While the wound left by the loss of Alex Trebrek in November 2020 has yet to fully heal even after more than a year, watching Jeopardy! is still an enjoyable affair these days, nonetheless. Other than the timeless appeal of providing questions to some head-scratching answers, much of the credit goes to the two people currently sharing hosting duties for the long-running game show: one-time champion Ken Jennings and former The Big Bang Theory cast member, Mayim Bialik.
Of course, as the biggest fans of the four-time Emmy nominee and real-life expert in neuroscience should know, the San Diego, California, native became sitcom royalty long before she was cast as Amy Farrah Fowler. However, that is the role we shall start with, as we list our picks for the best Mayim Bialik movies and TV shows, along with a tip on where to find them on streaming or as a digital rental or purchase.
The Big Bang Theory (HBO Max)
The lives of an experimental physicist (Johnny Galecki), his eccentric roommate and co-worker who specializes in theoretical particle physics (Emmy winner Jim Parsons), and their equally socially awkward friends and colleagues are changed when an attractive woman (Kaley Cuoco) moves into the apartment across the hall from theirs.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady’s long-running, Emmy-winning CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, changed quite a bit (and, some might say, for the better) after Mayim Bialik joined the cast at the end of Season 3 as Sheldon Cooper’s love interest, Amy Farrah Fowler, who - like the actor in real life - is a neurobiologist.
Stream The Big Bang Theory on HBO Max.
Buy The Big Bang Theory on Amazon.
Blossom (Hulu, Tubi)
An eccentric, fun-loving teenage girl (Mayim Bialik), with help from her close friend (Jenna von Oÿ), puts up with the trials and tribulations of high school and of young womanhood while also navigating life as the only female in a house run by men - namely her single father (Ted Wass) and two older brothers (Joey Lawrence and Michael Stoyanov).
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: Years before starring on The Big Bang Theory, one of Bialik’s first starring roles on a sitcom was as the title character of Blossom - a fan favorite hit from creator Don Reo (later known for Netflix’s The Ranch) that was considered somewhat “edgy” for its time while it originally aired on NBC from 1990 to 1995.
Stream Blossom on Hulu.
Stream Blossom on Tubi.
Buy Blossom on Amazon.
‘Til Death (The Roku Channel)
A history teacher (Emmy winner and former Everybody Love Raymond cast member Brad Garrett) and his wife of 25 years (Joely Fisher) pass on their more cynical philosophies of marriage to a pair of young newlyweds (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster) who move in next door.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In the years between her starring roles on Blossom and The Big Bang Theory, Mayim Bialik played a fictional version of herself who becomes a psychiatrist specializing in “sitcomosis” on three episodes of the Fox sitcom, ’Til Death, on which she also had a meta reunion with her former Blossom cast members Jenna von Oÿ and Michael Stoyanov.
Stream ‘Til Death on The Roku Channel.
Buy ‘Til Death on Amazon.
Webster (Pluto TV)
The lives of a professional football player (Alex Karras) and his new wife (Susan Clark) are changed when they suddenly become the guardians to their orphaned godson: a precocious five-year-old boy named Webster (Emmanuel Lewis, who was actually 12 at the time when he was first cast on the show).
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: Before landing her starring role on Blossom, Mayim Bialk had a recurring role as a brainy young girl named Frieda on a total of eight episodes of Webster - another fan favorite hit sitcom named after the young central character who is wise beyond his years.
Stream Webster on Pluto TV.
Buy Webster on Amazon.
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO Max)
Creating the hit, award-winning sitcom, Seinfeld, may have given him fame, fortune, and a wealth of other famous acquaintances, but Larry David (starring as himself) is still a neurotic mess of a person who often finds himself in disastrous and alienable situations of which he usually tends to be the cause.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: One of Mayim Bialik’s more recent and more notable recurring roles on a hit TV comedy was on star and creator Larry David’s cleverly meta, long-running HBO original, Curb Your Enthusiasm, as Jodi Funkhouser - the lesbian daughter of Bob Einstein’s character, Marty Funkhouser - who later comes out as a transgender man in the Season 10 finale, then played by Chaz Bono.
