Israeli version of hit TV sitcom The Office in the works
Show creator Ricky Gervais: I am thrilled that Israel is making The Office, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel newsAn Israeli version of hit TV show The Office is in the works and will feature both Arab and Ethiopian characters, according to reports in the British media.
The show, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, will be named Super Office and will be set in central Israel, near Tel Aviv. Actor Avi Meshulam will be stepping into the shoes of character David Brent, originally portrayed by Gervais.
The Office has been remade in France, Russia and the United States, where it has turned into a hit, starring Steve Carell.
According to reports, in the Israeli version Gareth becomes Yariv, and Tim and Dawn become Yossi and Dana.
The show also includes a character named Abed, described as "an intellectual Arab with a gentle soul," and Abba, who is Ethiopian.
"I am thrilled and amazed that Israel is making The Office with local writers, directors and actors," Gervais was quoted as saying. "I mean, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?"
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Original cast of The Office: Ricky Gervais, Lucy Davis, and Martin Freeman. |
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Can't wait for Israeli version, hope it is available in the U.S. (like Arab Labor on LinkTV).
when he remarked "whoever heard of Jewish entertainers?" Don't tell John other thousands of Jewish entertainers from whom Gervais continually rips off his material, them being Jewish, and all.
The American version might not be as funny to Brits, but it sure is a huge hit on US TV. The beauty of The Office is that the local versions tend to be skewed to their audiences, and aren't just copied from one culture to another (ie, "Coupling"... a huge hit in the UK, a dismal failure in the US). I can see how an Israeli "The Office" would work... imagine a Michael Scot or David Brent-type character as a pompous, clueless Israeli-boss type, with complete lack of sensitivity for his multi-ethnic office staff. It could work! Let's just hope it makes it to DVD with English subtitles for us in Galut. :)
Israel is familiar with making hit sitcoms. Anyone remember BeTipil?? This was such a big hit that Mark Walberg decided to make his own version. I'm sure the Israel's can pull it off.
1st I loved the Brit office, and i love the US office even though it has morphed into something totally different than the brit version (at 1st i was prepared to hate it). My hebrew is bad, but almost every week i fly El Al and they show Israeli sitcoms which i can figure out due to the helpful subtitles in hebrew (english might make more sense for a hebrew show) which for the life of me i don't find funny yet i always see a lot of Sabra's laughing hysterically. So as long as they get it who cares.
It just wont work! I don't think the American version worked either. The cultural differences are just too vast. The Israeli comedy show "Ha Yisraelim " was a vague attempt at "Little Britain" The famous skit of the Prime Minster and his homo sexual assistant , was transformed into an Israeli Army General and his Israeli homo sexual assistant. It didn't work! Nor will the office! don't get me wrong I like Israeli humor. In my opinion the only Israel comedy show which is no longer on air that comes close to British shows is Ehad Ha am Ehad.
= lifted from the BBC website - who at least have a picture of Avi Meshulam and explain that "Slough" is not translated into Tel Aviv, but into Yahud ...
"according to reports in the British media" Surely there are no limits on the local press reporting this too..
"I mean, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?" Better add that last like was a joke, some people might take it seriously :D. I hope nothing gets lost in translation. If they can't capture the total awkwardness of the British version it will be a failure. Hilarious show, I hope it succeeds in Israel.