"This is an important milestone for Keshet, which decided several years ago that it is not just a broadcaster, but an Israeli and international content producer," said Avi Nir, CEO of Keshet.
By AMY SPIRORotem Sela and Aviv Alush in Keshet's 'The Baker and the Beauty.'(photo credit: MOSHE NACHUMOVICH/KESHET)
After a successful pilot, ABC has ordered a full season of The Baker and the Beauty, a remake of the hit Keshet series.ABC announced the order Saturday, picking up the drama out of a long list of pilots commissioned by the network.The series, created and written by Eurovision co-host Assi Azar, features a young man of Yemenite origin working at his parents’ bakery in Bat Yam, who meets and falls in love with an international supermodel. The US version focuses on a Cuban man working in his family’s bakery in Miami, who meets and falls in love with an international superstar. The original show’s character Amos Dahari, played by Aviv Alush, has been transformed into Daniel Garcia, played by Victor Rasuk, while Noa Hollander – played by Rotem Sela – has become Noa Hamilton, portrayed by Nathalie Kelley.“This is the perfect timing for this incredible news,” Azar said Sunday. “I never in my wildest dreams imagined this show that I wrote in a room in my house in Tel Aviv could reach ABC in America. And here it has happened... Thank you to God and thank you to Keshet International!”The first two seasons of The Baker and the Beauty aired in Israel on Keshet to critical and ratings success, and Azar has said he is currently writing a third season.Keshet scored a double win this weekend when NBC ordered a full season of the new show Lincoln, which is being co-produced by Keshet Studios. The show, which is not based on an Israeli original, is a co-production of Keshet, Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television. It is based on Jeffery Deaver’s 1997 novel The Bone Collector, which was made into a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.“This is an important milestone for Keshet, which decided several years ago that it is not just a broadcaster, but an Israeli and international content producer,” said Avi Nir, CEO of Keshet. “This is an important day for Israeli drama and for the talents we have here. This is a particularly happy day for Assi Azar, who created The Baker and the Beauty, and everyone who turned it in to what it is.”While pilot remakes of Israeli shows are common, full-season pickups are rarer. The most successful Israeli remake is undoubtedly Homeland, which was based on the Keshet series Hatufim (“the kidnapped”) and is about to complete its eighth and final season on Showtime. The HBO series In Treatment, based on the HOT show BeTipul, ran for three seasons. Most other US remakes of Israeli series have been canceled after one season, or never moved beyond the pilot stage at all.This season alone, Amazon ordered a pilot of the Yes series On the Spectrum, Hulu is looking into a remake of the HOT show Juda and ABC created a pilot of the Reshet show Until the Wedding.Meanwhile, Showtime has ordered a full series of Your Honor, a remake of the Yes series Kvodo, this time starring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.
