Editorial note: This article was originally published on November 12, 2021. We are republishing it now with updated information on Hanukkah TV episodes and where to stream them.
It’s the time of year when Christmas becomes ubiquitous. But we know you, dear Jewish readers, are looking for Hanukkah things to watch. So we decided to compile a list of every streamable Hanukkah episode to consume this holiday season — and where to find them. There are 33 episodes on this list with varying degrees of Hanukkah plotlines (from the entire episode to just a subplot), on what feels like a bajillion streaming platforms.
In no particular order, here are the best (and only?) Hanukkah TV episodes you can stream:
1. “A Rugrats Chanukah”
Season 4, episode 1 of “Rugrats”
Aired December 4, 1996
We have to start this list with the definitive Hanukkah TV special: the Rugrats Hanukkah episode. There are a few plots going on in this episode: (1) Grandpa Boris and his frenemy Shlomo (they went to school in Russia together, duh) are in a synagogue play about Hanukkah. Shlomo got featured in the newspaper, Boris did not, and Boris is mad that Shlomo always upstages him; (2) Angelica wants to watch a Christmas special featuring her favorite doll Cynthia; and (3) the babies want to defeat the “Meany of Hanukkah” (a.k.a. Shlomo) after they hear how upset Boris is.
The episode weaves baby shenanigans in with the story of Hanukkah as the babies retell the tale of the Maccabees, blessing us with the line “A Maccababy’s gotta do what a maccababy’s gotta do!”
“A Rugrats Chanukah” is the blueprint for a special Hanukkah episode, which is why it’s somewhat surprising that in 2021 “Rugrats” dropped a new Hanukkah episode in 2021. Titled “Traditions,” the episode follows the Pickles family as they celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, and later the Hispanic tradition of Las Posadas with Betty and her family. But the more the merrier!
Watch “A Rugrats Chanukah” on Paramount+.
And watch “Traditions” also on Prime Video.
2. “Hanukkah”
“Hack Into Broad City”
Aired December 3, 2018
Abbi and Ilana exchange Hanukkah presents in this delightful digital short that is an extension of their incredibly Jewy TV show, “Broad City.” (“Hack Into Broad City” is a web series that shows video chats between the two Jewish BFFs.) Ilana (Ilana Glazer) is decked out in Hanukkah pajamas, and Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) is in a cheerful holiday sweater. It’s only 2 minutes and 10 seconds. You can watch right here:
Watch “Hanukkah,” uh, right above. Or on YouTube.
3. “The 23rd”
Season 1, episode 9 of “New Girl”
Aired December 13, 2011
We have many thoughts and feelings on Schmidt, the incredible Jewish character on “New Girl,” played by the incomparable Max Greenfield. However, our feelings always come back to a moment in the first season when Jess, Nick, Winston, and Schmidt are driving down “Candy Cane Lane.” Winston points out a menorah, Schmidt says, “Oh, a menorah…” (with a weird intonation), then the iconic line: “Judaism, son.”
It’s become our favorite gif and an instant TV-scene classic, making it one of our favorite Hanukkah episodes.
Can we also take a moment to appreciate how “New Girl” beautifully captures interfaith families?!
4. “Best Chrismukkah Ever”
Season 1, episode 13 of “The O.C.”
Aired December 3, 2003
Okay, so there are technically four Chrismukkah episodes — one in each season — but we’ll always have a special place in our heart for the OG O.C. Chrismukkah, when viewers were introduced to Seth Cohen’s (Adam Brody) holiday of Chrismukkah. Seth, who grew up with a Jewish dad and a Christian mom, decided to combine Hanukkah and Christmas.
“The O.C.” is currently streaming on Hulu. Here are links to all four Chrismukkah episodes:
Season 1, episode 13: “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”
Season 2, episode 6, “The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn’t”
Season 3, episode 10, “The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah”
Season 4, episode 7, “The Chrismukk-huh?”
5. “The Hanukkah Story”
Season 6, episode 10 of “The Nanny”
Aired December 16, 1998
Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) was a bold and outspoken Jewish woman on TV, and we love her for it. Of course, the Hanukkah episode of “The Nanny” was everything we could’ve wanted — and more.
The plot, in sum: Fran is super excited to celebrate her first Hanukkah with her new husband, but Maxwell, C.C. and Grace decide to drive to Boston in a snowstorm, and Fran gets concerned when they don’t make it home in time.
Fran Fine’s fashion is everything, and her Hanukkah lewks do not disappoint. The whole episode is nothing short of miraculous. (Read more about “The Hanukkah Story” here.)
Watch “The Hanukkah Story” on Peacock.
6. “Roseanne”
Season 20, episode 7 of “Saturday Night Live”
Aired December 3, 1994
Why are we talking about when Roseanne hosted SNL in 1994? Well, well, well, our dear friends: this is the episode in which Adam Sandler played his “Chanukah Song” on Weekend Update, enshrining it in the Hanukkah TV canon.
The Jewish comedian has updated “The Chanukah Song” with new pop culture references four times, the latest of which he released in 2015. In 2019, here at Hey Alma, we wrote and released an update.
Watch YouTube here, or watch the full episode on Peacock.
7. “The One With the Holiday Armadillo”
Season 7, episode 10 of “Friends”
Aired December 14, 2000
How could we do a list of Hanukkah episodes without the Holiday Armadillo!? In this classic “Friends” episode, Ross’ son Ben is staying with him for the holidays. Ross is upset that Ben has only been exposed to Christmas traditions — so he invents the Holiday Armadillo to tell him all about Hanukkah.
Watch “The Holiday Armadillo” on Max.
8. “Heck of a Hanukkah”
Season 1, episode 15 of “Even Stevens”
Aired December 1, 2000
The episode begins with Louis (a baby-faced Shia LeBeouf) up to his usual shenanigans: Louis is looking for the family’s Hanukkah presents ahead of the holiday’s first night, but he accidentally throws all the presents out of a second-story window. Louis’ family gets angry enough to prompt him to wish he’d never been born. That’s how we end up with a Disney-fied, Jewish version of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
It’s extremely 2000 Disney and an important Hanukkah re-watch.
Watch “Heck of a Hanukkah” on Disney+.
9. “My Mom, Greg’s Mom and Josh’s Sweet Dance Moves“
Season 1, episode 8 of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Aired November 30, 2015
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” blessed us with a nuanced, Jewish heroine, and also with the visual gag of Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) hanging up Hanukkah banners that spell the holiday three different ways:
The episode features Rebecca panic-prepping for a visit from her Jewish mom Naomi (played by an incredible Tovah Feldshuh) and swapping all the Christmas decorations in her house for Hanukkah ones. When Naomi shows up, she sings “Where’s the Bathroom,” a Jewish TV classic:
Watch “My Mom, Greg’s Mom and Josh’s Sweet Dance Moves” on Apple TV.
10. “Soup“
Season 4, episode 9 of “High Maintenance”
Aired April 3, 2020
“High Maintenance” is a fantastic TV show that tracks the stories of various New Yorkers who are all connected by one integral character: their weed guy. In the season 4 finale, the Guy’s niece is stuck in New York City because of an impending Nor’easter. They decide to “do a little Hanukkah thing. We’ll make latkes, we’ll make matzah ball soup…”
As Hey Alma editor Molly Tolsky wrote when the episode aired, the episode featured “perhaps the most authentic conversation about young Jewish American life I’ve ever heard on a mainstream TV show.” And with the backdrop of Hanukkah? Say less.
There has been some excellent Jewish content to be found throughout “High Maintenance,” including an episode in season 2 called “Derech” that captures the lives of ex-Hasidic Jews in New York surprisingly well. The Hanukkah episode, however, is not to be missed.
11. “Hanukkah”
Season 1, episode 3 of “Dash & Lily”
Aired November 10, 2020
“Dash & Lily” was a Christmas-themed rom-com series in which Lily (Midori Francis) and Dash (Austin Abrams) romance each other without meeting through the holidays in New York City. The third episode of the show features a secret Hanukkah show in the basement of a Jewish bakery.
Some Jewish highlights of the episode:
- The band Golem playing a punk Klezmer song in the background of the party
- The “Door Queen” Hanukkah party bouncer
- It’s a Hanukkah party!
However, on the whole, the episode fell a bit flat. As Xava De Cordova wrote on Hey Alma when “Dash & Lily” aired, “In the show, queer Jewish culture becomes a place where a ‘normal’ girl can go to confront her fear of being weird, and maybe even learn that weird can be cool. It has no content or trajectory of its own. The characters who inhabit it add no nuance to the situation. They might have their own struggles with romance or Christmas, but in this world, those struggles would only distract from the focus. Their differences from Lily are primarily aesthetic.”
