The original concept was to produce a comedy series for the
Israeli Educational Television focusing on parent-children relationships. Before production commenced, the show's working title was "The Family" (המשפחה). In an interview with Modi Bar-On, Yitzhak Shauli, the program's director, stated that he and producer Risha Tierman decided to create an Israeli sitcom, they traveled to the
United States to observe the filming of a "
Three's Company" episode and learn about the directing and production process of a successful sitcom. Despite developing concerns that conditions in the Israeli television industry were not as favorable, they decided to proceed with producing the program. The building featured in the show as "Vitek 9", is fictional. The building shown in the opening sequence is located in the area of
Rothschild Boulevard and Hasmonean Street in
Tel Aviv-Yafo. The building became a well-known landmark due to the show's popularity. The name "Vitek" is a tribute to Risha Tierman's husband who died a few months before production began. The number 9 represents the 9 family members featured in the program (Hanna, Yehoram, Leora, Eviatar, Efrat, Molly, Tiki, Ilan and Galia).
Broadcast history Produced by Israeli Educational Television, the series originally aired in an evening time slot on Israeli Channel 1. The first season ran between February and May in 1983 (first season), 1984 (second season), and 1986 (third season). Reruns would be aired in an afternoon time slot from July and October. Since its original broadcast, the series has been frequently rerun, mainly on the Israeli Channel 23.
Reunion episode In the early 2000s, Yehoram Gaon was asked on an Israeli Army
Radio programme why a reunion episode had not been produced. The radio hosts campaigned for a reunion episode and gained the support of most of the original cast. Yaffa Vigodsky, the CEO of the Israeli Educational Television (which retains the rights to the series) agreed and the Discount Bank agreed to finance the production. The script was written by Ephraim Sidon. The reunion episode, titled "Hamatzav Tzav", was filmed at Israeli Educational Television studios in front of a live audience on November 11, 2004 and was broadcast on Israeli Channel 2 on March 24, 2005. The reunion episode featured Tom Gal, who played Eviatar's son Nevo, and , who played Galia as Galia Kedem retired from acting. Muli Segev chose not to participate.
DVD On June 7, 2009, a DVD box set of the series was released containing all 37 episodes, the reunion episode, and a documentary about the reunion's production. == References ==