Monday 7th May 2012
“IF YOU ARE THE ONE,” and “DAY DAY UP” are hugely popular Chinese dating shows which reputedly garner more than 100 million viewers. They are two of the many popular “dating themed” TV shows which have emerged from the maelstrom of newly private Chinese TV providers. These new popular dating shows have developed a reputation for both humiliating male contestants (China is a country where men will outnumber women by around 20 million in a few years, due to the results of China’s one child policy) and as … Read more…
Tuesday 24th April 2012
The Telenovela is one of the world’s fastest growing TV genres. As I have previously written, Telenovelas originate from Latin America where they have great cultural significance – and where football matches are often screened around their air times. In Britain and the USA, audiences have long been familiar with a rough equivalent, known as “Soap Operas.” In the last few years however, Latin Telenovelas have taken the lead globally, becoming increasingly popular in parts of the USA and Europe (especially Russia and Poland) and in North Africa. … Read more…
Monday 19th March 2012
The smash hit Showtime show HOMELAND has been a massive success in its first season in the United States. However, its subject matter deals very much with something that seems quite “America-specific” – namely “The War on Terror”, an issue upon which different global regions have different – and highly divergent — opinions. In Latin America for instance, the view on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are quite different to the views in Europe or Africa. Will “HOMELAND’s subject matter limit the show’s appeal around the globe, … Read more…
Monday 5th March 2012
THE OFFICE is a show about what happens when you get stuck in suburbia. THE OFFICE was long known in England as a show which captured something uniquely British – its depiction of the office workers laboring pointlessly away in a ghastly suburban community of London struck a chord with its viewers when the show premiered in 2001. The show managed to catapult creator Ricky Gervais to international stardom — he now presents The Oscars in Hollywood. In just a few years, despite its mere two seasons, it … Read more…
Saturday 18th February 2012
“It isn’t part of Arab culture to air your family problems in public life,” says Moroccan TV producer Abdelali Rachami – whose program “THE WHITE THREAD” (AL KHAYT, AL ABYAD) is currently one of the country’s most popular programs. In this show, legendary Moroccan anchor Nassima el Hor helps warring parties – be they from rival families – rival villages, or rivals in love – resolve conflicts in a calm and collected fashion. The show’s subject matter is a pioneering concept in typically conservative and mainly Muslim Moroccan … Read more…
Monday 6th February 2012
Despite frequently being ridiculed as a socially conservative, somewhat parochial society, whose TV output is limited to windy soap operas like “NEIGHBOURS”, Australia has today become the unlikely power-house of a wave of compelling drama. A great example of this is the new hit show “THE SLAP” which has recently become a global success. Based on a best selling novel of the same name, “THE SLAP” premiered late in 2011, takes place in multicultural middle class Australia, specifically Melbourne’s Greek community. The action centres around the events at … Read more…
Wednesday 1st February 2012
Scandinavia has always been joked about in Europe and America as a safe, conservative region, where people drive Volvos, and live in secured, welfare state societies – where nothing much ever really happens. In fact, none of this is true –and in recent years, there is no greater evidence of this than the way Scandinavian film and TV have entered the global mainstream. While once Scandinavia was known for upbeat catchy Abba tunes and colorful Ikea coffee tables – today, its thought of as the home of brooding … Read more…
Wednesday 18th January 2012
In the late 1980’s, a disgraced Brazillian policeman named Wallace Souza was retired from the Manaus police force — implicated in a corruption scandal in the sweltering Amazonian boom-town. The public shame forced Souza to abandon his friends and family and start again. He found an unlikely way to remove the stigma of public disgrace — a new and and exciting venture called….”reality” tv. This was of course, when things started to go really wrong for him… – Since Reality TV arrived in the early 2000’s, its creators … Read more…
Friday 6th January 2012
A recent vampire web series, “Blood and Bone China,” set in the English town of Stoke on Trent, has received more than 250,000 hits on YouTube, and become a break-out hit in the UK. The show is directed by newcomer Chris Stone and stars Hollyoaks actress Rachel Shenton. It is filmed on a low budget around the local area. Stone says: “We’ve had a fantastic response from people all over the world, not just people in Stoke. I’ve had comments from people in the U.S., Canada, and Africa … Read more…
Friday 23rd December 2011
African broadcasting is traditionally associated with ultra-violent, straight to video, low budget action films and creaking melodramas (or “soaps” as they are known), but this may not be the case for much longer. “MOMENTS WITH MO” is the continent’s first “Pan African” syndicated talk show, presented by British-Nigerian Mosunmola Abudu. The daily talk show is filmed in Lagos (and is broadcast on Nigerian channel M-NET), but is syndicated to over 48 African countries and is now available on cable in other parts of the world. Although the show … Read more…
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