That's It!

That's It! is one of the most recognizable entertainment and comedy programs in Israeli television history. It began on July 2, 1978, as a youth magazine produced by Israeli Educational Television, developed into a sketch-comedy and satire program, and remained on the air for roughly two decades. It was first broadcast on the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Channel 1, later within Educational Television's schedule on Channel 2, and subsequently in prime time through the commercial franchise Reshet. In 2020, it returned on Kan 11, at a moment when Israeli viewers were seeking humor, routine and a shared sense of community. Across its different formats, the program joined comedy, music, current affairs and educational material, evolving from a youth magazine into a cultural institution remembered by several generations.

From a Youth Magazine to a Flagship Program

The series was initiated and edited by Risha Tirman. Yaffa Ornstein was its first producer, Yossi Ronen its first director, and its original presenters were Moni Moshonov, Shlomo Bar-Aba and Delik Volinitz. At first, the program was a magazine built from separate segments and linking sketches. Ephraim Sidon, B. Michael and Kobi Niv were among its early scriptwriters. In the early 1980s, its structure changed: each episode centered on a particular subject and followed a connecting storyline that brought sketches, features and songs into a single narrative.

In its early years, That's It! was broadcast live several times a week, later settling into a weekly schedule. It became a regular part of Israeli family life and, for many years, the flagship program of Educational Television. Even small details, including the telephone numbers 414155 and later 426144, announced during contests and prize segments, became embedded in collective memory. The combination of live television, comic writing, music and direct interaction with viewers made the program feel less like a distant broadcast than a conversation taking place inside the home.

Comedy Drawn from Israeli Life

The sketches addressed subjects familiar from everyday life: the falling level of the Sea of Galilee, the Israel Electric Corporation, folk dancing, homelessness, the proliferation of musicals and other social trends. The writers also created parodies and tributes to cinema and television classics, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and James Bond, as well as send-ups of series such as The Simpsons, Dallas and The Cosby Show.

Every episode had a script and a defined plot, but the performers were allowed to improvise, especially during live broadcasts. That freedom made mistakes, surprises and spontaneous exchanges part of the program's appeal. It also gave the performers room to express their individual styles and to introduce material resembling stand-up comedy. The result was a comic language accessible to children and adults alike: distinctly Israeli, highly recognizable and capable of addressing social realities without losing its warmth.

Music, Songs and Educational Features

Music was central to the identity of That's It! For many years, the band Brosh provided the musical backing. The recurring feature "Song of the Week" presented songs by Ehud Manor, set to music by Kobi Oshrat and performed by the group Milk and Honey in 1982–1983. The feature led to specially filmed clips outside the studio and to an album of the songs. Several years later, Shlomo Gronich joined the program and performed songs written especially for it with members of the cast.

The opening song was written by Ehud Manor and composed by Benny Nagari, with vocals by Yehuda Tamir, Hani Budagov, Irit Bolka and Itzik Ben-Melech. Over the years, many leading Israeli singers and bands appeared on the program, which served as a broad platform for musical performances. Its educational heritage remained equally important. Features about music, books, science and other subjects were woven into the dramatic material, making information part of the entertainment rather than a separate lesson.

The Gulf War: Humor as a Way of Coping

During the Gulf War, That's It! assumed a distinctive public role. It returned to short sketches about sealed rooms, gas masks, rumors, false alarms and the disorder of wartime routine. Characters such as the Three Old Men, their Polish wives, the Iraqi soldiers, the cook, Bobby, Dובי and Baba Buba became inseparable from Israeli memories of that period.

The comedy did not erase fear; it gave viewers a way to process fear together. Baba Buba attempted to predict the course of the war through gematria, while other sketches mocked public language, anxiety and the search for supernatural or improvised solutions. In this way, the program reflected Israeli society during the war: forced family intimacy, uncertainty and the need to laugh under pressure. A special end-of-war episode, coinciding with Purim, brought the principal characters together in a celebratory broadcast that expressed relief and communal solidarity.

Changing Channels and Formats

With the beginning of commercial Channel 2 broadcasts at the end of 1993, the program moved into the hours assigned to Educational Television on the new channel. From November 1995, it was broadcast by the franchise Reshet in prime time under the name That's It Live! Its larger production budget supported a stronger emphasis on short sketches and satire. In its final phase of that run, the program became The That's It Show, adding a nostalgia feature with the character Yatzek, the Polish women, guest actors and comedians, and musical appearances.

Guests during that season included Sefi Rivlin, Shaike Levi, Tal Friedman and Keren Mor, as well as Aviv Geffen, Corinne Allal, Danny Sanderson and Yuval Banai. The appearance of former presenters Delik Volinitz, Mati Seri and Moshe Ivgi emphasized the program's continuity across different eras. Although this later format eventually left the schedule, its sketches, characters and catchphrases continued to circulate in everyday speech and cultural memory.

Reruns, Collections and New Uses

From the late 1990s onward, episodes of That's It! were repeatedly rebroadcast by Educational Television and other channels, in nostalgia programs, holiday marathons and special schedules. Edited and shortened versions were prepared for reruns, while complete episodes were shown during festive periods. In 2002, a DVD collection titled That's It in the Gulf presented sketches from the Gulf War period; an expanded edition was distributed from 2011. In March 2009, The Best 1 gathered twelve episodes dealing with cinema and television, along with additional features from the series.

In 2014, the internet series The Polish Women Play the Market was produced at the initiative of the Israel Securities Authority in cooperation with Educational Television. Through the characters Tula and Bzizhina, voiced by Moni Moshonov and Dובל'ה גליקמן, the series introduced basic financial-market concepts and encouraged careful financial conduct through familiar comedy. This was a new use of the classic characters: not simply nostalgic preservation, but the adaptation of an established comic language to a public educational purpose.

The Return to Kan 11

In March 2020, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, That's It! returned in reunion seasons on Kan 11. Shlomo Bar-Aba, Moni Moshonov, Avi Kushnir, Dובל'ה גליקמן and Gidi Gov took part, alongside veteran characters such as Baba Buba, Yatzek and the Three Old Men, as well as new characters. The sketches addressed the pandemic and the altered routines of daily life, restoring the program's familiar combination of current affairs, music and ensemble performance.

The new seasons were shorter and built from several sketches rather than one extended storyline. The original "Song of the Week" and regular features did not return in their earlier form, but each episode included a newly arranged Israeli song. Guests included Lia Koenig, Rivka Michaeli and Gila Almagor. On Israel Independence Day in 2021, a special program featured songs arranged with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and guest performers. After an extended break, the program returned to the screen in November 2021.

Why That's It! Belongs in Moreshet

That's It! merits a place in the archive because it was more than a successful television program: it was a cultural institution that accompanied Israelis across several generations. It created characters, expressions and songs that entered common speech; provided a platform for writers, performers and musicians; and joined entertainment with education, current affairs and the texture of ordinary Israeli life.

Its importance is especially clear in its ability to change without losing its identity: from a live youth magazine, to a sketch and satire program, to a renewed production during the pandemic. It demonstrated how comedy can help a community face fear, uncertainty and social change, and how television archives can continue to speak to new audiences. For these reasons, Moreshet documents That's It! as a work that transformed private memories into a shared public experience, and Moreshet.com preserves its significance within the story of Israeli cultural heritage.