For a joke, 50 years is almost an eternity. A good joke's shelf life is usually limited by time or place. What was once considered funny might be offensive and embarrassing to future generations. "In Memoriam" – that's what "Saturday Night Live" called the segment that compiled some jokes that didn't survive the test of time throughout the show's 50 years. "Even though the characters, the accents... were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them," actor Tom Hanks clarified to the uncomfortable viewers at home, "so if anyone should be canceled, shouldn't it be you?"

Like a pathetic uncle reminiscing with a chuckle about his wild days before the woke generation changed the rules, "Saturday Night Live" used its 50th-anniversary celebration to remind us how humor can be complex, delicate, and flexible. The edited video collected ethnic stereotypes, sexual harassment, body shaming, homophobia, sexism, pedophilia, and racism. Jokes and sketches that aged very poorly and that would never be broadcast on television today – unless it's a one-time, sarcastic event like, say, SNL's 50th-anniversary celebrations.

Because SNL is an American institution that can get away with anything. It's wild late-night entertainment that has been broadcasting continuously for 50 seasons every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. on NBC. Every comedian dreamed of joining the cast, every celebrity aspired to host it, and every singer, vocalist, and band hoped to be invited to perform there. This week, all of television's who's who gathered in New York to honor this show. They dedicated two and a half hours to remembering, laughing, getting emotional, and mainly – being excited about the number of celebrities who gathered together in that studio to celebrate themselves and the show.

Steve Martin, Robert De Niro, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Alec Baldwin, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Martin Short, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Peyton Manning, Pete Davidson, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Mike Myers, Tracy Morgan, Adam Sandler, Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Romano, Bill Murray, Cher, Sabrina Carpenter, Keith Richards, Chevy Chase, John Mulaney, Woody Harrelson, Pedro Pascal, Jon Hamm, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Drew Barrymore, Emma Stone, Andy Samberg, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Aubrey Plaza – and you know what? I'll stop here because it would take me two and a half hours to go through everyone.

Documentary films produced in collaboration with the show were released simultaneously as part of this historic milestone. They reconstruct SNL's generational history, follow the creative process behind the scenes, analyze iconic sketches, and delve into unforgettable performances. The documentaries document, among other things, how hundreds of jokes and dozens of sketches are metaphorically thrown in the trash each week because they weren't good enough.

Only the best make it to the live broadcast. And not everything works and not everything is funny. And it's not just about political correctness, but mainly the fact that SNL doesn't always manage to be funny. Sometimes there are flashes of brilliance, but relative to a comedy show like this – and considering the talent level of the writers and actors – it ultimately produces too many boring or embarrassing minutes, which makes me think: what a waste of potential. So while SNL is an institution, and it's not nice to mock someone who just turned 50, "Saturday Night Live" is probably the most overrated show on television.

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The Israeli spy series Tehran was nominated Thursday for the prestigious 2021 International Emmy Awards in the best drama series category.

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The series centers on Tamar (portrayed by actress Niv Sultan), a Mossad computer hacker-agent undertaking her very first mission in Iran's capital to help the Israel Defense Forces conduct an airstrike on one of the regime's nuclear reactors. When the mission goes wrong, the agent has to survive by her wits.

The series was written by Moshe Zonder and Omri Omri Shenharand produced by the Kan public broadcaster. 

Tehran is one of Kan's most successful series to date. It was picked up Apple TV+ for an unprecedented 1 million shekels ($312,476) per episode. 

The show's second season is currently being filmed in Athens and is expected to air in 2022. The Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Nov. 22. 

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Alma Har'el, the award-winning Israeli director behind Shia LaBeouf's 2019 autobiographical drama "Honey Boy," has inked a television deal with Amazon Studios.

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Har'el and her newly formed production company, Zusa, will work with the studio to develop and create a new television series exclusively for Amazon Prime Video, online news site Deadline reported Tuesday.

"Alma is a creative force who brings the same kind of passion to storytelling as she does to lifting the voices and achievements of others," Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke said. "We're so excited to continue our relationship with [her] and to collaborate on more exciting projects."

Har'el is also working on a scripted anthology TV series for Amazon Studios called "Women of the Year."

Based on the "Time 100 Women of the Year," it will feature a number of females who contributed to "society's greatest achievements," according to Deadline. Har'el is the project's executive producer.

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"Honey Boy" was her feature film directorial debut and received four Independent Spirit Awards nominations, including for Best Director.

She won the Sundance 2019 Special Jury Directing Award for Craft and Vision and became the first woman to take home the Directors Guild of America Award for First-Time Feature Film. 

She is also the first woman to be nominated for a DGA Award in both commercial directing (in 2018) and narrative directing (in 2020).

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org

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We all know about agencies for actors, athletes or models. However, a wholly different and first-of-its-kind agency was recently established – this time for members of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, and other clandestine organizations in Israel and across the globe, with the aim of advising Hollywood film producers, actors and directors making spy movies.

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"A short while after the COVID crisis erupted, I got the idea to establish an agency," Avner Avraham, who served as a Mossad agent for 28 years, told Israel Hayom.