12. “Festival of Lights”
Season 3, episode 18 of “Elena of Avalor”
Aired December 6, 2020
A Jewish Disney princess who celebrates Hanukkah? Immediately obsessed. The plot: Rebeca of Galonia, her brother, Prince Ari, and her bubbe get stranded in Avalor over the Festival of Lights, so Elena sets out to help them celebrate Hanukkah.
As Alma Hernandez wrote in Hey Alma, “As a proud Mexican American Jewish woman, I felt seen and a sense of belonging after hearing the news of Disney featuring a visiting princess from a Latino Jewish kingdom.”
Linda Buchwald also praised the episode on Kveller, “The best thing about this episode is that it’s not a Christmas episode with a Hanukkah b-plot — this is the only holiday this episode is about. It teaches kids words like ‘mitzvah’ and ‘nosh.’ Princess Rebeca is a relatable princess, especially when she says, ‘Fun fact about me. I’m never not ready for chocolate.’ This episode has been criticized for including too many Ashkenazi words and traditions when this is allegedly a Sephardic family — although even that distinction is up for debate. But there is still a lot to celebrate here, especially the timely message that Hanukkah is about making the most of what we have in tough situations.”
Watch “Festival of Lights” on Disney+.
13. “A Christmas Story”
Season 3, episode 10 of “The Goldbergs”
Aired December 9, 2015
“We’re gonna make Hanukkah sizzle and pop,” Beverly Goldberg (Wendi McLendon-Covey) proclaims in this 2015 Hanukkah episode of the ABC sitcom. Beverly creates a “Super Hanukkah,” trying to get her family into a holiday spirit — with a Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah socks, and more Christmas-disguised-as-Hanukkah-things.
It’s a classic tale of Jewish American assimilation for the holidays: the tension between wanting to be festive for the holidays and stay true to Hanukkah.
There’s another Hanukkah episode of “The Goldbergs,” “Han Ukkah Solo,” that aired a year later, which isn’t as Hanukkah-y.
Watch “A Christmas Story” on Hulu.
14. “Xtreme Xmas”
Season 2, episode 20 of “Lizzie McGuire”
Aired December 6, 2002
Okay, so this is technically a Christmas episode with a Hanukkah subplot: Lizzie wants to win the Christmas float competition and enlists her Jewish pal Gordo. “Frankly, I’ve mastered making dreidels and lighting menorahs, and I’m looking for a new challenge,” is Gordo’s perspective on why he wants to help Lizzie with her float. There are also latkes.
This is more a Christmas episode than a Hanukkah one, but we just love Gordo so much we had to include.
Watch “Xtreme Xmas” on Disney+.
15. “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas”
Special episode of “Arthur”
Aired November 23, 2000
In this special, we get all the major winter holidays — Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza. As it was advertised: “Everyone’s favorite aardvark gives kids a new spin on seasonal traditions in his first one-hour prime time special, showing children many ways to celebrate ‘the holidays.'”
Per the Arthur wiki (it exists), this is the Hanukkah plot:
The timing of Francine’s family’s celebration of Hanukkah conflicts with that of Muffy’s “holiday extravaganza,” causing her to miss the party. When Muffy explains that Hanukkah isn’t as important as Christmas, Francine feels offended because she is Jewish, and yells “Well it is to me!” and stops speaking to her and calling her. Eventually, she and Muffy make up after Francine shows her how important Hanukkah can be; all because her family is Jewish.
Here’s a clip:
(We’re counting this as TV, not a movie, because it aired on TV as a special of a TV show.)
Watch “Arthur’s Perfect Christmas” on Prime Video.
16. “Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose”
Season 4, episode 13 (holiday special) of “Schitt’s Creek”
Aired December 19, 2018
At the start of the “Schitt’s Creek” holiday special, Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) walks into the shared bedroom of his kids, David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy), and declares he wants to throw a Christmas party like they used to.
“We have to make new memories! We have to start looking forward, not backward,” he tells his annoyed family. He delegates tasks, enthusiastic even though it’s already Christmas Eve. Moira (Catherine O’Hara) replies, “Look at you, Mr. Rose. Seemingly possessed by the Christmas spirit.”
His response? “That reminds me! Somebody needs to find the menorah.”
What results: a holiday special that dives into interfaith identity beautifully.
“Schitt’s Creek” also blessed us with this iconic David line: “I’m a delightful half-half situation, which is why it’s so annoying my dad thinks he can boss people around on a holiday that he technically has no authority over.”
Watch “Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose” on Prime Video.
Plus, get a Delightful Half-Half Situation Sweater or Tee at Hey Alma’s merch store!
