Going Steady יוצאים קבוע‎ (1979)

After the success of Lemon Popsicle, demand was high for a sequel and filming quickly began on Going Steady in 1979. Director Boaz Davidson returned and co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Tavor. The resulting film was very much in tone with its predecessor, almost a direct extension with the character of Benji falling in love once again with the new girl in town.

The search was on to find a new leading actress to become the new Popsicle girl which led to Yvonne Miklosh (then credited as Yvonne Michaels) being cast as Tammy. She was selected from 700 hopeful young girls from all over Israel who auditioned, and was given special permission from the army to star in Going Steady, her screen debut. Eventually this decision would lead to a legal dispute with the films makers when Yvonne became unhappy with nudity in the film, stating that the scenes breached her contract with the company. A court case was held, and the judgement was in favour of Yvonne and the frames were removed and stills destroyed.

The original leading cast were back on board for the sequel but a problem occurred for Zachi Noy whilst filming at the riverbank. After falling in the polluted water, he reportedly suffered damage to ear that never really healed and led to permanent damage to his hearing. Avi Hadash (Froike) was unable to return  for Going Steady as by this time he was in the army and could not get leave to film any scenes.  Also cast was newcomer Dafna Armoni as Bobby’s suffering girlfriend in the movie. Dafna would later find fame as a singer in Israel, competing in Eurovision, and releasing several albums.

The makers were aware of it’s potential on the international market and some scenes were filmed twice, once for local audiences, and again in English to make the film more appealing to the international market. Going Steady was the only Popsicle movie to do this. The reason being, unlike European countries, in the United States dubbing wasn’t acceptable and a subtitled, foreign, teenage movie stood little chance of turning a profit. Regardless of this the movie was still a commercial success and the series was becoming increasingly popular with fans worldwide. The producers already knew they were onto a winning potential and were determined to keep the audiences happy