ABSTRACT
Ronen Gil examines Hamisrad, the Israeli version of the British series The Office (2010–2012 Israel; 2001–2003 UK). While the British original focuses on humor as a universal producer of criticism, and its satire sheds a reflexive light on the genre itself, the Israeli version focuses its critique on Israeli society. Gil contends that the Israeli adaptation localizes not only the storylines and social stereotypes, but also the kind of humor and the vision it produces of Israeli society—a gloomy vision of a polarized society and its hegemonic discourse, which has contributed significantly to the perpetuation of that polarization.
