Docu-reality show ‘Connected’ headed to Emerald Isle

Producers of the Israeli docu-reality television program “Mehubarim” (Connected) are seeing green as their program is headed for an Irish adaptation.

RTÉ, Ireland’s national broadcaster, has picked up the long-running program, from Israel’s Armoza Formats, for a local version aired on Irish station RTÉ Two.

It’s another big sell for “Mehubarim,” which each season puts its cameras in the hands of its five participants and allows them to film their own lives for the audiences.

Local adaptations of the program have already found success on the small screens of Finland, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Ukraine and Estonia.

“Mehubarim,” produced in Israel by Koda Communications for HOT, is a classic success story for Israeli TV, and proof of how a shoestring budget can yield big-money results.

Budgets for Israeli programs are notoriously tight, forcing producers and writers to make drastic creative moves, such as cutting the cameramen altogether. “B’Tipul,” another hallmark of Israeli television adaptations which was remade on American screens as “In Treatment,” saw its trademark episode format — one patient per episode, with the action restricted to the therapist’s office — born out of a limited budget for set-building.