TV Talk: ChaiFlicks’ ‘Schmoozing’ visits Squirrel Hill’s Milky Way

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

For its first original series, Jewish streaming service ChaiFlicks (pronounced “high-flicks”) opted to go “Schmoozing and Cruising,” a half-hour unscripted series about kosher restaurants and food establishments across the United States.

In the episode that premieres Jan. 4, host CW Silverberg stops in Pittsburgh to have some pizza at Milky Way in Squirrel Hill.

Silverberg has visited Pittsburgh’s Jewish neighborhood before. Prior to “Schmoozing and Cruising,” he hosted (and continues to host) “Tripping Kosher” on YouTube, which he said was a seven-year proof-of-concept for “Schmoozing.”

“Many years ago, we recognized there was a need for legitimate storytelling in this sphere — actual television, not somebody with an iPhone doing what they can, the best way they can — somebody with producers and editors,” said Silverberg of Kosher Style Media, his production company that makes “Schmoozing” for ChaiFlicks. “Our focus has always been to tell this broader story about the relationship of culture and Judaism and America. It feels like a tiny part of the universe, but there’s a whole lot of stories to be told.”

Milky Way fit with the aims of “Schmoozing” because of what it represents to the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

“Milky Way is one of those great, specific examples of a community benchmark or cornerstone,” Silver­berg said. “You cannot have X amount of kosher-keeping Jews in a per capita without a pizza place. That’s usually the first kind of space — it’s pizza/bagel/whatever. … What they offer is more than just food — they’re offering an essential network hub for the kosher keepers.”

A kosher diet doesn’t allow for the mixing of meat and cheese or eating pizza toppings like pepperoni, but Silverberg says modern dietary science makes new options possible.

“We live in the fantastic future of plant-based proteins, so I get to eat pepperoni pizzas everywhere with faux pepperonis,” he said.

With the rise of antisemitism following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Silverberg said the goal of “Schmoozing” is to offer some light in dark times.

“We are uniquely aware of how tight and special our community is right now,” he said. “We are more connected than we’ve all ever been on an epigenetic level. If you’re not part of it, I can’t explain it to you. But we’re all receiving some very, very comforting signals from each other. … My goal is to provide a certain kind of respite, a certain kind of introduction to the culture: Let’s just educate ourselves more, and here’s something very special about us that has nothing to do with that noise. That is something we can all be comforted by whether you’re part of this kosher-keeping corner pocket universe or not. This is just positivity. It’s just excitement. We are American Jews keeping kosher. That is the main concept here.”

In addition to “Schmoozing,” ChaiFlicks carries 2,500 hours of Jewish-themed programming from all over the world, including scripted series such as “The New Black” (“Entourage” in a yeshiva), “The Lesson” (acclaimed Israeli series about a civics teacher, played by Doron Ben-David from Netflix’s “Fauda,” who has an argument with his student that goes off the rails) and “Wartime Girls” (drama about three young Polish women as they fight the Nazi occupation of their country during World War II).

ChaiFlicks, which launched in August 2020, costs $10 per month or $72 annually and is available as an app on iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, Android TV, Roku Channel and using the Samsung TV app. It’s also available via computer at chaiflicks.com.