“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 a lavish celebration of a new materialism which is emerging in Chinese society.  This new materialism, while already a long familiar sight in the West, is proving quite a shock to China’s more “traditional” society, where the acquisition of material goods is not yet considered the be all and end all of human existence.

A few years ago, a TV scandal gripped China and the net when a female contestant on dating show “IF YOU ARE THE ONE” told a male suitor who suggested he take her for a ride on his bike, that she “would rather cry in the back of a BMW car than laugh on the backseat of a bicycle.” The result was a storm of fury from above – and the State Institute of Radio, Film and Television issued new “guidelines” for the match-making shows. “Incorrect social and love values such as money worship should not be presented in the shows” and warned contestants to “be cautious before mouthing venturous remarks.” Since the scandal, there have been a number of further instances causing public outcry, such as when a female contestant refused to shake a male suitor’s hand without paying 200,000 Yuan, the amount she said her prospective husband should be making every month as a minimum (a huge amount in China).

In fact, the social backlash against the shows in China has caused them to become more popular than ever before.  The changing social values in China have found unlikely expression on these dating shows, where the young contestants voice what is actually important to them, rather than what they are told they should be caring about.  These shows have become an unlikely outlet for apparent “honesty.”  “Money worship” has gripped the rest of the world for quite some time, and it remains to be seen how it will emerge in China, a country of a billion people.

The result is going to be a telling one – for the human race.

Telenovelas embody the “Passion” that typifies Latin culture. In contrast, Soap Operas document the day-to-day life of familiar characters that audiences can watch and easily relate to. This idea of “Realism” is much more important to Western audiences than to Latin ones who prefer to identify with emotion. Latin audiences look for escapism in larger than life storylines. Telenovelas typically conclude with spectacular finales (often at weddings) where great drama is certain. Many telenovelas are Cinderella stories, and frequently feature powerful female characters — and include spectacular and elaborate fight scenes between them.

Soap Operas avoid such melodramatic “Passion” – they tend to be more balanced – and do not ever truly “end.” Their loyal audiences are comforted by the fact that like life, they will simply go on, and they can watch their favorite characters struggle indefinitely with issues that they can relate to – like money and family problems. In other words, they are driven by “Realism.” Soap Opera characters might sometimes die of old age or disease, while those in telenovelas are more likely to be shot or drowned, eaten by alligators, burned alive or pushed off buildings.

Both genres do contain similarities though, like cliffhangers at the end of episodes, and both genres also share endless scenes where couples struggle with the problems in their relationships. This is something that appears to common to both cultural groups!

In Buenos Aires, I spoke to James McWilliams about the difference between these two genres.  He’s a Europe Middle East and Africa On Air Supervisior for the Disney Channel and is based out of London, but was in Argentina to help launch a new Telenovela that Disney has been making there, VIOLETTA.

“The key difference between them is their life cycle,” explains James. “Soap operas tend to play out on a continuous basis, while telenovelas will have a story arc with a definite beginning, middle and end. Normally novellas will run for a period of months (up to 6 to 12 months max), usually with a spectacular grand finale.”

“Soap operas tend to play out on a continuous basis i.e. they will play for years, often decades. Stories, themes, characters will come and go but the show (normally based around a central location) will remain in existence.”

“Language plays a significant barrier to some markets, such as the UK and US,” says James and this as a key reason to why Latin telenovelas are not likely to play on networks in a dubbed or subtitled form.”  Instead, networks are going to be forced to create English language telenovelas in order to appeal to domestic audiences.

“Disney is making their own telenovela VIOLETTA about a girl who returns to Argentina with hopes of being a singer and dancer. Filmed and based in Buenos Aires, it features an international cast from Spain, Italy and Brazil, and is targeted towards girls between 8 and 12 years old. I’m hooked already and I’m not just saying that as an employee!”

Telenovelas have today become big business in the USA where networks like Telemundo and Universal Studies compete for America’s growing Latin community (which according to the 2010 census accounts for more than 16% of the population). Telemundo’s latest telenovela, “LA REINA DEL SUR” (Queen of the South) had a budget of $10 million, and tells the story of a small town farm girl who becomes a powerful crime boss.