17. “The 8 Defensive Points of Hanukkah”
Season 5, episode 13 of “The League”
Aired November 20, 2013
“The League” is a comedy show about a fantasy football league starring, among others, Jewish actor Nick Kroll as Jewish lawyer Rodney Ruxin. Rodney describes himself as “a Nazi propaganda cartoon of a Jew,” to give you a sense of the show.
The plot features Ruxin wanting to prove Hanukkah’s superiority over Christmas. The ending features Rafi calling Jenny’s win a Hanukkah miracle. This wins the best Hanukkah episode title on this list, tbh.
Watch “The 8 Defensive Points of Hanukkah” on Hulu.
18. “A Very Big Mouth Christmas”
Season 5, episode 8 of “Big Mouth”
Aired November 5, 2021
Another Nick Kroll show! This “Big Mouth” episode is made up of different vignettes hosted by puppet versions of the hormone monsters, and there is obviously a Hanukkah one. Andrew (John Mulaney) wishes he weren’t Jewish, but then dreams that his family is not Jewish and he hates it.
Big Mouth is the animated show about puberty and masturbation you didn’t realize you needed. Set in Westchester, New York and based on the childhoods of Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg, the show has a distinctly Jewish sensibility. We’re grateful we got a long-awaited Hanukkah bit. (And still obsessed with the Passover episode in season three.)
Watch “A Very Big Mouth Christmas” on Netflix.
19. “Glee, Actually”
Season 4, episode 10 of “Glee”
Aired December 10, 2012
In the episode, “Glee, Actually,” Jewish half-brothers Jake and Noah Puckerman sing “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah.” At the end of their performance, both brothers get Star of David tattoos on their left shoulder.
Yes, there was a Hanukkah song on “Glee,” we just feel like you need to remember this:
(Was “Glee” Jewish? Discuss.)
Watch “Glee, Actually” on Amazon Prime.
20. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz”
Season 6, episode 10 of “Frasier”
Aired December 17, 1998
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz” is an entire episode dedicated to the gag of the whole Crane family pretending to be Jewish on Christmas Eve.
It begins when Frasier is shopping for a menorah for his son, Freddy, and a Jewish mom spots him and sets him up on a blind date. Not exactly a Hanukkah episode, but the menorah does spark the whole thing — so we’re counting it.
Watch “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz” on Paramount+
21. “The Strike”
Season 9, episode 10 of “Seinfeld”
Aired December 18, 1997
This is the “Seinfeld” episode best known for the Festivus plot and a strike at H&H Bagels, which honestly feeeeels super Jewish to us.
But what makes it a Hanukkah episode? It begins with Elaine, Jerry and George at a Hanukkah party.
“This place is like Studio 54 with a menorah,” Elaine complains. It’s a classic — replete with Elaine giving out her fake number.
Watch “The Strike” on Netflix.
22. “Chanukah: The Missing Menorah”
Season 1, episode 2 of “Shalom Sesame” (revival series)
Aired October 5, 2010
“Shalom Sesame,” the anglicized version of “Rechov Sumsum,” might not be as nostalgic as the “Rugrats.” (The show came out in 2010, after all.) But this Hanukkah episode feels like it’s in the same category as “Rugrats” because of the vintage magic of “Sesame Street” and the Muppets.
In this episode, the “Shalom Sesame” gang are ready to celebrate the Festival of Lights when Anneliese (yes, that is Anneliese van der Pol of Disney Channel fame) loses her menorah! The search features a festive song where menorah is rhymed with “adore-ah,” and you simply won’t want to miss Grover tripping and flinging a potato pancake into the air while Mr. Johnson anxiously yells, “My latke!”
Watch “Chanukah: The Missing Menorah” on Prime.
Bonus! Watch the Hanukkah episode of “Rechov Sumsum” on YouTube.
23. “You Mitzvah Spot”
Season 1, episode 3 of “Nailed It! Holiday!”
Aired on December 7, 2018
It’s not secret that we at Hey Alma love when non-Jews mess up Jewish holidays and traditions. (What can we say, it gives us the opportunity to educate the masses and complain.) So a Hanukkah episode of “Nailed It!,” the show in which amateur bakers try and usually fail to create appealing baked goods, is right up our alley.
Hosted by comedian Nicole Byer with co-hosts chef Jacques Torres and NYC cake-maker Sylvia Weinstock, this episode features a whole lot of non-Jews trying to do Hanukkah nonsense. Byer uses a ton of Yiddish while klezmer blasts and the bakers make some truly horrifying dreidel cake pops and a cake with a menorah on top. To top it all off, the visibly Jewish contestant doesn’t even win. Bah humbug!
