson/Doris Day type of comedy.

Not exactly my cup of tea but then it wasn't a remake, sequel, based on a tv show or comic book.