In fact, the truth is that the show is based on a little-known Israeli program, “HATUFIM” (PRISONERS OF WAR), which was filmed on a small budget (about $200,000 per episode). The show focuses on three IDF reservists who are captured during operations inside neighboring Lebanon, and what happens when they return home to Israel 17 years later.  The show touched a nerve inside Israel, where many accuse society of neglecting returnees out of a sense of shame.  Here’s a screen capture from the Israeli show:

The American remake, HOMELAND, concentrates on the return of a Marine sergeant, and the CIA Officer who thinks that he may have been “turned” by the terrorist enemy.

With critical reception behind it, calling HOMELAND one of the hit shows of 2011, it has been sold all over the world, premiering all over Europe and New Zealand in January of this year to similarly large ratings as it attracted in the United States.  In the UK alone, two million people watched the show’s pilot episode, and its huge success has ensured that the original Israeli show is now coming to British screens courtesy of Sky Arts.  How can one try to explain the show’ success?

“The world went to war against Terror and this has fostered greater uncertainty, especially against our own governments,” says the show’s lead actor, Damian Lewis, who plays Sgt. Brody, a Marine who may or may not have been turned by his Al Qaeda captors in the deserts of Iraq.  One of the main strengths is in the empathy we have as a viewer its main character’s reaction to the society in which he finds himself coming back to after such a long time. Sgt. Brody discovers that not everyone considers him a hero, and worse, finds out that his best friend has even been sleeping with his wife in his absence.  The character’s disillusionment forms a key part of the show.

Our view of the war as a noble cause is constantly tampered with during the first season of HOMELAND, and reaches a high point with the revelation that the Iraqi child with whom Brody bonds in captivity is killed by an unmanned U.S. drone guided bomb, sent in by the Vice President himself – a bomb which in fact killed dozens of innocents, and may have been responsible for turning Brody himself into a terrorist.

In addition, our eyes and ears on the other side, which come in the form of Claire Danes’ CIA investigator are compromised by both the character’s mental illness, and her bitter guilt about her responsibility in a failed operation which led to many deaths, and her inability to prevent it (a clear allegory to 9/11 itself).  This further causes us to doubt the official line – a doubt exacerbated by the investigator’s own battles with her superiors at the CIA who are subservient to the political needs of their masters on Capitol Hill – and not always interested in the truth.

The truth is that “fear of an enemy within” is a global issue, and can be found in almost every country – be that Argentina, Britain, or Australia, and it will be interesting to see how HOMELAND continues to perform.

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 had become a firm favorite to UK audiences and had become known as one of the greatest British comedy shows of all time – and in a nation which likes to pride itself on its sense of humor – this is no mean feat.

Many in the UK however expressed doubt that the show could ever be exported abroad – British humor being famous difficult to understand. It relies on a complex irony that many cultures “do not get.”  The Americans for example have tried and failed to adapt a number of British shows for their own market – yet their more clear brand of humor does not face the same challenge in the UK – where US comedy has always done well.

In contrast to American comedy, British humor relies on a complex central understanding that things are not always what they seem – and one must usually look beneath the surface of what is being said to discern the joke.  This is a nightmare for potential international distribution of course, where cultural differences are often a hindrance rather than a help.

Despite all expectations however, THE OFFICE defied expectations to become a massive hit overseas – and in the United States it has become one of the country’s most successful comedy shows.  THE OFFICE has been exported to countries as diverse as Chile in South America (see image below), Israel, and Germany.  In fact, this quintessentially British show was in fact a major international hit in waiting. The question remains – how did such a “British” show overcome its cultural barriers to be exported abroad?

In fact these naysayers had it all wrong.  The show has a great deal going for it, tapping into certain universal themes that everyone can relate to.  The show’s complex narrative structure is a huge help for global audiences; for example, our eyes and ears in the show — our empathy remains with struggling office worker Tim, who fights to cope with the dark reality that his life as an office worker may be pointless.

