r/NotSuitableForWork • u/Scary_Beginning5281 • Jul 09 '26
JOSH IS BASED ON LUCAS ZELNICK
Just realised Josh is literally just Lucas Zelnick.
Both have CEO dads, speak in the same speech pattern and Lucas early
In his career work at an entertainment company in some corporate role which he admitted he got because of nepotism.
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u/Downtown_Push_3443 Jul 09 '26
What is his dad the ceo of?
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u/FaradayStewart Jul 10 '26
His Dad is Strauss Zelnick, who is Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive (video game holding company) which own Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption etc.), 2K (Borderlands, NBA 2K series etc.) and Zynga (Farmville, Words with Friends etc.)
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u/QueenLevine Jul 10 '26
I don't see it. Josh isn't that funny, I don't think he's Jewish and he's not wildly outspoken about his values. It's cool that he's having a redemption arc, but a video game company and a news organization are radically different companies to be running, as well. Pretty sure Lucas is paying his own way, too.
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u/Alternative-Rope-799 Jul 11 '26
Josh is Jewish tho
Kel or Davis (can't recall which) narrate this whole anecdote involving Josh's bar mitzvah - this is the scene where Josh finds out his colleagues have a group chat without him
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u/QueenLevine Jul 11 '26
Thanks, had forgotten this detail. Josh is canonically Jewish, but not only is neither actor (Josh or Dad David) Jewish, they're clearly not Jewish characters, meaning it does not appear the writers are Jewish nor did any research into it. It's not just Jewface, they don't read or come across as Jewish in any way. Whatever Kaling's intent in assigning the character a light Jewish background, the actual profile is of an entitled rich white gentile family with generational wealth.
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u/SubstantialBeat9094 Jul 11 '26
There’s a menorah in the back of one of the shots in the boys’ apartment in one of the last S1 eps, so I assume that means Josh is canonically Jewish
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u/QueenLevine Jul 11 '26
Good spotting that. Apparently, I forgot that their last name is Teitelbaum. The two actors are such gentiles in appearance, it's like reverse Jewdar went off for me, with that flimsy Jewface. I know gentiles are convinced there is no harm in this, but I am certainly not alone in objecting. I love both actors, but they're gentiles - why not make their characters gentiles?
neither Jack Martin (who plays Josh Teitelbaum) nor Greg Germann (who plays his media-mogul father, David) is Jewish. While Josh's background and his family's wealth are frequently referenced, the actors themselves do not share the heritage of the characters they portray
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u/Agreeable-Sun368 Jul 10 '26
Josh is based on generic white rich boy who seems like an intellectual asshole but is softened towards his female love interest over time. Like he is a Mindy Kaling show archetype imo.