Ever since I was a kid, I really liked TV shows, not only because of the content but also because of the opportunity to show the viewers around you – friends, family, friends of the family, it doesn’t matter – that you know more than you think. That you have it, you too could take the big prize. Of course it was done under much more comfortable and less stressful conditions and without cameras pointing at you, but as far as I’m concerned I still took 250 thousand NIS in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, so what do I care?
In recent times, the big and grandiose entertainers, which once dominated Israeli prime time, have somewhat disappeared. Reality has conquered everything, and something in today’s viewers is a little averse to a big and flamboyant show. But here 11 managed to keep the embers burning – with “The Chase” starring Ido Rosenblum (and later, Lucy Ayoub) and Ithi “The Chaser” Herman (and later, also Michal “The Chaser” Sharon). Now the broadcasting corporation saw that it was good, and came up with another entertainment, also based on a British format – called “The Upper Percent”, the first program of which was broadcast yesterday on the channel.
The most interesting thing here is actually the identity of the presenter – not a very classic name in the entertainment world. It used to be customary for the host to be a well-known and familiar figure, one who is already used to entering every living room (Yoram Arbel, Erez Tal). The one chosen here is Shahar Hasson, indeed one of the most successful comedians in Israel, but one whose viewing numbers are completely mainstream, his method of working and distribution is still “underground” – mainly clubs and stand-up videos on Facebook. Hasson has a track record on television, including in “Aretz Fahadrah” (in the current season mainly in the character of Itamar Ben Gabir), but until then he was most of the time on the bizarre fringes of Israeli television: from the legendary “Limited Edition” and “Lila Bakhif” on the Bip channel, Through “Television at its best” (wonderful!) which reached the bow and didn’t survive too long in the tough slot of Friday Night Light, to programs like “Laughter from Work”. Even when he came to prime time, the most prime-time there is, in the panel of “The Masked Singer”, he was there mainly to throw punches between the sparks of Static and the neurosis of Zadi French.
And now – he is in the center of the stage. Wearing the mythological and physical suit of an entertainment presenter on the national channel. There is usually a tendency for people who reach this status to get out of who they are, to try and adapt yourself to the format. But Hassan, to his credit, does not do that: he remains funny and flowing as usual, lightens the atmosphere with amusing punches – and above all does what he did well in his years as a stand-up artist – creates a successful connection with the audience. The format is also fresh and helps him a lot: in contrast to games that test general knowledge, this time it is a game of logic questions, when 100 people in the audience have to answer questions of increasing difficulty, when those who are wrong fall along the way, and at the end two people compete for the amount in the shared pot (which can reach up to one hundred thousand NIS). A good, cool and flowing format that connects well with Hasson’s surprising presentation abilities.
The story of the Israeli entertainment industry, as illustrated many times, is one of a constant journey from the subversive fringes to the tyrannical center (as Modi Bar-On once said, another one who took this route). Erez Tal and Abri Gilad started as a crazy lunchtime program on the IDF airwaves, and ended up as entertainment presenters; Eyal Kitsis was a stand-up comedian at the “Camel Comedy Club”, and today he stands shoulder to shoulder next to Yonit Levy; and so does Hasson – who was responsible for relatively extreme humor And wild, now stands at the heart of a prestigious format, not only in the money it provides, but also in its status in the world of television. And the truth is, when you see him get there, he makes it like a true underdog victory: not forgetting the road that got him there, and what he knew To do along this path – and everything that is fun about him, only enriches the new amusement of the corporation. This is how it is: sometimes, when you don’t look to the sides and don’t look to change, you win much more than those who are busy measuring themselves.