Discussing how he began recruiting people to launch his agency, Avraham said, "I have many connections in Israel and abroad. I reached out to interesting individuals from the world of security and espionage and they joined me."

The agency, named SPYLEGENDS, has signed many former Mossad, Shin Bet, IDF and Israel Police officials, such as former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Perry, former Mossad deputy director Ilan Mizrahi, former Mossad agents Yola Reitman and Mishka Ben-David, former IDF deputy chief of staff Maj. Gen. (ret.) Matan Vilnai and others, including from foreign intelligence services, such as former CIA agent Robert Baer.

Avraham, 54, who at the tail end of his Mossad career established the agency's museum and served as its director, was the chief consultant for the film "Operation Finale" about the capture of Adolf Eichmann, starring Ben Kingsley.

"I was approached several times with offers from film and television productions that came across the agency's website," recounts Avraham, "asking me to connect them with the right people to advise and help them with the details and look professional and credible on-screen."

According to Avraham, he cannot reveal what movies his company is advising. "Some movies are finished and others are in production. We are signed on non-disclosure agreements, so I can't elaborate on that," he says with a smile befitting someone who has spent a career keeping secrets.

With that, it's important for Avraham to note that beyond providing consulting services for Hollywood productions, his company also provides other services. "We give lectures in Israel and abroad, hold exhibitions, advise spy museums and commercial companies, promote the commemoration of the Holocaust and [legacy of] Zionism, sell lecture series to Jewish communities in the Diaspora, and we've even begun working with gadget stores in the United States."

Alongside former members of intelligence and security agencies, SPYLEGENDS also employs journalists, authors, screenwriters and actors and even family members of former spies and security officials.

"Avraham Cohen, who is the brother of Mossad hero Eli Cohen, also lectures within our framework. As does Michelle Bineth, the daughter of Max Bineth, who committed suicide in Egyptian prison; or Yossi (Yossele) Schuchmacher, who was kidnapped as a child by his grandfather and taken to New York and later returned by Mossad agents at the behest of [Israel's first prime minister David] Ben-Gurion."

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As one of the most fateful elections in US history approaches, Israel Hayom offers readers a  curated list of some of the best election-themed films and television series to binge until the exit polls are out.

State of the Nation (1948)

Frank Capra made a number of political films throughout his career, but only one dealt directly with a presidential election. In this drama-comedy, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, an American aviation baron (Spencer Tracy) is persuaded by his scheming mistress (Angela Landsbury) to run for president.

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The War Room (1993)

The documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus follows Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. The filmmakers began following the campaign long before Clinton became a favorite, and their behind-the-scenes look at the political machine leaves nothing to the imagination.

Bulworth (1998)

In this dark satire, Warren Beatty plays a senator who amazes his surroundings by adopting the persona of a rapper and starts to tell his voters the truth. Surprisingly, instead of killing his political career, his tactics bring him great success and he quickly becomes the most beloved politician in American and a leading candidate for president.

Swing Vote (2008)

Kevin Costner plays Bud Johnson, a single father from New Mexico who discovers that his vote, which was not counted, will determine an extraordinarily close presidential race. Both candidates rush to his town to convince him to vote for them.

The Ides of March (2011)

George Clooney produced, directed, and starred in this film about a Democratic governor who wants to win his party's nomination for president. He teams up with an idealistic young political advisor (Ryan Gosling), who slowly starts to realize that his hero might not be everything he is cracked up to be.

The West Wing (1999-2016)

This list would be incomplete without mentioning Aaron Sorkin's excellent series, one of the most-lauded TV series ever, which was awarded 26 Emmy prizes, including four for best dramatic series. Must-see TV!

House of Cards (2013-2018)

One of the original series that put Netflix on the map. House of Cards is an American version of a British TV series from the 1990s. As popular as the series was, it ended when star Kevin Spacey was ousted after public claims that he had sexually assaulted young men.

Veep (2012-2019)

Julia Louis Dreyfuss plays a vice president who dreams of becoming president. The series follows her entourage, a collection of colorful characters who are essentially a satirical take on actual figures from Washington. The series made it all the way through without specifying the main character's party, and won 17 Emmy awards during its run.

Scandal (2012-2018)

Creator of Grey's Anatomy Shonda Rhimes made another huge hit with series based on the dirty workings of Washington, DC with Scandal. Kerry Washington plays a fixer based on Judy Smith, who worked with President George W. Bush, who is involved in an affair with the president.

Commander in Chief (2005-2006)

Geena Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, a vice president who becomes the first woman president of the United States after the president dies.

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According to the report, BBC has introduced new guidelines requiring reporters to "refer to terror attacks by naming specific details, such as the location and the method of slaughter used."

The Daily Mail further cited "well-placed BBC sources", who reportedly said that the move stemmed from a desire to be consistent in the reporting of terrorism stories and to avoid bias.

Israel has repeatedly accused the BBC of not calling Palestinian attacks terrorism or otherwise downplaying the attacks. Israelis have also accused the British outlet of trying to draw an equivalency between the perpetrators of terrorism and Israeli military forces.

The Daily Mail said that "BBC reporters are already advised to steer clear of the words 'terrorist' and 'terrorism', under guidance first drawn up during the IRA bombings."

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