AFRICAN DRAMA TELEVISION SERIES….a new rising era

A few years ago, you would never find any self respecting television fan confiding in anyone that one of the shows that they were ardent fans and viewers of was one that was written, conceived, acted, produced and acted in the cradle of life (read Africa)….an African Television show was another name for low quality, poor props, boring characters and predictable plots and storylines. There was no African show that would get anyone interested enough to feel the suspense that the show team intended them to feel. Even when the show’s villains were plotting on kidnapping and murdering the protagonist, it was not scary at all and even if one was to be that poor ill fated protagonist, there would be no need to worry. However in the Southern part of the continent, the members in their television industry had already decided to tread these seemingly untradeable waters and soon mastered the art. Luckily for the industry, these past months have seen many African drama series cropping up and yes, they are of high quality, not disappointing and no, they are not from only South Africa.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN ERA

Not very long ago there was an unwritten rule in African television industry that if a series was not from South Africa it was not worth anyone wasting their time on for it would be a mere disappointment and would face cancellation a few weeks later after conception. The reason for this is because for the last decade and about a half there were only two major watch-deserving African series namely Mfundi Vundla’s Generations which has been in production since the year 1994 and also the less conservative Grey Homer’s Isidingo;The Need which has been on air since 1998 and has since then given the latter so much competition that the two have become rivals that one is not mentioned without the other being brought up in comparison. Almost like USA’s two traditional soap operas The Days of Our Lives and The Bold And The Beautiful. These two shows brilliantly had large open plots and storylines that centered not on just one character or a few but were designed in such ways that any character can leave the show and new characters replaced without killing the story. However as Generations and Isidingo were enjoying the spotlight as Africa’s sweethearts providing comfort to millions of housewives and working people around the continent, the rest of South Africa’s television industry was  as expected not sleeping but working hard to enjoy a slice of the same cake that the two was enjoying. So the then new and privately owned e-Africa channel invested a small fortune in a show named Backstage a show centering on a group of youth trying to make it in the music industry and the things that they go through to make things work for them. However either the channel rushed to make the show or the audience did not just welcome it well but the show was unsuccessful and faced cancellation not very long after airing. However the folks at Etv were not about to give up that easily for they had come to compete and were not about to give up. So they went back to the drawing boards and came up with two of the most successful television shows that the continent has ever seen that is Scandal! and Rhythm City. Rhythm City rose out of the ashes of Backstage as it has the same plot only with different characters and better made.

THE FAMILY DRAMAS ARE USHERED IN…A BLOW TO FURTHER CREATIVITY

One unknown fact is that the era of African family dramas was also ushered in by another South African drama called Muhvango. Muhvango was following the events that ensue after the death of a wealthy chief and the battles that his two wives take part in, first for his body and the right to bury it as both wives felt that they deserved the right to bury him and each wife’s attempts to front her son as his father’s success. The other was the battle for the great wealth that he left behind as each wife felt her branch of the family deserved to run the estate which would on later years become a powerful milling company whose boardrooms are filled with manipulation, blackmail, backstabbing among other things. Muhvango was a very good move for the industry but it was also the blow that killed the creativity for most of the other productions that were to follow. The ‘rich affluent family’ plot became the subject of almost all the other productions that would follow. This is how business went on, a multimillionaire for some reason would be polygamous…usually two wives though some brave shows have stretched the number of wives to three or even four…probably for purposes of avoiding comments and criticism accusing them of lack of creativity and so on. From Zambia came Kabanana which had the similar rich affluent family storyline and M Net produced one of Africa’s best ever well produced shows in the name of Jacob’s Cross which also carried the rival brother competing for inheritance plot which has existed from time immemorial…probably since Sheridan’s School for Scandal. Mali and Lies That Bind also came with a huge force from the land of Kenya, East African and soon made it to the program line ups of many television stations all over the continent.

THE PAY TV ERA…

It is no secret that pay television providers in Africa have the best quality programming and when they decided to take on African television series and soap operas and invest in them, it was jubilation for the viewers and trouble for the local television producers for pay television dramas came in HD, and most of the stars who had risen to celebrity status were taken on by these new better paying gold mines. The Pay Television era was fronted by Multichoice which decided to raid Naija for talent and proved that the folks in West Africa can do better than Nollywood movies so Tinsel was born this way. With impeccable quality and a star studded cast, Tinsel was a hit from the start. This lay ground for Jacob’s Cross, Edge of Paradise and eventually the East African hit Kona. However critics have attacked Kona for being a chip of the wood of the successful Mali but the show’s success cannot be denied. With Multichoice heading, the folks at Zuku were not about to be left out so they raided Kenya for talent and produced the promising Statehouse drama.

THE EAST AFRICAN REVOLUTION….

When MTV Base decided to venture into African drama the world had never seen African drama at such perfection. The debut season of Shuga was undoubtedly the first thing of its kind. Shot in Kenya, the show made the Lupita Nyongo the world knows and celebrates today. A later version shot in Naija launched Tiwa Savage’s acting career and was of remarkable quality but never reached the success Season 1 had reached. With a tagline of ‘Love, Sex and Money’ Shuga managed to both educate on issues like AIDS and drugs as well as entertained. Kenya has been the most active and successful in this venture with shows like Maisha, Lies That Bind and Mali. Well Mali has managed to maintain the best quality in Kenya but Lies That Bind has also managed to bring on drama like no other show. Kenya has also seen other shows Stay which tackles racism, Makutano Junction, Tahidi High a Kenyan high school drama and the industry has been helped a lot by the coming of Kenya’s fastest growing Citizen Television dedicated to developing local talent in the country and has mainstreamed local programming. Tanzania on the other hand has not released any production for international market for they seem to have failed to leave Kiswahili shows. Uganda on the other hand….

UGANDA; THE PEARL IS NOT LEFT OUT…

Uganda while not so successful in shows that have moved out of the country is greatly improving on the local industry. Uganda’s biggest show since inception in terms of crossing borders is The Hostel which has quite received many fans out of the country…maybe even more than in the country. However NTV has done the most work in promoting high quality local dramas and no am not talking about hit show Deception but of earlier attempts more than5 years back at Kakibe Kki. The show was great, good plot, acting not bad, picture  and sound almost perfect but I guess Uganda was not ready at the time to appreciate local drama. However Deception was another story. While Kakibe Kki bore an exaggerated telenovela like plot of rich people and an orphaned girl whose friends and relatives were trying to steal all her money, it did not connect with Ugandans. I mean how many Ugandans manage multi millionaire companies. It was just too much modernity so it was chocked and suffered an early death. However, years later Deception gave Ugandans a story that they could relate with. An unbearable mother in law who moves in demanding for a grandchild….yeah that’s believable. The Kemigishas is a promising show but I guess time will tell. The Ebonies and Trends Ltd’s Tendo Sisters and Anything for love are attempts worth mentioning for they are also great works in their categories but those are more like local dramas for only the Ugandan audience. Deception, Hostel and the Kemigishas…I see them spreading their wings out of the country to other parts of the continent. Rich feuding families like the Morokas, Sibekos, Nyathis, Malis, Jumas and their secrets and betrayals have become household issues in the continent. This has brought on an era of new African celebrities like Connie Fergusson, Sophie Ndaba, Mkamzee Mwatela, Brenda Wairimu, Florence Nduta, Mumbi Maina, Daniel Peter Weke, and Maureen Koech among others. Very promising future for Africa’s television industry.