At least in season two, episode three of “Nailed It! Holiday!” which it entitled “Shalo-many Fails!,” Israeli-American pastry chef Ron Ben-Israel attempts to correct Byer’s Hebrew pronunciation. Though the bakers in this Hanukkah episode don’t fare much better with their challenges to make a menorah out of sufganiyot and a giant cake shaped like a bear with a dreidel.
Watch both “Nailed It! Holiday!” episodes on Netflix.
24. “Festival of Lights/Saving Christmas”
Season 1, episode 10 of “The Ghost and Molly McGee”
Aired on November 27, 2021
Earlier we covered the “Elena of Avalor” Hanukkah episode, but buckle up for a forthcoming onslaught of more contemporary kids’ TV about the Festival of Lights. In this episode from “The Ghost and Molly McGee,” a show about a young girl who befriends a ghost in her attic, the magic of Hanukkah helps bring Molly and her neighbors together.
Some highlights of this episode include: A Hanukkah party at a bookstore named Book Marks the Spot, jokes about the numerous spells of Hanukkah and absolutely no mention of Christmas! Wee!
Watch “Festival of Lights/Saving Christmas” on Disney+.
25. “Hanukkah Heist/A Snow Day for Aunt May”
Season 3, episode 29 of “Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends”
Aired on December 3, 2024
What do you do when a villain steals your aunt’s delicious latkes? You call in Spidey and the team, of course. This new episode of kids’ TV features canonically Jewish Marvel character Ben Grimm (a.k.a. The Thing) preparing for a Hanukkah party when disaster strikes and he calls on his friends to help him get his Aunt Petunia’s latkes back before the celebration. Given that legendary Jewish comic book writers Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Thing, and that Lee also co-created Spider-Man, it just feels right that this show has a Hanukkah episode.
“The episode doesn’t really go deep into Jewish Hanukkah practice, but it does explain that Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. Instead of going into the complex story of the Maccabees, it simply explains that Hanukkah is celebrated because oil in a lamp that was meant to last for only one day lasted for eight nights,” Lior Zaltzman wrote for Kveller. “Yet it does paint a lovely portrait of Jewish family, with Ben lauding his aunt’s Hanukkah dish as ‘the most delicious golden bite of goodness’ and Petunia telling Spidey that she’s glad her nephew has good friends like him.”
Watch “A Hanukkah Heist/A Snow Day for Aunt May” on Disney+ starting December 18.
26. “Dreidel Play”
Season 2, episode 41 of “Me & Mickey”
Aired on December 4, 2023
Is this an episode of TV? A vlog? We’re not entirely sure. But “Dreidel Play” is available to watch on multiple platforms and correctly describes how to play dreidel (thanks, Mickey Mouse!). So on the list it goes!
Watch “Dreidel Play” on Disney+.
27. “Light the Lights”
Season 1, episode 10 of “Brothers & Sisters”
Aired on December 10, 2006
“Brothers & Sisters” did something you probably won’t see anywhere else: It brought together non-Jewish A-list talent Sally Field, Calista Flockhart and Matthew Rhys for a Hanukkah episode. Granted, Hanukkah is more of a subplot in this episode, which is more about the wealthy Walker family’s continuing drama in the face of their father’s sudden passing. Still, when granddaughter Paige (Kerris Dorsey) convinces grandma Nora (Field) to celebrate Hanukkah, the whole family is present when her brother Saul (Ron Rifkin) lights the menorah and says the blessing over the lights.
Frankly, it’s must-watch television for anyone who fell in love with Matthew Rhys in “The Americans.”
Watch “Light the Lights” on Disney+.
28. “Mitzvah for Miss Nanny/Winter Sport-a-thon”
Season three, episode 28 of “Muppet Babies”
Aired November 28, 2021
No need to adjust your television set or screen. Yes, “The Muppet Babies” is originally a show from the 80s. But a computer animated reboot aired from 2018 to 2022 and gave us the opportunity to celebrate Hanukkah with Baby Gonzo, Baby Miss Piggy, Baby Fozzie, Baby Kermit, Baby Animal and new Muppet Baby Summer Penguin.
But what makes this episode especially great is that Miss Nanny, the Muppet Babies’ caretaker, is voiced by none other than Jewish comedian Jenny Slate! Through Miss Nanny/Jenny Slate, the Muppet Babies learn about how to celebrate Hanukkah, including performing mitzvahs.