We do not feel any empathy with the tyrannical boss (played in the UK by Ricky Gervais) – who remains an antagonistic figure.  We experience the sensation of being “trapped” which Tim’s character fights with on every episode – and we hope that he will find a way to make it out without turning into a clone of the boss.  Our fear is brilliantly heightened when Tim – who has resigned by the end of the first season – returns to the office with a promotion at the beginning of the second season.  Our eyes and our ears remain with Tim – and our hopes and fears are clear.  Tim is turning 30 – the age when most people “get serious” about their lives and figure out what it is they want– yet Tim does not even have the courage to ask out female receptionist Dawn – let alone leave his job and pursue what he really wants to do (a career in psychology in the UK version).  Tim remains imprisoned physically in The Office – and mentality by his own fear of Failure.  It is of course this fear and sense of self-doubt that he must overcome if he is to ever escape.  The idea of wasting our lives working at a pointless job — which we do not have the courage to leave — is a universal, not a British one.  Every country on Earth has its own Slough.

The central villain of the boss remains a major cultural icon in every country – every culture has a “David Brent” character – and every international version of THE OFFICE replicated its own villain perfectly.  The tyrannical David Brent was so memorable because of his small time outlook, his megalomania – and buffoonish commentary – all of which have been replicated according to culture.  For example, in the Chilean version (LA OFIS), boss Manuel constantly makes racists jokes about the Peruvian cleaning staff, and in the Israeli version, HA MISRAT – Palestinians become the joke (when in one episode, the staff watch an uprising in Gaza unfold on the television — and become suspicious of the Arab cleaner).  The small-time boss – who believes he is a comedian – became a major selling point of the show internationally where every culture has such a figure.  In France for example, he is a “beauf” – an average man saturated with deluded self-belief – and in every version, the boss’ excruciating quest for popularity among his workforce is a major selling point of the show.  As above, every country also has its own David Brent – a small timer who abuses his position to gain popularity with his subordinates.  Key to the show, is that we understand that this person was once a normal man with his own hopes and dreams, who has become irreversibly “corrupted” by the system.  We fear this for Tim.

These globally understood hopes and fears are clearly key to the successful export of any show “format.”  In the case of this show, everyone understands what it is to be stuck in a job you hate — and this commonly understood fear has helped to drive the show to global success.

THE OFFICE today remains a model for successful international distribution.

The show’s host, Nassima el Hor would actually disagree.  “Its part of our tradition that when people observe their neighbors in conflict they intervene. “  The name of the show derives from an old Moroccan proverb that dictates that a mediator brings enemies together with “a white thread” – and that’s exactly what the host of the show tries to do, with a little help from the in-house lawyer and psychologist!

She is perhaps the only Moroccan who could command the respect necessary to present such a show.  Nassima el Hor is a veteran of Moroccan broadcasting, having been an outspoken advocate of democracy in a country in which such an idea could until recently see you thrown in a prison cell – or perhaps worse.  In 1989 however, Morocco underwent a comprehensive liberalization by the nation’s reigning monarch – who ordered that a free press be set up – a system which included national TV broadcaster 2M.  In fact, many Moroccans claim that in reality the country still exists under a very pervasive unofficial level of censorship. Women who wear traditional Muslim dress (the hejab) have only been permitted as of 2011 to present the news in Morocco for instance.  Outside of politics however, Moroccans are a generally conservative people – and therefore would not seem to be the ideal audience for a program that specifically airs “family business” in public.

However, perhaps against all expectations, there would seem to be a clear gap in the ratings for such a show. After beginning broadcasting in 2009, “THE WHITE THREAD” has become one of Morocco’s most popular programs – airing both on sattelite Al Magribya (designed for Moroccans abroad) and on 2M.  The format of the program would seem familiar to us as a relative of British or American studio shows like “Jerry Springer” or “Jeremy Kyle” – but in the more conservative Moroccan atmosphere – the result is quite different.  Muslim communities do not tolerate scandal” (or fadiha).  This is key to the show’s success – making it a lot more about simple reconciliation that its gaudy Western counterparts – which specifically use scandal — as a way of boosting ratings.

