Everyone knows “The Prince of Egypt” and the two “Shalom Sesame” episodes (Moishe Oofnik is an icon and no one can tell me otherwise), but apparently, there have been other Passover movies and TV episodes that we’ve been missing out on. But fear not, I’ve compiled a full list of what you should be watching to keep your mind off all the carbs you’re missing out on during the eight days of Passover.
Movies:
“The Prince of Egypt”
This animated Dreamworks film tells the Passover story and is one of the most famous screen adaptations.
It’s a pretty straight-down-the-line retelling of slavery in Egypt, Moses’ ascent, his splitting of the sea and the 40-year trek. Val Kilmer kills it as Moses and the music rivals the best Broadway show (we needed a Hans Zimmer-led soundtrack with a Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet).
The all-star cast of “The Prince of Egypt” makes it a must-watch year after year.
See viewing options here for “The Prince of Egypt.”
“When do We Eat?”
“When Do We Eat?” is what happens when you throw together a Passover Seder, a wildly dysfunctional Jewish family, and a dash of hallucinogens—because why not spice up tradition? Imagine “The Royal Tenenbaums” crashing a seder plate.
The 2005 film features future TV stars before they hit the big time: Max Greenfield (Schmidt from “New Girl”) plays Ethan, the eldest son who finds religion after his business flops, and Ben Feldman (Jonah from “Superstore”) is Zeke, the rebellious stoner who thinks dosing Dad with a psychedelic will lead to family bonding. Spoiler: it leads to Dad believing he’s a modern-day Moses.
With a mix of arguing, unexpected revelations, and a side of gefilte fish, this comedy serves up a feast of family dysfunction that’s as relatable as it is ridiculous. Perfect for anyone who thinks their family gatherings are chaotic — until they see this one.
See viewing options here for “When Do We Eat?”
“The Ten Commandments”
This is the first real Passover movie and while it’s almost 70 years old, it does hold up pretty well. The music and special effects don’t land the same way they would have when the movie was released, but it still is very well made and well acted.
Director Cecil B. DeMille shot a version of this film 40 years earlier in 1923, but it lacked the special effects and had no sound, so he chose to remake it starring Charleton Heston as Moses.
What’s cool about “The Ten Commandments” is that it was shot on location in Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula and at Mount Sinai — at the time, it was the most expensive film ever made. It sheds light into Moses’ childhood, his realization that he is Jewish and his eventual receiving of the 10 Commandments.
See viewing options here for “The Ten Commandments.”
“Exodus: Gods and Kings”
This movie takes some creative liberty when detailing the Passover story, but it still is a fun watch for Passover.
Out of the films listed, it is the most dramatic and is the best at playing up the intensity of the Exodus.
Moses, played by Christian Bale, and Ramses, portrayed by Joel Edgerton, struggle with one another and we witness them both experiencing the 10 plagues. While the acting and effects are phenomenal, it is a very gory film, so it isn’t for all viewers.
See viewing options here for “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”
“Uncut Gems”
Although it’s not really a Passover movie, “Uncut Gems” takes place during Passover time and has a wild seder scene.
Adam Sandler stars as Howard Ratner, a Jewish jeweler and gambling addict who gets into a pickle when his loan shark brother-in-law begins to push back when his debt reaches $100,000.
Howard and his wife Dinah (Idina Menzel) make the decision to divorce after Passover, and they have a seder in which they sing “Dayenu” and recite the 10 plagues with family. The seder is shockingly the only part of the movie that seems calm in comparison to the tenseness and suspense of the rest of the film.
Howard’s life is a series of “plagues” while he tries to get the money he needs to pay off his brother-in-law, tracks down a black opal NBA star Kevin Garnett borrows, and deals with his disintegrating marriage and his ongoing addiction.
See viewing options here for “Uncut Gems.”
TV episodes:
“Gossip Girl”
“Seder Anything,” season 2, episode 21
“Gossip Girl” is my favorite show, so I might be biased, but “Seder Anything” is arguably the best Passover TV episode. Cyrus Rose, Blair Waldorf’s Jewish stepdad, brings Judaism to the show and hosts a seder for chaos to ensue.
