‘Hostages’ is latest sabra TV export

Time for another first in the Israel-US small screen relationship.

“Hostages,” the latest Israeli pilot to get purchased by an American television station, will air in the US before it gets seen in Israel.

The show, purchased by CBS, borrows certain themes from “Homeland,” a major recent Israeli success in the US. A political drama, “Hostages” centers on a female surgeon in Washington, DC, who is chosen to operate on the president. She becomes part of a larger conspiracy when her family is taken hostage, and she is ordered to assassinate the president in order to save them.

With Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott starring in the thriller, “Hostages” is directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff of “Homeland,” and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer TV.

According to an extensive interview with “Hostages” creator Alon Aranya in Globes, Aranya, a screenwriter who has been living in Los Angeles for the last 20 years, happened upon the script just before Channel 10 was about to toss it in the trash.

“When I heard the plot in the story, I could not resist and jumped out of my chair,” Aranya said.

For now, the Israeli version seems likely to run in the winter, according to Globes, starring Ayelet Zurer, recently seen as Superman’s mom in “Man of Steel,” Michael Selektar and Yair Lotan, another “Homeland” alumnus.