“THE WHITE THREAD” employs a completely opposite tactic – using “advice” and “council” (or nasiha) – in order to help resolve conflict on air. On a surface level, this difference makes “THE WHITE THREAD” feel a lot more “tame” than Western shows like Jerry Springer, which specifically bait its protaganists for audience titillation, earning these type of shows the sobriquet “trash TV”.   In “THE WHITE THREAD” however, there are no jeering studio audiences – instead there is a serious message being delivered; that it is possible to resolve even the most intractable problems with just a little discussion and a calm head.

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 a family barbeque which get rapidly out of hand (and specifically, when an angry father slaps another man’s son in anger). Each episodes illustrates the effects of “the slap” on a different character at the barbecue – in “Rashomon” style, giving the viewer a panorama of this community.

A huge ratings hit in Australia, the show has now been successfully exported to the USA and Canada, and has recently aired on the United Kingdom’s BBC Four. Producers as far afield as Spain and Turkey have expressed interest. The show has become an Australian success story. One of its producers is quoted recently as remarking with surprise that “its fascinating that something so Australian is translating so well.”

In fact, the show doesn’t really feel very “Australian” at all.  Watching “THE SLAP” at home in Buenos Aires does not feel strange – its middle class family barbecue could be taking place in the suburbs of Argentina or Los Angeles just as easily as Australia – or anywhere else for that matter.  The setting of The Slap is at once both familiar – and exotic — and this may be one of the keys to its international success.

In fact, the setting of the action isn’t really “Australian” either – its global. The tired old white Australia of Ramsay Street is nowhere to be seen here.  Its been replaced by a dynamic, multi-cultural community firmly in touch with the twentieth century, in which many of the show’s characters are themselves immigrants in a foreign land (and not just from Greece — but Mauritius and also even Scotland). Traditional “Australians” are few and far between (though they do receive their own perspective in the form of the drunken Gary, a failed, self-hating Liberal literature professor who distrusts Muslims and whose pampered son is the cause of “The Slap” of the title).  Modern day Melbourne is recognizable to almost any international audience, and this is likely to help the show’s performance in foreign markets.

“THE SLAP” is an entirely character based drama – and there’s nothing particulary “Australian” about this either.  The six main characters of the show are explored from every angle, giving the viewer a unique perspective; the show commenting as it does so on social issues from immigration, Islam, homosexuality, to parenting styles. Character of course is the key to successful drama, and in this sense, THE SLAP simply relies on this established maxim. Each episode presents both writers and audience to experience the same event though a different set of eyes – building empathy and generating drama by exploring these perspectives – and keeping the single event of the show’s title constantly intriguing.  By the end of its short run, the audience feels like it knows all of the show’s protagonists, especially the show’s main character, a 40 something Greek-Australian named Hector, who’s secretly having an affair with his wife’s assistant.

British actress Sophie Okenedo who plays Hector’s wife, the Anglo-Indian Aisha, has remarked that “there’s no moral centre in The Slap.” The show’s tagline invites the viewer to choose “whose side are you on,” and this might just reveal the secret of the program’s allure with global audiences – in which viewers are encouraged to make up their own minds on the events of the program, and on the final judgments meted out to the characters for their roles in them.  Good drama after all, is an international language — and one in which the audience can be encouraged to participate; whatever country they may be from.

Scandinavia is perhaps thought of more and more today too as a place that harbors a tremendous inner darkness. This emerged most recently in July 2011, when a right-wing gunman shot dead 69 teenage victims in Norway before being arrested by police. He claimed he was trying to protect his country from forces which endangered the foundations of his society. A popular urban myth recalls that Ikea’s colorful furniture may have been designed to secretly help those suffering from depression in the dark Nordic world – and it is not a stretch to see this is a good metaphor for Scandinavia today.

In other words, it’s possible that both this explosion in quality drama, and Scandinavia’s turbulent present day political situation, could be related.