Clad in a “schmutz happens” apron, Cyrus leads the characters in a seder complete with a homemade brisket “that is going to blow your socks off,” with Dan Humphrey as a cater-waiter for his friends and their family. Sometimes I forget how awkward this show is.
The best part of the show is when Cyrus describes urchatz during the seder. “That was washing of the hands,” he says. “Also called the Title 88 of the New York City health code.”
Gossip Girl sums up the episode perfectly when she says, “On Passover we ask, Why is it that this night is different than any night? But who are we kidding? Tonight’s no different from the rest. These things always happen around here. Shalom.”
See viewing options here for “Gossip Girl.”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“The Seder,” Season 5, episode 7
It wouldn’t be a Jewish listicle without “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” This episode is probably the closest thing to my own family’s seder because it is a mess.
Larry David’s seder is attended by his friends, a local sex offender, a neighborhood newspaper stealer and the neighbor who accused said stealer at the seder table.
The episode begins with Rick, a sex offender who happens to be bald, moving into Larry’s Los Angeles neighborhood. Larry initially is offended that Rick is “bad for the bald community.” However, the two neighbors soon become friends and Larry invites him to the seder because “what would Jesus do?”
No one at the seder is happy that Rick is invited when they learn that he’s a sex offender. The chaos continues when Larry accuses Dr. Mark, his neighbor, of stealing his newspaper and a child of stealing the afikomen — because of course he does.
See viewing options here for “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
“South Park”
“Jewpacabra” season 16, episode 4
When Kyle catches his mom teaching Cartman about Passover, he’s understandably suspicious because Cartman’s idea of Jewish appreciation usually involves conspiracy theories and deli meats. Sure enough, Cartman claims there’s a bloodthirsty monster called the Jewpacabra that hunts kids during Passover. Naturally, everyone panics… except Kyle, who points out that this is obviously more Cartman nonsense.
Unfazed, Cartman recruits Butters for a Jewpacabra hunt and convinces a grocery chain to cancel their Easter egg hunt — unless he’s the only one allowed to participate. The store’s execs consult actual Bigfoot hunters, who tell Cartman the Jewpacabra is real and it’s coming for him. Terrified, Cartman hides in a church and pays his friends $20 to be human shields.
Things escalate when Cartman is kidnapped, dressed as a bunny, and chained up as bait in a sacrifice plot. A tranquilizer dart sends him into a biblical fever dream set in Ancient Egypt, where he learns about the plagues, lamb-blood door art, and God’s casual flair for drama. Terrified, he swears to convert.
Kyle, ever the reluctant mensch, rescues the babbling bunny and tucks him in at home. Cartman wakes up claiming a religious awakening, converts to Judaism mid-Easter celebration, tells everyone to ditch Jesus, and is promptly pelted with Christian side-eyes. He ends by sincerely apologizing to Kyle and wishing him a Happy Passover, under the glowing Star of David in the sun because, well… South Park.
“The O.C.”
“The Nana” season 1, episode 23
Just when you thought Newport Beach couldn’t get more dramatic, in storms Sandy Cohen’s mom — a tough-as-nails, chain-smoking, East Coast Jewish grandma who is the complete opposite of the warm and loving Cohen family.
It’s Passover, and this Seder comes with extra guilt, emotional ambushes, and a surprise guest who might just have a crush on Seth. Watch as Kirsten gets schooled in gefilte fish etiquette, Ryan plays awkward Seder plus-one, and Sandy tries to keep the peace between his WASP-y wife and his guilt-wielding mother.
It’s matzah, Manischewitz, and passive-aggression, all under one beautifully lit California roof.
See viewing options here for “The O.C.”
