December 2025 brings with it a lot of light — Hanukkah starts on Dec. 14 this year — and a lot of TV laughter. Two of our favorite young Jewish comedians are coming out with specials this month, and there’s a new punny Hanukkah Hallmark movie titled “Oy to the World.”
Here are the highlights of Jewish TV you can stream this month.
Dec. 1: “My Next Guest with David Letterman and Adam Sandler” (Netflix)
Ahead of the release of his new movie, “Jay Kelly,” Adam Sandler sat down with David Letterman with a not-too-shockingly illuminating but still really sweet and candid interview. It started with a touching admission about his late dad, Stan, and featured odes to his wife Jackie and daughters Sunny and Sadie. The Sandman came off as such a sweetheart.
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes for Adam Sandler
Dec. 4: “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Season 15
Joining Jewish housewives Kyle Richards (freshly separated from husband Mauricio Umansky) and Dorit Kemsley this season is iconic designer, Rachel Zoe, born Rachel Zoe Rosenzweig. Rachel is freshly divorced from her former (Jewish, yes) husband Rodger Berman, who also happens to be her business partner. She promises to bring a lot of honesty to this season, which will also feature Kyle’s daughter Alexia Umansky’s very Jewish wedding!
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes for Jewish ladies with chutzpah
Dec. 5: “Jay Kelly” (Netflix)
Adam Sandler plays Ron, the long-suffering manager of George Clooney’s Jay Kelly, in this upcoming Netflix film from Jewish director Noah Baumbach. I, for one, will always be seated for an Adam Sandler drama film project.
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes for Adam Sandler, again
Dec. 12: “Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh” (HBO Max)
SNL cast member Sarah Sherman, who (speaking of Adam Sandler) played a treadmill-loving fashionable rabbi in “You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” is releasing her first comedy special, which promises to be as quirky and wonderfully colorful as Sherman herself.
Judaism rating: 4/4 couch potato latkes for the spirit of Sarah Sherman
Dec. 14: “Robby Hoffman: Wake Up” (Netflix)
Nobody makes me laugh quite like Robby Hoffman, the formerly Orthodox stand-up who recently showed up in “Hacks” and “Dying for Sex.” I couldn’t possibly be more excited for this Hanukkah gift, directed by John Mulaney, who shared on X: “A legend is born. Only on Netflix. Dec 14. First night of Hanukkah.”
Judaism rating: 4/4 couch potato latkes for Hoffman’s kvetchiness and Brooklyn accent
Dec. 15: “Oy to the World” (Hallmark)
Jake Epstein plays a synagogue’s assistant choir director in this interfaith romance about two rival choir directors forced to work together (Epstein’s bashert is played by Brooke D’Orsay.) I’m excited for a musical Hanukkah romance and am hoping for a reprise of Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson’s a cappella version of “Maoz Tzur.” You can read my initial thoughts on the pun and the premise here.
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes — it’s an interfaith romance, half latke, half Christmas fruitcake
Dec. 18: “Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?” (HBO Max)
This documentary focuses on iconic ’90s band frontman, Adam Duritz, who was raised in a Reform Jewish household. Duritz even volunteered on Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was attacked on Oct. 7, as a teen and shared in an interview that his time there “taught me what work is. To wake up at the break of dawn every day, to work with your hands.”
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes
Dec. 26: ‘The Life of Chuck” (Hulu)
This Mike Flanagan film based on a (non-horror!) novella by Stephen King tells the story of Jewish Charles “Chuck” Krantz — beginning with his death, which takes place at the end of the universe, and ending with his childhood. Tom Hiddleston plays Chuck, and Mark Hamill and Mia Sara play Chuck’s zayde and bubbe, who raise him; Zayde, like Chuck, is an accountant, and Bubbe inspires his lifelong love for dance.
Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes for Jewish grandparents and being about the meaning of life, despite the inauthentic casting
