The Weekend

The Weekend was one of the distinctive programs broadcast by Israel’s Channel 1 in the early 1990s. Aired on Friday evenings and recorded before a studio audience, it sought to bring together the week’s news with interviews, music, comedy and satire. In doing so, it reflected the central place of public television in Israeli family and cultural life at the time.

Launch and original format

The program premiered in October 1990, hosted by Yaron London. It was introduced as a replacement for two entertainment and interview programs that had alternated in the schedule: Siba LaMesiba, hosted by Rivka Michaeli, and Sof-Sof, hosted by Gabi Gazit. The change followed a decision by the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s plenum and television director Yosef Barel to refresh the schedule.

The original format combined the weekly news program Yoman HaShavua with an entertainment broadcast. London opened by greeting viewers and describing the evening’s planned segments before handing the program to the news team. After roughly half an hour of news and current affairs, the broadcast returned to London for interviews with various guests. This structure moved viewers from public events and political reporting to personal conversation, music and comedy within a single Friday-night program.

Interviews, music and satire

The program featured performances by various artists and included a stand-up segment hosted by Doron Nesher. Its satirical feature, Weekend in the Closed Ward, was written by Ephraim Sidon and performed by Tuvia Tzipor, Yoav Tzipor, Mudi Bar-On, Shay Zornitzer and other actors. A press-review segment was later added, presented alternately by Shlomo Nitzan and Shalom Kital.

This combination of news, commentary, humor and culture gave The Weekend a distinctive place in Israeli broadcasting. It did more than deliver information: it treated Friday evening as a shared public space where viewers could move from the week’s major events to conversation, performance and satire.

Yitzhak Shamir interview and the boundaries of satire

In November 1990, London conducted a rare personal interview with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir במסגרת the program. The interview demonstrated the program’s ability to place a senior political figure within a more personal and accessible television format suited to a home audience on Friday evening.

Several months after the program began, a dispute arose over its satirical segments and Doron Nesher’s participation. Shlomo Kor, deputy chairman of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and a Likud representative on its executive committee, demanded that Weekend in the Closed Ward and Nesher be removed. He initiated a discussion in the authority’s plenum concerning the program’s future and format.

The plenum decided that the news journal and the entertainment program should again be separated, that London would alternate with another host, and that the satirical features would also be broadcast on an alternating basis. The change was not implemented immediately, but the debate revealed the continuing tension within public broadcasting between journalistic responsibility and the freedom of comedy and satire.

Changing hosts and production arrangements

In September 1991, television director Yosef Barel decided to implement the plan for London to host the program alternately. London announced that he was leaving, and the earlier entertainment format was restored with Rivka Michaeli and Ehud Manor as alternating hosts.

At the same time, the program’s producer, Aharon Goldfinger, was removed. He was replaced by Leah Zahavi, who produced Michaeli’s program, and Haim Meluven, who produced Manor’s. After one season, Manor left and was replaced by Doron Nesher. Nesher’s version was titled A Long Table with Doron Nesher and aired alternately with Michaeli’s program.

Nesher’s version received negative reviews, and in March 1993 he was replaced by Dudu Topaz as host of The Weekend. Yair Lapid hosted the program during 1994–1995. The succession of hosts reflected Channel 1’s effort to adapt the program to different presentation styles and changing audience tastes while retaining its prominent Friday-evening place.

Why The Weekend belongs in Moreshet

The Weekend merits inclusion in Moreshet because it preserves an important chapter in the history of Israeli public television. It records a period when a single Friday-night program served as a meeting point for news, interviews, music, comedy and satire. It also documents the work of prominent presenters, journalists, performers and writers, as well as the public broadcaster’s attempts to define the boundaries of political and cultural expression in the 1990s.

The program is valuable as a record of Israeli media and cultural life. Through political interviews, press reviews and satirical performance, it brought public debate and artistic expression into the family home and helped shape a shared viewing experience. Its documentation on Moreshet.com enables later generations to understand not only what was broadcast, but also how public television helped create a common cultural rhythm in Israel during a period of change.