“Difficult People”
“Passover Bump” season 3, episode 1)
Julie and Billy are back, and this time they’re armed with matzah, sarcasm, and unresolved childhood trauma! When Julie scores a coveted invite to a Passover Seder hosted by a cool Jewish family (read: with flattering lighting and artisanal horseradish), she sees it as the perfect opportunity to elevate her social standing and finally escape the purgatory of being the girl who always brings boxed wine.
Meanwhile, Billy has his own Passover plans — mainly avoiding them — but gets roped into an awkward gay couple’s Seder that feels less like a religious gathering and more like a live-action Haggadah-themed escape room. Things spiral when Julie takes a Xanax-fueled deep dive into her family issues, turns the Four Questions into a one-woman show, and accidentally offends every guest under 40 with a biting Elijah joke.
By the time someone opens the door for the prophet, all they find is Julie passed out in the coat room and Billy texting his therapist mid-Seder plate. It’s an episode packed with neuroses, passive-aggressive guilt, and more wine than anyone legally needs to drink on a Thursday.
See viewing options here for “Difficult People”
“Rugrats”
“A Rugrats Passover” season 3, episode 26
This one is an oldie but a goodie. In the season finale of the beloved ‘90s cartoon, the baby gang descends onto Grandpa Boris and Grandma Minka’s house. The grandparents argue over which wine glasses to use, causing Boris to go to the attic and seemingly disappear.
Cousin Angelica frees the babies from the playpen because “Passover’s all about freedom,” and she’s feeling nice for once. The group decides to search for toys in the attic where they find a trapped Grandpa Boris. Accidentally closing the door, they too are trapped in the attic.
While locked in, Grandpa Boris tells the children the story of Passover with Tommy Pickles starring as Moses and Angelica portraying Pharoah (because women can be genocidal maniacs too). The hour-long retelling includes the classic line, “Let my babies go!”
After the episode was released, the Anti-Defamation League criticized the portrayal of Jewish people in “Rugrats.” The ADL ripped the show, saying it played into antisemitic stereotypes of older Jews, leading to Nickelodeon discontinuing Grandpa Boris’ role in subsequent episodes.
See viewing options here for “Rugrats.”
“Northern Exposure”
“Fish Story,” season 5 episode 18
This one goes out to my mom, who made me search every website to watch “Northern Exposure” with her (unfortunately, you cannot stream “Northern Exposure,” but the entire show is sold as a box set).
In “Fish Story,” Jewish doctor and protagonist Joel Fleischman and his not-Jewish girlfriend Maggie decide how to celebrate Passover in Cicely, Alaska. Maggie wants to host a seder for Joel, but he doesn’t want her to because she isn’t Jewish.
Unfortunately for the couple, Joel gets into a fishing accident and is rendered unconscious. He begins to dream about talking to his rabbi, who encourages him to let Maggie participate in Passover with him because she wants to celebrate to feel closer to him. At the end of the episode, Joel hosts a seder for everyone in Cicely.
“The Body in Question,” season 3, episode 6
In the first Passover episode of “Northern Exposure,” the holiday isn’t at the forefront. Joel begins to consider the way his Ashkenazi heritage has shaped him and dreams of his Polish relatives and their seder. He has a conversation with the prophet Elijah while watching his great-grandfather run the seder.
Elijah scolds Joel for not believing in him and Joel wakes up shivering in a freezer. He quickly says the Shema and when Maggie asks if he remembers his name after the freezer ordeal, he says his Hebrew name.
See viewing options here for “Northern Exposure.”
“The Nanny”
“The Passed-Over Story” Season 4, episode 21
Fran Fine is that girl and this Passover episode doesn’t fail.
Mr. Sheffield hires Fran’s high school friend Morgan Faulkner to star in his new production. Morgan quickly hires Mr. Sheffield’s oldest daughter Maggie as her assistant to kickstart her future. This new development sends Fran and Mr. Sheffield reeling.
When everyone goes to Fran’s mother’s house for a seder, Maggie reveals that she doesn’t want to be an assistant anymore and quits her job with Morgan, hoping to go to college instead. However, Maggie gives Fran a Passover miracle and allows her to pick up her hero, Barbara Streisand, and James Brolin from the airport.