Stream Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO Max.
Buy Curb Your Enthusiasm on Amazon.
Beaches (Amazon Rental)
The lives of an aspiring singer from New York City (two-time Academy Award nominee Bette Midler) and a privileged heiress from San Francisco (Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey) change forever after a chance meeting as children in Atlantic City, which grows into a long friendship that endures even the most turbulent circumstances - such as their differing careers and conflict over their affection for the same man.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: One of Mayim Bialik’s earliest and most notable roles in a feature film was in 1988’s Beaches - the classic tearjerker from director Garry Marshall that's based on the novel by Iris Rainer - in which she played the younger version of Midler’s character, C.C. Bloom, alongside Marcie Leeds as Hershey’s character, Hillary, at age 11.
Pumpkinhead (Tubi)
After losing his young son (Matthew Hurley) in an accidental murder caused by a group of bullish teens, a devastated man (legendary B-movie actor Lance Henriksen) seeks help exacting his revenge from a local witch (Florence Shauffler), who helps him conjure an ancient evil that begins to wreak havoc in their small town.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In the same year she starred in Beaches, Mayim Bialik made her official debut in a movie with the classic, cult-favorite creature feature, Pumpkinhead, which was also the directorial debut of Stan Winston - the late, legendary makeup artist and special effects wizard known for his groundbreaking work on movies like the Terminator franchise and Jurassic Park.
Stream Pumpkinhead on Tubi.
Rent/Buy Pumpkinhead on Amazon.
As They Made Us (Amazon Rental)
A divorced single mother (former Glee cast member Dianna Agron) struggles to make peace with her overbearing mother (Academy Award nominee Candice Bergen), her ailing father (Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman), and her estranged brother (Simon Helberg) as a new chance at romance enters her life in the form of a handsome landscaper (Justin Chu Cary)
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In 2022, Mayim Bialik made her own feature-length debut as both a writer and director with As They Made Us - a heartfelt, humorous, star-studded family drama.
Rent/Buy As They Made Us on Amazon.
The Dog Who Saved Halloween (Amazon Prime, Peacock)
After his clueless owner (Gary Valentine), his wife (Elisa Donovan), and two thieves who tried to rob them two years earlier (Dean Cain and Joey Diaz) get trapped in a supposedly haunted house in their neighborhood, it is up to a heroic yellow Labrador named Zeus (voiced by Joey Lawrence) to rescue them and save the day on the scariest night of the year.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In 2011, Mayim Bialik reunited with her former Blossom co-star Lawrence and her Pumpkinhead co-star Lance Henriksen in the spooky family comedy, The Dog Who Saved Halloween - a sequel to The Dog Who Saved Christmas from two years earlier - as the voice of a more vicious canine from next door named Medusa.
Stream The Dog Who Saved Halloween on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Dog Who Saved Halloween on Peacock.
Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 (Pluto TV)
Legendary comic book writer Stan Lee (voicing himself) comes across a group of super-powered aliens after they crash-land on Earth, whom he teaches how to be heroes and uses as inspiration for his latest stories.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In 2014, Mayim Bialik leant her to voice to the role of the super-fast Lady Lightning in what is also her first superhero movie, Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 - an inventive and fun animated feature with an all-star cast that also includes Christian Slater, Teri Hatcher, Darren Criss, and more.
Stream Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 on Pluto TV.
Rent/Buy Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 on Amazon.
Call Me Kat (Hulu)
As she reaches the age of 39, an eccentric unmarried woman (Mayim Bialik) decides to use the money that her parents were hoping to use for her wedding day to, instead, open her own cafe with a special cat theme.
Why it is worth checking out if you like Mayim Bialik: In her most recent instance playing the title role of a sitcom, Bialik stars on Call Me Kat - an American update of Miranda Hart’s British comedy, Miranda, from Darlene Hunt that Bialik also executive produces with her former The Big Bang Theory co-star, Jim Parsons.
Stream Call Me Kat on Hulu.
Buy Call Me Kat on Amazon.
After you binge all of these wonderful titles, if you still cannot get enough of Mayim Bialik, just check your local listings for the next episode of Jeopardy!