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Crime writing has always been big business in Scandinavia for example, and perhaps it was only a matter of time that it should find a place in the global market, its vehicle being the video screen. Scandinavian cinema and TV have now emerged on the international scene with a steadily growing cultural renaissance, behind groundbreaking series like “THE KINGDOM” and more recent hit Hollywood films like “THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.”

Hit police show “THE KILLING” was quickly exported to and remade in America, and has now been sold all over the world, most recently to Australia and Russia. Its Danish producers have recently produced “BORGEN” – a series documenting the Machiavellian machinations behind a Scandinavian political administration – which has received huge acclaim. The show is already being remade for NBC as a BBC Co-Production – and touted as a possible successor to “THE WEST WING.” The new Nordic crime shows “THE BRIDGE” and “SEBASTIAN BERGMAN” have already been sold to BBC 4 at Mipcom late last year. Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell has become a household name, and his star detective has acquired his own British TV series, with Kenneth Branagh playing the lead (see photo above).

What is it about this explosion of Scandinavian crime fiction and thrillers though that makes them so appealing to a global marketplace?  The answer can perhaps be found in its relentlessly dark subject matter, and its consistent portrayal of a grim and desperate universe – the same universe that fanatics like Anders Brevik believe they actually inhabit in real life.  A key to understanding the success of these shows, must be the reality that they provide they viewer – not escapism, but an immersion in darkness.

A good deal could be explained by the format itself. While many Anglo Saxon crime shows tend to be “case focused” (good traditional examples being “Law and Order” or “CSI”), Scandinavian crime thrillers tend to be focused on the character of the Detective himself.  These are not the street savvy police detectives of American shows, but often introspective monomaniacs – bent on solving the crime.  Most Scandinavian shows contain powerfully introspective, crisis driven protagonists – all the time trapped by the need to outwardly conform to society.  Perhaps it is these tortured characters, trapped within the traditional Stoic façade that Scandinavian societies favor, that are so gripping to audiences worldwide?  Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell’s lead character, a Swedish detective named Wallander, is a logical Swede, struggling with this pressure to remain outwardly Stoic, while undergoing a deep and profound mid-life crisis that threatens to derail his own investigations. His attempts to deal with this crisis (visualized by his relations with father and daughter) frequently drive the drama, and make sure the character remains watchable.

It might seem minor, but another factor could be the gorgeous snow-covered locations themselves– which contain beneath the peaceful façade, savage conflicts and unbelievable brutality. These landscapes are a visual metaphor for brilliantly complex and dark universes that do not contain easy answers — and audiences know it.

The recent film “GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO,” directed by David Fincher, retained its snowy Scandinavian setting explicitly, rather than plumping for a more audience friendly Colorado or even Alaska, as did similar Hollywood remake “INSOMNIA” – based on a Danish film of the same name, about a Detective who is unable to sleep due to the constant light near the Arctic Circle.  The film, set in a picturesque, snow blanketed Danish landscape, contains some of the most unpleasant rape scenes of recent memory, along with a litany of horrific murders. This film, like many Scandinavian shows deal with unpleasant secrets buried in the past – and emerging in the present. Unpleasant secrets, in the case of most Scandinavian TV and film drama, are concealed by the ever-falling snow…

This inner darkness seems to provide global audiences with something that they do not receive from their own shows – and its clearly something that they want a lot more of.

This was of course, when things started to go really wrong for him…

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Since Reality TV arrived in the early 2000’s, its creators have constantly tried to boost their ratings – often by making live participants do obscene things, or putting them through hugely uncomfortable situations for the viewing pleasure of TV audiences at home.  Popular shows like “Pop Idol” routinely humiliate young musical hopefuls for the voyeuristic pleasure of the audience – but in a relatively harmless fashion. Some other shows are more severe; in the United States Show “Fear Factor”, willing contestants are often forced to eat insects or endure other disgusting tortures – suspended in excrement or any number of other things. Since TV “Reality” entered the mainstream, the public appetite for watching people put through horrifying ordeals or dangerous trials has been global and variants on these shows can be found in almost every region of the world. The danger comes when the people who create the shows go too far.  There must be an invisible line – but no one seems to know where it is…