See viewing options here for “The Nanny.”
“The Simpsons”
“Simpsons Bible Stories” season 10, episode 18
The Simpson family falls asleep during a boring church service and dreams themselves into the Old Testament, which honestly, has way more action than Reverend Lovejoy’s sermon.
In one dream, Milhouse stars as Moses, leading the kids of Springfield Elementary out of Pharaoh Skinner’s oppressive rule (where they’re forced to make school projects without glitter). Lisa turns water into grape juice, Ralph gets biblical, and Groundskeeper Willie basically becomes a plagues machine. Think “Let my people go!” — but with more detention slips and snack time.
Other dream segments include Homer as King Solomon (who solves a baby dispute the Homer way), Bart as David vs. Nelson Goliath, and Marge as the least chill Eve in the Garden of Eden.
It’s irreverent, ridiculous, and packed with enough sacrilegious jokes to make Ned Flanders clutch his pearls for a week. In short: a perfect Passover-adjacent fever dream for fans of chaos, commandments, and cartoon Exodus.
See viewing options here for “The Simpsons.”
“GLOW”
“Homeward Bound” season 3, episode 6
The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling take a break from body slams and sequins to do something truly hardcore: hike in the desert and confront their intergenerational trauma.
Melrose, our loud, proud, and very Jewish wrestling star (played by “Nobody Wants This”‘ Jackie Tohn), decides the best way to wind down after wandering the Nevadan wilderness is with an unofficial Passover Seder — because nothing says “team bonding” like reciting plagues and yelling about freedom around a campfire.
She’s got the basics covered: the 10 Plagues, the four children, the escape from slavery… with a few extra curse words and party-girl flair. But then Jenny (Ellen Wong) calls her out with a brutal: “You’re just talking about yourself, and pretending it relates to everyone else.” And Melrose, without missing a beat, hits back with the oldest Jewish defense in the book: “It’s a parable!”
What follows is something amazing: a theology throwdown about genocide, inherited pain, and whether or not it’s okay to get deep during a Seder when everyone just wants s’mores.
Melrose references her family’s Holocaust trauma. Jenny shares about her family surviving the Cambodian Killing Fields. And suddenly, this Seder becomes less about matzah and more about empathy, survival, and two women realizing that sometimes, yes, wrestling with your feelings is the real main event.
Also, there were probably no bathrooms. So double bravery points.
See viewing options here for “GLOW.”
“Family Guy”
“Family Goy” season 8, episode 2
Peter Griffin’s sense of identity gets hit with a cultural sledgehammer when he discovers that Lois’s mother is secretly a Holocaust survivor — meaning Lois (Jewish actress Alex Borstein) and their kids are too. Lois’s parents confirms that she is Jewish and that they hid the information so they could join a WASPy country club.
Peter, naturally, reacts with the calm, rational composure we all expect from him: by immediately converting to Judaism and turning his entire life into a knock-off “Fiddler on the Roof” performance. Suddenly he’s swapping communion wafers for matzah and declaring gefilte fish to be the food of his people, despite not knowing how to pronounce it — or what it is.
However, things go downhill quickly after Peter has a nightmare and begins fearing that his family’s Judaism will damn them to hell. As a result, he becomes an all-out antisemite, determined to make his family Catholics. Lois, wanting to honor her heritage, plans a Passover Seder that Peter tries ruin. In his attempt to make the Seder an Easter celebration, Jesus appears to remind Peter that he too was a Jew.
Meanwhile, the Griffin kids are just trying to survive the fallout. Meg wonders if being Jewish will finally make her interesting (it doesn’t), Chris asks if he can still eat bacon (his heartbreak is real), and Stewie contemplates which side of the religious debate gives him the best odds of world domination. But when the family asks Jesus what the correct religion is, he simply responds, “They’re all complete crap.”
See viewing options here for “Family Guy.”
