Author: David Caspi

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Producer Doug Ellin

HBO is getting some more therapy from the holy land.

Half a decade after airing Israeli adaptation In Treatment, the premium cable network has put into development the drama series Wish, adapted from Israeli series entitled Beit Ha’Mishalot (House of Wishes). The U.S. entry is being billed as a psychological drama where people are given the chance to relive defining experiences of their lives, some search for secrets from their past, others to fulfill their most intimate, darkest wishes.

A serialized anthology, Wish delves into the deepest realms of the human psyche, wrestling with concepts of perception, reality, memory, delusion and morality as it explores its characters’ greatest needs, desires and fears.

The Israeli original was created, written and directed by renowned Israeli director Haim Bouzaglo, and premiered locally on Israeli Broadcasting Authority’s Channel 1 in March 2013 with its freshman season spanning a hefty 26 episodes. Twenty-six additional episodes already shot and are tentatively set to air this year.

Local reviews pointed out the show’s unique concept, which sees the main protagonist, the psychologist dealing with his own demons, welcoming a revolving door of one-off characters coming to him for a sort of psychodrama parallel-universe session in which actors play out those experiences the patient wishes to revisit.

The HBO adaptation hails from CBS Television Studios, with Emmy winning writer and HBO veteran Merritt Johnson (In Treatment, Temple Grandin) set as writer of the project as well as executive producer, alongside Entourage‘s Doug Ellin and Teri Weinberg, Jim Lefkowitz, Bruce Rubenstein, Shirly Brener and creator Bouzaglo.

David Bloomer/SHOWTIME

‘Homeland’

Showtime’s Homeland season finale is not sitting well in the same country which originated the show.

The Emmy-winning drama series wrapped up its acclaimed fourth season Sunday with an episode that included a remark which caused some outrage in Israel, where original series Prisoners of War, created by Gideon Raff, is from.

During a confrontation between Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) and CIA black ops specialist Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham), the latter justifies his recent cavorting with Islamabad high-ranked Taliban leader Haissam Haqqani (NumanAcar) by referencing former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

“Menachem Begin killed 91 British soldiers at the King David Hotel before becoming Prime Minister,” says Dar Adal in the scene, speaking of Begin, whom in the 1940s led underground Zionist group Irgun (Etzel), before Israel’s independence was proclaimed in 1948.

Read more ‘Homeland’ Finale: Showtime Boss Discusses Season 4 “Mojo” and Intense Scrutiny

Two years prior, following a British raid on Jewish civilians, the Irgun executed a bombing at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, which served as an administrative and military headquarters for the British, who had the mandate in the region at the time. Despite issued warnings to evacuate the premises by the Irgun, the attack totaled in 91 casualties, among them 28 Brits, 41 Arabs and 17 Jews, and is regarded historically as a contributing factor to the British mandate’s decline.

Speaking to Israeli news website Ynet, Herzl Makov, director of the Menachem Begin Center, demanded explanations regarding the comparison. “It is slander against Menachem Begin and the state of Israel,” said Makov. “To say, ‘Begin killed’? He wasn’t even there. The underground resistance group was under his command, and he took responsibility. In addition, three warnings were given to the British to vacate and their commander refused. So there is a dramatic difference between the two cases compared. For me, it is like saying that [Begin and Haqqani] are both terrorists, just like saying they both wore brown shirts. It is surprising specifically because Homeland is based on the Israeli format Prisoners of War.”

Begin went on to head major right-wing political party Herut (Freedom) and in 1977 became Israel’s sixth Prime Minister in what is known locally as “the revolution,” making him the first ever right-wing leader to dethrone the left-wing dominance in the country’s 30 years existence. Begin is also regarded for the 1979 unprecedented peace treaty with the Arab state of Egypt, and along with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, received the Nobel Prize for peace.

Showtime declined comment.

After garnering worldwide attention, aspiring singer Jessica “Jessy” Katz, niece of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, reached the end of her run on The Voice Israel.

The 25-year old daughter of Playmount Productions president Nancy Spielberg-Katz was eliminated Sunday night local time, during week two of the top 20 round. Katz’s previous performance was deemed not up to snuff by her coach, Israeli rocker Aviv Geffen, who warned her ahead of Sunday’s performance that she would be on the bubble.

Katz sang Norwegian band A-ha’s 2000 hit “Summer Moved On” and failed to advance in the competition.

Katz’s audition, first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter in June, made headlines because of her family ties, though she often emphasized her desire to stand on her own. “People want that ‘Spielberg’ and when they say ‘Spielberg’s niece is going on The Voice,‘ for me, it’s not the truth,” Katz confessed to Geffen on last week’s episode. “I’d like people to forget all about it. It’s bullshit.” She later added that she is “not willing to use the contacts I have unless I’ve proven myself”.

Geffen disagreed with Katz, explaining how he was signed to Israel’s top record company in the early 1990s because of his father, songwriter and journalist Yehonatan Geffen. Only later was he able to introduce his own songs. “If I were you, I might even change the last name to Spielberg, I’m not joking,” said Geffen. “If you were to be signed to Warner, Sony or EMI, it would be because of your relation to Spielberg, it’s all about the story. There’s no reason to be afraid of it. If it opens whichever door for you, just walk on in, because it’s a door that will only open once”.

The self-proclaimed Zionist was one of the standout contestants on this season of The Voice Israel. The popular singing show hit a rough patch for Channel 2 franchiser Reshet during the summer, when escalating violence between Israel and neighboring Palestinians forced much of the country into bomb shelters and benched the program for six weeks.

Watch Katz’s final performance below: