TV

Contrary to all expectations, "The Sharks" has become the most fun family viewing on TV

In contrast to the treatment of many rich people in Israel, in "The Sharks" you will see people who have made a huge fortune without inciting a discourse of hatred.

And when someone manages to penetrate the quintessence of the quintet and get some jobs from their huge fortune - the spectators at home are filled with joy as if their team has won the championship

Ben Byron Braude

24/05/2022

Tuesday, 24 May 2022, 08:13 Updated: 08:38

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One day we will make the big hit.

Frances, The Sharks (Photo: Screenshot, Rainbow 12)

It has been almost a month since I wrote about "The New Rich," a film by Shi-Lee Schindler that dealt with the growing socio-economic stratum - the rich high-tech industry in Israel.

Although in our country a month is a period of time that is considered to win and a half (just try to remember how many times we have heard that we go to the polls since), it seems that the discourse around the film in particular and high-tech rich has not subsided at all.

Whether it was articles about the "bursting of the high-tech bubble" or the jump in real estate prices (which economists also blame on the "new rich"), the talk about money is only growing. Only the wife of) to the real rich hatred.In a country where the economic disparities are only growing every week, it's hard to say it surprised anyone.

In the same climate and even in the same broadcasting body (Rainbow 12), the third season of "The Sharks" (the local version of the "Shark Tank" format) is currently being broadcast - and is receiving a completely different discourse.

Like the "new rich" here you will see people who have made a huge fortune, most of them in high-tech (according to the opening, the program participants are worth billions of shekels together), but they do not incite hatred, on the contrary - it has become one of the most fun family views on screen.

The reasons for this are many and I will detail some of them soon, but even if you move away from the socio-economic aspect, it can be stated that the third season of "The Sharks" is the most sophisticated, smart and fun version it has had since arriving on the local screen. D).

More on Walla!

"The New Rich": Shi-Lee Schindler's intentions may be honest, but her film evokes harsh antagonism

To the full article

Surprising success.

Dobronsky, The Sharks (Photo: Screenshot, Rainbow 12)

In many ways there is something almost anti-TV in the format of "Sharks", which makes its success even more surprising.

They have five rich people: Dubi Frances (one of the owners of the Group 11 venture capital fund), Jasmine Lukacs ("one of the most influential Israelis in Silicon Valley"), Oren Dubronsky (a serial investor and one of the founders of Hotbar), Zohar Levkovich (an advertiser and founder of Amobi) and Amir Eyal (from the owners of the Infiniti investment group), and decide whether to put money on ventures of people like you and me, who may one day hope to sit in their chair.

There are no special effects, outdoor photos or exciting IDs here, just spoken presentations with PowerPoint presentations on LCD TV.

In the background, the contestants' friends sit and cheer in front of the screen ("No, she was always a genius").

Am; lk - The vast majority of presentations end in disappointment and crash powerfully into the breakwater of prime time.

But (and this is a big but),

And here I will return again to the discourse around "Hatred of the rich in Israel - yes or no", which resumed around Schindler's film and ended again without conclusive conclusions.

Take Zohar Lewkowicz, for example - the big bad guy of "The Sharks", who seems to have something almost sadistic in the way he shatters the dreams of people who come to him with an amazing project for collaborative chargers ("I did it already in China and you brought the wrong product ", He scolds with a slight smile).

Searching for his name on social media will not bring up angry and hateful posts, and it seems that the Israeli viewer even likes his bluntness.

Like a legendary army officer who knows better than you. Yes, Levkovich is a very rich man. The difference is that "sharks" have no need to apologize for their money, even if as in the case of Lukacs, the daughter of the richest Israeli in the world - Dr. Miriam Adelson, she did not really have to build herself from scratch (which does not negate the achievements she has reached on her own).

A celebration of capitalist culture.

Lukech, The Sharks (Photo: Screenshot, Rainbow 12)

"The Sharks" is a celebration of capitalist culture, and it works great because it is broadcast on the most capitalist channel and for a moment does not think to apologize for it.

At times it feels like the musical version of the "look, look, one day I'll make the big hit" conversations that most of us have with friends just before we go back to a call from our banker and see if anything can be done with the loan we took out.

Next to the sharks swim small minnows trying not to drift with the current deep into their jaws, when occasionally some ambitious minnow with a really exciting story sneaks up on him, like that of the entrepreneur who appeared yesterday on the show and dreams of setting up a safety center to prevent child abuse.

It's hard to say if the sharks' excitement from stories like this is real or just a show for the cameras but in the end money comes and money goes at least for one hour in prime time, we feel like we are part of the discourse around it that passes us by and not above us.

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