“Transparent”
“Exciting and New,” season 2, episode 10
If you’re looking for a dramatic Passover episode, “Transparent” gives you just that. The Pfefferman clan takes a cruise over Passover for some R&R, but of course, even the water can’t allow them to forget.
Each family member deals with their own problems, including oldest daughter Sarah’s struggle with her failed synagogue with brother Josh’s ex-fiancee Rabbi Raquel. While each deals with a struggle with either their identity or love interest, the family unit appears to fracture.
In an attempt to reunite, youngest child Ali and Sarah prepare a seder on the cruise. However, the seder quickly goes up in flames.
Josh walks away from the seder after everyone is asked to share what enslaves them, and matriarch Shelly confronts her other two children and ex-wife Maura for their mediocre behavior toward her.
The entire episode is about her understanding her worth: she explores “self-care,” she’s annoyed that her family ignores her in favor of their phones, and finally chooses to call them out for mocking her and leaving her out — to which her family rolls their eyes.
However, Shelly gets the last laugh when she performs her one-woman show, “To Shell and Back,” to her applauding family and crowd on the ship.
See viewing options here for “Transparent.”
“Sports Night”
“April is the Cruelest Month” season 1, episode 19
April showers bring… budget cuts and network nonsense! The team at Sports Night is all geared up for the Olympics — until the suits upstairs decide to chop their broadcast crew from a robust 34 to a lean, tragic 12. Isaac (Robert Guillaume) is furious, Dana (Felicity Huffman) is in full “how dare you” mode, and the only thing higher than the stakes is Jeremy’s anxiety level.
As Dana spars with network execs Bert and Ray (a duo who seem to think you can cover the Olympics with a selfie stick and a weather intern), Dan (Josh Charles) and Jeremy (Josh Malina) try to bring some meaning to the chaos by hosting an office Seder and Passover pageant. Because nothing soothes workplace drama like gefilte fish and ancient plagues.
Tensions rise and everyone’s stuck wondering if they’ll be covering Olympic figure skating or just narrating it from a broom closet with an Australian time delay. The team must choose: accept the watered-down, budget-friendly version of the dream… or go full Aaron Sorkin and give an inspirational speech about integrity and synchronized swimming.
See viewing options here for “Sports Night.”
“Saturday Night Live”
“Taraji P. Henson” season 40, episode 18
Why was this Weekend Update different from all other Weekend Updates? Because it featured not one, but two painfully awkward Jews with pre-written speeches about Passover.
Vanessa Bayer’s iconic Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy returns in all his sweaty, stammering glory to educate the nation about the holiday of matzah, Moses, and mild anxiety. But this time, he’s not alone — enter Billy Crystal as his equally shy, equally tearful dad, Dr. Hanken, who comes armed with his own “totally casual” monologue that he just happens to have printed out.
What follows is a delightful spiral of throat-clearing, nervous blinking, and emotionally charged tangents about Derek Jeter leaving the Yankees. Dr. Hanken even starts crying because, of course, it’s not Passover without unexpected emotions and a little sports nostalgia.
The sketch is adorable, wildly Jewish, and makes it crystal clear where Jacob got his flair for awkward sincerity and laminated cue cards.
Plus Jacob comes in with one of the best “SNL” lines to date: “The second reason is we eat bitter herbs to remind us of the cruel way the Jews were punished in Egypt. Sounds pretty bad, but not as bad as my brother Ethan got punished for grinding at his BBYO dance!”
“Jerry Seinfeld” season 17, episode 18
In this classic “SNL” sketch, Jerry Seinfeld shows up as Elijah the Prophet, crashing a Passover Seder like he’s been pregaming with four cups of Manischewitz. Rocking a white tunic and a beard that looks like it lost a fight with a cotton ball factory, Elijah is not the chill, mystical dinner guest you’d hope for.
He storms in uninvited (classic Elijah), immediately complains about the wine, flirts with the teenage daughter (yikes), and then drops the ultimate Seder party foul: introducing his plus-one, Jesus.
See viewing options here for “Saturday Night Live.”