“The episode also features two songs, and both are bops. One, a rock song inviting the whole neighborhood to the Hanukkah party, is so catchy that even the notoriously difficult-to-please Mr. Statler and Mr. Waldorf get into it,” Linda Buchwald wrote for Kveller. “The other is a song about mitzvahs, with a klezmer sound rooted in Jewish musical tradition.”
Watch “Mitzvah for Miss Nanny/Winter Sport-a-thon” on Disney+.
29. “A Kosher Christmas”
Season 3, episode 5 of “Pepper Ann”
Aired on December 18, 1999
Everyone knows that interfaith families can celebrate holidays from multiple religions and cultures. Everyone, that is, except Pepper Ann Pearson’s teacher Ms. Stark. In “A Kosher Christmas” Ms. Stark tells Pepper Ann, who has been celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas her entire life, that she must choose between the two for the Celebrating Diversity Holiday Medley. This makes Pepper Ann spiral, trying to decide which one she wants to celebrate, before ultimately realizing that she can’t choose between her two cultures. Take that, Ms. Stark!
“If you want your young kids to know what it was like to grow up in the early 2000s, this show is it. The fashion, the dubbing, the music — it really will take you back,” Lior Zaltzman wrote in 2022.
Watch “A Kosher Christmas” above or on Disney+.
30. “Runaway Sleigh/Hanukkah Rescue”
Season 2, episode 14 of “SuperKitties”
Aired on December 4, 2024
In this episode, the SuperKitties Bitsy, Ginny, Sparks and Buddy have to save the Kittidale menorah after it’s stolen on the last night of Hanukkah. The highlights of “Hanukkah Rescue” include a song about Hanukkah lights, a kitty named Pickles who is owned by a presumably Jewish family and a giant menorah with kitty-shaped lights on top.
The lowlights? The episode doesn’t use the words “Jews” or “Jewish” once, which is kind of central to the whole Hanukkah thing.
Watch “Hanukkah Rescue” above or on Disney+ starting December 18.
31. “Nochebuena at the Funhouse/Hanukkah at Hilda’s”
Season 3, episode 20 of “Mickey Mouse Funhouse”
Aired on December 6, 2024
In case you need even more Mickey Mouse-related Hanukkah content, try “Hanukkah at Hilda’s.” When Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck get stranded at Hilda Hippo’s in a snowstorm, they realize that Hilda celebrates Hanukkah! (Hence the name of the episode.) Together, the group learns about Hanukkah traditions like playing dreidel and some Jewish terms.
Watch “Nochebuena at the Funhouse/Hanukkah at Hilda’s on Disney+.
32. “Latkes Are Lit”
Season 2, episode 5 of “Ginny & Georgia”
Aired on January 5, 2023
In the Netflix show “Ginny & Georgia,” two members of Ginny’s friend group, Abby and Norah, are Jewish. But we don’t really see much of that until Ginny, her friends and their moms have a low-key latke party together in season two. “Latkes are lit,” Max’s mom, Ellen exclaims, in a way that makes it clear that she is not Jewish.
And that is basically all the Hanukkah and Jewishness that’s in the episode. They actually don’t even light the menorah on the table, despite it being prepped with candles. But, you know, it’s something!
Watch “Latkes Are Lit” on Netflix.
33. “Ferb Latin/Lotsa Latkes”
Season 3, episode 16 of “Phineas and Ferb”
Aired on November 18, 2011
The whole conceit of “Phineas and Ferb” is that the episodes take place over the title characters’ summer vacation. However, for whatever reason, in this episode, the tri-state area’s Latke Festival takes place over the summer and is being facilitated by Isabella Garcia-Shapiro’s grandmother (Carol Kane). So even though this isn’t technically a Hanukkah episode, it is an episode about the most iconic Hanukkah dish. So we’ll include it!
“Ferb, I know what we’re going to do today,” Phineas utters his catchphrase when he learns that the only potato left in the tri-state area is a single potato chip. “We’re going to use the DNA in this potato chip to clone our own potatoes.” However, it’s only after they clone the DNA and plant the potatoes that they realize that Buford put the chip in his mouth, meaning that the potatoes they cloned combined with Buford’s DNA to make mutant potatoes.
As Phineas, Ferb and Isabella try to round-up the potatoes, Baljeet and Buford are tasked with distracting the clearly hangry Jewish elders (the festival is being hosted at a nursing home). Somehow, this misadventure goes well and the elders forget all about the latkes, which works out for the best.
Watch “Lotsa Latkes” on Disney+.
