The Israeli hit sitcom "Ramzor" ("Traffic Light") won the International Emmy award for best comedy at the award ceremony in New York Monday night. This follows the hit show's earlier coup of having rights for an American version bought by the Fox television network.

Open gallery view Ramzor screenwriter and actor Adir Miller and television producer Elad Kuperman in New York, Nov. 22, 2010. Credit: Reuters

"Ramzor" was submitted as a candidate by Keshet, the franchisee that airs it on Channel 2 television. It was selected as a contender by a panel of 700 judges from 50 countries.

The show was chosen out of 39 nominees running for ore than 10 different categories, as presented by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the U.S.

The Emmy award makes the show one of the most successful Israeli television series ever adapted for foreign audiences. Its only rival is the award-winning "In Treatment," a show adapted from the Israeli hit series "B'Tipul" that airs on HBO.

Filming for the American version of "Ramzor," which will air on Fox, started in November.

"We never imagined the show would reach these dimensions," said writer Ran Sarig.

"We never even thought about America. What we had in mind was a researcher who wanted to study the way men thought and felt in the year 2010. We wrote stories about Givatayim, but they apparently work everywhere."