"Pillars of Smoke" adaptation at NBC

[Temis the Vorta]

Described as Twin Peaks meets Northern Exposure meets Lost, the original Pillars of Smoke is an offbeat mystery series set in Israel’s remote, rural Golan Heights. When the members of a remote cult disappear leaving no traces behind, a police investigation slowly uncovers the darkest secrets of the region and its inhabitants, as well as a grander political conspiracy and environmental disaster from which the cult members are attempting to escape.

Deadline story.

Sounds intriguing. To adapt this story to America no doubt will require a lot of changes. I don't know what the rural Golan Heights is like, but I'd like to see this story set somewhere that's underrepresented on TV, like one of the prairie states. Rural rustbelt Michigan or anywhere in the Great Lakes area would also be different. Any mountain or desert environment would contribute to the feel of spooky isolation.

Setting it anywhere in the South raises the specter of evoking psycho redneck hillbilly cliches. New England, New Orleans, Miami and the Pacific Northwest are already overexposed in the horror/mystery genre.

 

[Shurik]

I don't know what the rural Golan Heights is like

It's mostly hills. something like this:

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Maybe interesting. Looks like the article has a typo, and the actual spelling of the original show, in English, is Timrot Ashan. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392882/

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I mean, what's it like culturally? Twin Peaks and Northern Exposure evoke two very different notions - one is sinister and insular, the other is cute and quirky - not to mention Lost, which evokes some place that doesn't even seem to be on this planet.

 

[Shurik]

Maybe interesting. Looks like the article has a typo, and the actual spelling of the original show, in English, is Timrot Ashan. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392882/

Indeed, it's "ashan" and not whatever they wrote in the article.

I mean, what's it like culturally?

Small towns (the biggest has ~7-8 thousand people) and villages, it's a pretty sparsely populated area. It's also full of military bases, due to proximity to Syrian border. Nothing sinister there, just regular people you might find in areas like this.