Israeli Reality Show Headed for US Remake

LOS ANGELES - "Connected," a hit Israeli reality series that brings user-generated content to a new level, is on its way to a U.S. makeover.

Production house Stone & Co. has acquired domestic rights to the show.

Producer Scott Stone ("The Mole," "Tim GUNN'S Guide to Style") is pitching the show to networks. "Connected" is a series in which five women are given cameras to document their relationships with their significant others. The result has been first-person docu-soaps that have made "Connected" the top-rated Israeli cable reality series of all time.

Giving amateurs cameras has been attempted many times (such as Britney Spears' short-lived "Chaotic," which included close-ups of the singer's knees). But Stone said that "Connected" solves the format's inherent problem by selecting participants who already have storytelling experience and combining that with soap opera storylines.

"It's breakthrough television," Stone said. "It's a way of doing user-generated video in a TV show that's never been done before; you get things that you never thought you'd see. It's like if you were to give Candace Bushnell a camera before 'Sex and the City."'

The series, created by Ram Landes and Doron Tsabari, recently began airing its second season, centering on five men.

If picked up by a network, "Connected" (not to be confused with a Fox comedy project with the same title) will represent the latest in a series of Israeli shows to make the transition to U.S. television. HBO's "In Treatment," Fox comedy "Traffic Light" and Showtime's "Homeland," among others, are based on shows that originated in Israel. (please visit our entertainment blog via www.reuters.com or on http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)