Turkey’s Remake of Hit Israeli Series ‘Shtisel’ Gets Second Season Following Local Success
Turkey’s adaptation of the Israeli television drama series Shtisel has garnered so much popularity in the Muslim-majority country that it has been renewed for a second season, it was announced on Tuesday.
Ömer, from the Turkish production company OGM Pictures, has a storyline that focuses on the country’s religious Muslim community while Shtisel revolved around a family that lives in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. The Turkish show was first announced in January and airs on Star TV. Its first season — consisting of 21, two-hour episodes — surpassed Star’s average share double and consistently ranks number one in ratings, according to the Dori Media Group (DMG), which handles international licensing for Shtisel.
OGM Pictures will release the next season of Ömer in September.
“Since the first episode was released, Ömer has continued to gain the undeniable momentum and audience appreciation born with Shtisel,” said DMG President and CEO Nadav Palti. “We are honored that such an excellent Turkish production company has placed our internationally acclaimed treatment in harmony with Muslim culture and traditions. The success of the first series of Ömer is a testament to the universality of themes explored in romantic dramas in particular … We are excited to see this international triumph continue.”
Ömer follows Ömer Ademoglu (played by Selahattin Pasali), a muezzin in a mosque where his father Resat (played by Baris Falay) is an imam. Ömer soon meets a single mother named Gamze (played by Gokce Bahadir) and together they are tested by family, tradition and the love they have for each another.
Ratings for the show steadily climbed since the pilot, starting at around 4.46 percent in early January and rising to 14.81 percent by late February, when it was ranked as the most-watched show.
Before the show aired, Palti was confident that it would appeal to audiences in Turkey. He said, “audiences from all backgrounds, be they Muslim or Jewish, or anyone else for that matter, can relate to the same family values and often fraught dynamics, significance of tradition, ceremony of food, etc., portrayed in Shitsel.”
The original award-winning Israeli series was produced by Abot Hameiri and Dikla Barkai for yes Studios, and created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky. It began airing in Israel in 2013 and has been available for viewing on Netflix in the US and around the world since 2018. The show’s third and final season premiered on Netflix in March 2021. CBS Studios announced that same month that it is developing an American adaptation of Shtisel written by Insatiable creator and Dexter writer Lauren Gussis, and directed by Oscar-winner Kenneth Lonergan.
The first season of Shtisel won 11 awards at the Israeli TV Awards in 2013 and season two won six awards.
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