There are many instances of reality shows that “go too far” – though mostly they are due to accident or complacency – and are not intentional.  In the Nigerian “survivor style” reality show “Gulder Ultimate Search,” a contestant died in 2004, forcing a harsh crackdown on safety restrictions (the show has since gone on to be one of Nigeria’s top programmes).  Controversial Brazilian star TV host and comedian (host of hit show “Domingo Legal” and best thought of as a Brazilian combination of Russell Brand and Ali G) Gugu Liberatu appalled the Sao Paulo public when he faked a high level meeting with himself and the city’s violent gang leaders (gang violence is a serious social problem in Brazil – and judging by Gugu’s subsequent fall from grace, no laughing matter).  In 2010, a motorcyle daredevil was involved in a serious accident trying to impress a studio audience on the popular German show “You Bet!”. He was immediately rushed to hospital.

In all of these cases, the show’s organizers went too far – allowing programs to go ahead, and turning a blind eye, hungry for ratings.  Robert Thompson, Director of the Blier Center for Television and Popular Culture, stated in the aftermath of the German accident that “In a very real sense, it’s the possibility that this kind of thing is going to happen that gives shows like this all their voltage in the first place.”The mistake of producers in all these cases was to turn a blind eye to the possibilities of what might happen; in short, they acted “irresponsibly.”

What happened in the jungle city of Manaus, Brazil, in 2009 was a different matter entirely. Ex-cop Wallace Souza, had long reinvented himself as a prominent local politician and TV personality, using his own Canal Livre crime TV show to rail against rampant crime in this largely lawless region of the country. His live-action police show documented the local police’s determined fight back against the drug dealers who operate in the Amazon – with often bloody results. He was able to hunt down the hoodlums he never could in his actual police career.  Images of bullet-ridden corpses and burning cadavers were a common sight on his TV show, as Souza portrayed himself as a honest citizen, tired of the violent crime he saw around him – a kind of Latin Richard Littlejohn, vociferous in his belief that criminals were born to die. He harked back nostalgically on air to the days of Brazil’s military dictatorship, when violent criminality was simply not tolerated. Casting off the stigma of his disgraced police career, he even began to think about entering national politics.

The reality was more sinister; in fact, Souza had established himself as a major drug dealer in his own right, and hired his own death squad made up of former police officers  to deal out ruthless justice to his rivals – whose bloody deaths he then put on screen to increase his own ratings. In fact, what finally tipped off authorities was the simple fact that Souza’s reporters always seemed to be the first on the scene of the carnage (one even joking over a burnt human body on live TV: “it smells like barbeque”).

By 2009, Souza’s crime show was a smash-hit item on the schedule for Manaus’ 1.7 million inhabitants – until it was revealed as theatre, and shut down by the local police. Police raided Souza’s mansion — uncovering a cache of automatic weapons and after a local man-hunt, finally arresting the TV host.  Souza and his death squad have been linked to at least nine murders – and most likely many, many more. His own son is being charged with drug trafficking, possession of illegal handguns – and murder. Last year, Souza died of liver disease in Sao Paulo.

Souza’s case is extreme – but the yearning for ratings is not going to go away, and neither is the pressure to allow increasingly dangerous activities to go unheeded.  The unspoken taboo of Reality TV is that sooner or later, someone is going to die on camera. Wallace Souza ordered murders to boost his show’s own ratings — but he is almost certainly not going to be the only man to take reality TV to its logical conclusion, if the past is anything to go by…these Roman gladiators drew audiences in their day that modern-day producers could only dream of.

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 to name a few.” The truth is that today’s global audiences are intimately familiar with Vampires.

From their origins in the 19^th century novel (from where they arrived from Eastern European folk tales), Vampires have emerged to become an enduring dramatic theme in the 21^st century. They’re a familiar subject with no less than 2 mainstream drama shows currently airing in the United States, “True Blood” and “Vampire Diaries.”  Perhaps nothing quite epitomizes the genre more than the hugely popular film and book franchise, “Twilight”, with its icon, the tortured face of Robert Pattison. Vampires have become global though – and are no longer confined to Britain and the USA.

