"Homeland," the U.S. adaptation of the Israeli TV drama "Hatufim" ("Kidnapped") won two Golden Globe awards Sunday night, after just one season on the small screen. The series clinched golden statuettes in two of the three categories for which it was nominated: Best Television Series Drama and Claire Danes, who co-stars in the show as CIA Operations Officer Carrie Mathison, won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama. Damien Lewis, who plays U.S. Marine Nicholas Brody, was also nominated, but he lost to Kelsey Grammer who won for his role in "Boss." The series centers on Brody, who returns home eight years after he went missing in Iraq, and Mathison, a driven (and possibly unstable) CIA officer who suspects he might be plotting an attack on America. "Hatufim" first aired in Israel in 2010 on Channel 2, via Keshet Broadcasting. The show was well received, going on to earn, on average, 25 percent of national viewership in its time slot. The premise of the original series centered around two kidnapped Israeli soldiers who return home after being held captive in Lebanon for many years. The show followed their attempts to re-adjust to normal life and the challenges they endure. In its American incarnation as "Homeland," the show follows Mathison and Brody. Mathison believes that Brody, who was held hostage by al-Qaida in the Middle East, switched loyalty while in captivity, and suspects he is an undercover terrorist. Keshet, together with the show's creator, screenwriter and director Gideon Raff, sold the series to FOX 21, an arm of FOX broadcasting company. Raff serves as a writer for the U.S. version, which airs on Showtime. "In the U.S. the Golden Globe Awards are highly esteemed," Keshet CEO Avi Nir told Army Radio on Monday. "Keshet was listed both on stage [in the ceremony] and in the credits for the show and this will help us continue operating," he told Army Radio reporter Niv Raskin. "Several years ago we decided to dedicate a major part of our programming to drama series and to exporting them overseas," Nir said, although he said that "Hatufim" was originally intended for a local viewership. According to Army Radio, in its debut season, which ended several weeks ago, "Homeland" made it to the top of the ratings charts in the U.S. "When we began working with the show's creator this was a quintessential Israeli story," Nir said. "People accused us of touching taboos and dispelling myths with scripts that touched on sore points in Israeli society and its ethos. The Americans adapted the central themes of the series for a U.S. viewership and produced an all-American version. But again, we initially had no intention for it to go overseas." "Homeland" can even count U.S. President Barack Obama as a fan. In a recent interview with PEOPLE magazine, Obama said he was an ardent fan of the series, explaining that his television habits were "a little darker." In October, as Israel and Hamas executed a high-profile prisoner swap, the show's ratings climbed even higher in the U.S. in light of the international coverage of the issue of POWs. This is not the first time an adaptation of an Israeli show has garnered international acclaim. In 2009, Gabriel Byrne won a Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series as a psychologist in "In Treatment," the U.S. adaptation of "BeTipul," a series in which therapy sessions unfold on screen. The American version of the series was also nominated for overseas several awards as well.
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