Israeli dramedy ‘On the Spectrum’ hits HBO Max streaming service
Show about 3 twenty-something roommates in Tel Aviv arrives online, marking World Autism Awareness Day
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US service HBO Max started streaming Israeli comedy-drama “On the Spectrum,” on Friday. The release date of the half-hour comedy-drama about three roommates with varying levels of autism was timed to coincide with World Autism Awareness Day.
The award-winning series created by Dana Idisis and Yuval Shafferman follows three twenty-somethings on the autism spectrum as they strive to find work, make friends and fall in love while living together in Tel Aviv.
The Israeli show won nine Ophir Awards, Israel’s top honor for television and movies, in March 2019.
Amazon Studios has picked up the show to make an American version.
The American version, first rewritten as a pilot by Jason Katims, the writer and executive producer responsible for “Parenthood” and “Friday Night Lights,” is still unnamed. No release date has been announced.
The project has been mentioned as one that is close to Katims’ heart, as the father of a son with Asperger’s syndrome — a high-functioning form of autism. His own family’s journey inspired a storyline on the NBC series “Parenthood.”
Read more: TV’s ‘On the Spectrum’ is a clever, heartstring-tugging comedy
The Amazon version stars Rick Glassman, Sue Ann Pien and Albert Rutecki who all identify as on the autism spectrum, and costars Sosie Bacon, Chris Pang and Joe Mantegna.
The Times of Israel Community.