The first studio sketch dragged on far too long, led by Eran Zarachovitz as "Yinon Magal" and Yaniv Biton as "Dr. Avishai Ben Haim" of the "second Eretz Nehederet."
Zarachovitz's impersonation of Magal is so forced that it shows every time the camera is on him. In Magal's case, the big question is why an impersonation is even needed — the show's producers should just pay up and bring in the original. Everyone knows that Magal himself is hysterically funny and far more entertaining than someone imitating him under heavy makeup to look like him, recycling unfunny shtick every two minutes. If the impersonation said and did things Magal himself wouldn't dare, it would be worth watching. But in this case, reality is funnier than any imagination, and the real-life absurdity is far more interesting.
Yaniv Biton, in a precise impersonation of Dr. Avishai Ben Haim with a script that is essentially a basis for continuous improvisation, also fails to bring down the house, neither the studio audience nor viewers at home. There was one opportunity for excellent satire when Kitzis asked "Ben Haim" how he sits on Channel 14, which vilifies Mizrahim, and the latter responded with sophisticated philosophy that they are actually controlled by "the Ashkenazi hegemony" so they're not real Moroccans. A weak impersonation of a strong character that doesn't give a meaningful "fight" to the real Magal with his ethnic shtick.
Later in the segment, the worn-out impersonations of Mariano "Bibi" Netanyahu also joined, exhausting as always, pulling out a new gimmick each time, this time a photo of "the father of Sali," meaning "the Baba Sali," with the tired joke that Netanyahu is also "Mizrahi," and Yuval Semo's Gadi Eisenkot, who for some reason seems to suffer from the impersonation, unlike his genuine enjoyment when imitating Miri Regev against a foreign backdrop. In Eisenkot's case, Semo deliberately drains all the vitality and energy from him.
As usual, Eli Finish saved the day with improvisation talent unmatched by anyone in the "Eretz Nehederet" cast. He returned enthusiastically to the character of Dudi Amsalem, who had been hidden in the Likud campaign, emerging from an ice cream box with a forward somersault and an impressive fall onto the studio floor that squeezed laughs from the audience and cast even before Finish uttered a single word.
This may be "Eretz's" biggest problem in recent seasons: the writing. In the past, the writers invested thought, and it showed. Today every punchline is forced or contrived, and most of the show isn't funny at all.
The bright spot in the episode was the anticipated "More Headlines" segment, where the "Eretz" team's collection of funny video clips gives Kitzis the stage to freely go after everyone without exception, including Channel 12 itself, but you can find that in abundance on social media without waiting through an entire show for three funny minutes.
There was also a parody of "Come Eat With Me" in which Sharon Taycher as Lieberman stood out (though there's still longing for Assi Cohen, who was the best at this impersonation), and again Finish shone as Yair Lapid, even if he's hidden in the real campaign, the impersonation manages to rise above the original.
