If I were to watch one show from your country, what would you recommend?
We can obviously skip English language shows as those are all well known. I’m sure other countries also have great shows that are not that popular. Ideally, something original and specific to this country, not some big Netflix show that’s the same a shows from any other country.
To start, from Spain I would recommend “Riot Police”: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10883660/
Great story, great characters, great acting. It covers universal problems like police brutality and corruption so it’s accessible to anyone but it also shows them though a Spanish prism that makes it unique.
Israel: HaPijamot (literally: The Pajamas). It’s a sitcom for kids (but really more for their parents IMO) about a mediocre band that’s trying to make it big in Tel Aviv. The show often breaks the fourth wall in a way that’s really hard for me to explain. It’s kind of like a mockumentary, but it plays with it a lot. For example, there’s a “white screen” sometimes where the cast pauses the show to explain something to the audience. It’s clearly an abstract place that doesn’t canonically exist in the world. But occasionally it plays a role in the plot, e.g. a character goes there to hide from everyone else, or someone would abuse the system and activate the white screen to get out of a sticky situation.
The original premise of the band quickly becomes secondary, it’s just a great show with excellent writing and a great cast. It even has a few spin-offs, including a great one where the fast food shop owner becomes a detective.
I think you may have triggered a rewatch for me, it’s been years since I last saw it!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HaPijamot
I’ll also point out that in the first 3 seasons, it also stars Alona Tal, who later moved to the US and there’s a chance you’ve seen her in some of her roles.