Shalom in the Home
{{Short description|American reality television series (2006–2007)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| genre = Reality
| creator =
| writer = Bernadette McDaid
| director = Marcus Boyle
Beth Paholak
| presenter = Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| open_theme =
| composer = Matt Anthony
Stephen O'Reilly
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 2
| num_episodes = 20
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer = Roy Ackerman
Andrew Harrison
Ronnie Krensel
Deborah Adler Myers
Jamie Schutz
| producer = Consuelo Villanueva
| editor =
| cinematography = Dominic Azoto
| camera = Single-camera
| runtime = 45–48 minutes
| company = Diverse USA
| channel = TLC
| first_aired = {{start date|2006|04|10}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2007|05|07}}
}}
Shalom in the Home is an American reality television series that aired on TLC for two seasons from April 10, 2006, to May 7, 2007. It was hosted by Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach on Mondays at 9 p.m. In the show, Boteach counselled dysfunctional families. It was one of the cable network's highest-rated shows and was the first reality TV show to have a rabbi as its star. National Fatherhood Initiative gave Boteach its most prestigious award for the series.
Show format
The show debuted on April 10, 2006.{{Cite web|url=https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/shalom-in-the-home|title=Shalom in the Home - TV Review; Dr. Phil in a yarmulke meets Supernanny. Teens OK.|author=Sierra Falucci|date=August 9, 2006|website=Common Sense Media}}{{Cite web |author=John Chadwick |date=May 17, 2006 |title=TV Rabbi Brings Shalom to the Home |url=https://www.theledger.com/article/20060517/News/608121166 |website=The Ledger}} A second and final season of Shalom in the Home began on March 4, 2007.[http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-35warzone,0,1304289.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines "If your home is a war zone, maybe the rabbi can help."], Sun-Sentinel, March 5, 2007. "The show launched its second season Sunday (TLC, 7 p.m.)."
The weekly one-hour prime-time program sought to help families overcome difficult problems.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10041816|title=Behind Closed Doors: Bringing Peace into the Home|website=NPR|author=Michel Martin|date=May 7, 2007}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/troubled-families|title=Troubled Families|website=Oprah.com|date=June 26, 2006}} Boteach provided advice to dysfunctional families about relationships, marriage and parenting and tried to bring them peace (shalom, in Hebrew).{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/advice/is-your-home-a-war-zone-1.662628|title=Is Your Home a War Zone?|website=Newsday|author=Pat Burson|date=March 4, 2007}} In each episode he worked with one family for ten days, playing the role of family therapist to help them come to terms with their problems and find the skills they need to improve.
After Boteach drove up to and parked in front of each troubled family's home in an Airstream trailer equipped with television monitors (the "Shalom Mobile Home"), cameras were installed in the family's home—capturing footage of the family's dynamics.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jweekly.com/2006/04/07/rabbi-shmuley-boteach-does-home-improvement/|title=Rabbi Shmuley Boteach does home improvement|first=Joe|last=Eskenazi|date=April 7, 2006|work=J.}} Boteach later brought the parents into the trailer, which is "neutral territory", showed them the footage, and gently confronted them about the family's dysfunction in the hope of shocking them into change. Other techniques he used included, having family members wear earpieces so that Boteach could encourage positive, healthy interactions and discourage negative, dysfunctional behaviors and taking the family on an outdoors outing or activity.
Among the families that he counseled was one with parents who divorced because of the father's infidelity, families who have children who are fighting, a lesbian couple, a widow, two previously divorced parents jointly raising children from their first marriages, and a Muslim family in which the parents’ busy lives drained romance from their relationship.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8cDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Shalom+in+the+Home%22+boteach+%22tlc%22&pg=PA42|title=End of the Affair|date= June 2007|publisher=Rodale, Inc.|page=42|work=Best Life|author=Kendall Bryant}} While Boteach used wisdom he learned from Judaism, he does not refer to Judaism and the show is not about religion.{{Cite web |author=Sherri Day |date=February 13, 2007 |title=Reality TV gets religion |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2006/07/23/reality-tv-gets-religion/ |website=Tampa Bay Times}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-03-25-0703210362-story.html|title=The State of the American Male: An expert sees big fractures on the home front|first=Chris|last=McNamara|website=Chicago Tribune|date=March 25, 2007}}
Boteach appeared with families from Shalom in the Home on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss common family problems and how to solve them. He also followed the series with a book in 2007 by the same name.Shmuley Boteach (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ldfEAAAACAAJ Shalom in the Home,] Meredith Books. After the series ended, Boteach remained in contact with the families, counselling them and having them over to his home.{{Cite web|date=2014-07-23|title=Celebrity Rabbi, Heal Thyself: The Trials of Shmuley Boteach|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/shmuley-boteach|access-date=2020-12-17|website=Tablet Magazine|language=en}}
Episodes
{{Series overview
| color1 =
| link1 = #Season 1 (2006)
| episodes1 = 10
| start1 = {{Start date|2006|04|10}}
| end1 = {{End date|2006|06|12}}
| color2 =
| link2 = #Season 2 (2007)
| episodes2 = 10
| start2 = {{Start date|2007|03|04}}
| end2 = {{End date|2007|05|07}}
}}
Reception
Shalom in the Home attracted almost 700,000 viewers per episode, and was one of the cable network's highest-rated shows. It was the first reality TV show to have a rabbi as its star. Common Sense Media gave it a rating of four stars out of five. In 2007, Boteach received the most prestigious award of the National Fatherhood Initiative for the show.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/23/why-is-shmuley-boteach-running-for-congress-as-a-republican|title=Why Is Shmuley Boteach Running for Congress as a Republican?|first=Michelle|last=Goldberg|date=March 23, 2012|work=The Daily Beast}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/life/family/mothers-babies/parents-are-only-human-26448391.html|title=Parents are only human|author=Conor Freehan|website=Independent|date=May 29, 2007}}
Rabbi Irwin Kula of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a Jewish think tank said: "He’s trying to take an ancient tradition that has been familial, tribal, and inwardly focused, and translate it into an American idiom so it can benefit the larger society. He’s essentially bringing the Torah to the marketplace of ideas, and there are very few people doing this." The publication J. The Jewish News of Northern California wrote that unlike hosts in similar shows, Boteach: "really seems to care more about helping people than demeaning them."
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|title=Shalom in the Home|id=0770649}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060510154827/http://www.shmuley.com/articles.php?id=253 Shalom in the Home news article]
- Stacey Dresner (May 11, 2007). [http://www.jewishaz.com/specialsections/love-is-bottom-line-for-shalom-in-the-home/article_a559a591-ba31-5a5a-8171-6ef4a667eb31.html "Love is bottom line for 'Shalom in the Home'"], Connecticut Jewish Ledger
{{TLC Programming}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shalom In The Home}}
Category:2006 American television series debuts
Category:2007 American television series endings
Category:2000s American reality television series
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series about dysfunctional families
Category:Jewish American television series
Category:TLC (TV network) original programming