The First in Entertainment

The First in Entertainment was an Israeli television variety program hosted by Dudu Topaz. Broadcast on Channel 2 as part of Keshet’s programming, it ran for 11 seasons from 1994 to 2004. The show became one of the defining entertainment programs of Israeli television in the 1990s and early 2000s, drawing large audiences, making its host a central figure in popular culture, and giving important early exposure to entertainers who later built successful careers.

The program also documents a formative period in Israeli commercial television. Its live surprises, audience participation, contests, celebrity interviews, comedy segments, and large-scale prizes helped establish a style of television that treated entertainment as a major public event. Its popularity was accompanied by criticism of the shallowness of some of its content, a qualification that forms part of the historical context in which the show operated.

From “Authority of Entertainment” to “The First in Entertainment”

The program first aired on Friday evening, December 31, 1993, only weeks after Keshet began broadcasting on commercial Channel 2. It was initially titled Authority of Entertainment, was recorded in advance, and aired on Friday nights. From the beginning, Topaz cultivated a direct relationship with viewers. During broadcasts, a camera crew would visit people at home and surprise them as they watched the program.

In 1995, after two seasons, the show was renamed The First in Entertainment and moved to a live Sunday-night broadcast following the first rotation of Channel 2 franchisees’ broadcasting days. The new title carried a double meaning: it referred to the new broadcast day while also reflecting Topaz’s status after his success on commercial television. “The First in Entertainment” consequently became one of Topaz’s public nicknames. The title remained in use even when the show’s broadcast day changed again, including a later return to Fridays.

Audience participation and the language of spectacle

The program’s close connection with viewers was central to its identity. In response to letters and requests, Topaz sometimes initiated attempts to reconcile people who were in conflict. These segments were recorded in advance and presented during the program with the participants seated in the studio audience. Other special features included matchmaking, a beauty contest for women taxi drivers, and a range of unusual competitions.

The show expanded the scale of television entertainment through large prizes for people in need, original tasks, contests involving viewers, and participation by members of the studio audience. Its combination of surprises, humor, interviews, and carefully staged events created the sense that ordinary viewers could suddenly become part of a national broadcast.

A platform for new entertainers

One of the program’s lasting contributions to Israeli entertainment was the exposure it gave to young comedians and performers. Its stand-up segments provided important early visibility for entertainers including the comedy duo Eli and Mariano, who later became widely known. A modeling contest called “Pepper Girl” also provided the first public exposure for Adi Himelbloy, who won the competition.

Over the decade in which it aired, the program hosted numerous Israeli and international celebrities, including Madonna, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvester Stallone, Sting, Roberto Benigni, Julio Iglesias, and Glenn Close. Interviews sometimes went beyond conventional promotion: guests were introduced to people from their past and asked to recall where they knew them from. These encounters reinforced the program’s reputation for creating television moments rather than simply presenting studio conversations.

Ratings records and a shared popular culture

The show was especially successful in its early years and generated substantial profits for Keshet. Its move to Sundays in 1995 brought an additional rise in viewership. On January 5, 1997, during a broadcast in which Topaz announced an alleged extraterrestrial landing, the program reached 46.8 percent viewership—the highest figure recorded since audience measurement had begun. Although the record was later broken, it helped popularize Topaz’s nickname, “the ratings king.”

Catchphrases from the program, including “I don’t have time!” and “Let’s move to the commercials,” became closely associated with Topaz’s television persona. In its early years, viewership was measured through surveys conducted by a private company for the Second Authority. The figures were considered high in comparison with other Channel 2 programs, and the show remained near the top of the ratings tables for extended periods. Its success was also reflected in the official ratings system introduced in February 1998.

High viewing figures continued season after season until the eighth season in 2001. Viewership then declined compared with the earlier seasons, although it remained high by Channel 2 standards. This was also a period of sharp decline across the channel, partly because popular Israeli soap operas on cable television were being broadcast against the prime-time schedules of the general channels. Ratings rose substantially in the ninth season, though they did not return to the levels of the show’s earliest years. The final two seasons settled at comparable figures before the program left the air.

The end of the program

As the second tender for operating Channel 2 approached, and amid public debate about Topaz’s conduct on the show, Keshet decided to suspend the program. The 11th and final season ended in June 2004. After several months of uncertainty about Topaz’s future with the franchise, Keshet decided toward the end of 2004 not to enter into a further agreement with him, including for a new program.

Topaz subsequently hosted programs with formats similar to The First in Entertainment for the competing franchise Reshet and later for Channel 10. These programs did not reach the popularity of his earlier show. In 2007, he stopped hosting entertainment programs and turned his attention to other projects.

The historical importance of The First in Entertainment lies in the way it combined mass viewing, audience participation, celebrity culture, comedy, and the commercial logic of prime-time television. It helped make Channel 2 a central institution of Israeli leisure culture and demonstrated how a weekly variety program could shape public language, create opportunities for performers, and produce shared memories for a national audience.

Why The First in Entertainment belongs in Moreshet

The First in Entertainment merits inclusion in Moreshet because it records a significant chapter in the development of Israeli television. Its exceptional ratings, distinctive format, familiar catchphrases, and role in launching or advancing the visibility of entertainers make it an important document of Israeli popular culture. The program also captures the moment when commercial television became a major institution in everyday life and transformed entertainment into a shared national experience.

The supplied sources do not establish a specifically Jewish contribution by the program, and this profile does not add one. Its value for Jewish and Israeli heritage lies in preserving the documented cultural history of Israeli society: the institutions it watched, the performers it introduced, and the media habits that connected viewers across the country. For Moreshet and Moreshet.com, remembering such programs alongside political, artistic, and communal achievements helps present a fuller record of the cultural life of Israel and the people who shaped it.