“Red Moon” is a Portuguese vampire TV show, which airs on local broadcaster SIC. First broadcast in 2010, its produced in Portugal and uses local actors – such as star Mafalda Luis de Castro who plays the show’s female lead, Isabel. The show takes place at The Valley of Light College, an exclusive private school in the mountains, which has been infiltrated by vampires, and begins with Isabel’s arrival there. “Red Moon” is derided by many as simply a spin-off of “Twilight,” but “Red Moon” has consistently held its own in local ratings, boasting (according to some) a regular audience of half a million viewers.

“Red Moon” shares the staple ingredients of shows like “Twilight” or “True Blood” – beautiful and young female protagonists, mysterious male anti-heroes who drink blood, strongly Gothic locations, (“Red Moon’s” locations are particularly breathtaking for example – one of them being an ancient Capuchin monastery) and the obligatory tortured love story; in this genre, the male and female protagonists are usually always unable to be together due to their vampirism.  Often one or both of them will be vampires. This convention has proved a potent combination time and again – as compelling both to the audiences of novels like “Dracula”, written in 1897 in Victorian England, as to today’s televisual viewer.

Another global example is the Israeli vampire show “Split.” In 2010, “Split” was exported to the Philippines and dubbed into Tagalog.  “Split” has an estimated 7 million viewers in Israel alone, but enjoys massive international success – with loyal audiences particularly in Russia and Venezuela.  Once again, its story will be familiar to fans of “Twilight” or “The Vampire Diaries” — a 15 year old high school student discovers that she is in fact half vampire and half human. She faces a terrible romantic dilemma – she’s “split” between two potential lovers – one a human and the other a vampire — and unable to be with either one of them. Once again, this tortured romantic love represents the real engine of the show’s story.  One thing seems certain – variations in taste can change from region to region, but tortured love sells – and is popular all over the world.

The Vampire format delivers exactly this.

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 is recorded in Nigeria (where much of the continent’s production takes place), its identity is self-consciously African  – and its global vision has been a major source of strength for the program, which has now seen more than 300 episodes produced and has established a loyal viewership across the continent.  As in other emerging film and TV markets like India, much of Africa’s fare tends to be escapist entertainment, but “Moment’s with Mo” is one of the first to buck this trend – focusing on the real world.

“Moments with Mo’s” tackles everyday African culture and social problems; identifying the problems faced by poorer Africans and looking at issues like music, drugs, education and child care.  Subjects have included inter-racial marriage and explored other local taboos. The show’s remit is much larger than that of a simple social affairs program however, and takes in politics and economic issues too. For example, one of the show’s most popular guests was former Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, one of Nigeria’s first female politicians who made her name confronting Western oil companies and fighting corruption.

What is the secret of “Moments with Mo’s” runaway success? “The show,” says Abudu, “highlights the life and achievements of usually a well known but sometimes an undiscovered African individual who by his or her own tenacity and determination has accomplished something, overcome something, or been a catalyst for something that makes his or her a role model for others.”  For example, a recent episode details the heroic struggle of a motorcyle crash victim to overcome his injuries. This simple message of hope is demonstrated time and again by the show’s guests. Abudu has repeatedly stated that the show’s attitude is one of “Yes I Can”; a message of hope in one of the world’s poorest, most badly governed and exploited regions. “If you think it, you can do it!” is the program’s official motto.  It is important to remember that TV in Africa is the way that ideas are communicated, rather than radio or the written word.

This simple recipe has been very, very successful – and has helped “Moment’s with Mo” establish itself a household name on the continent. In 2009 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on the show to discuss the position of women in African society – a key subject for a program whose audience share is probably mostly female.

The show’s host and star, Mosunmola herself is an example of just this subject – a successful self-made African businesswoman in her own right (although born and educated in the UK), a representative of the new middle class that are now increasingly a common sight across the continent, especially in big cities like Lagos and Johannesburg. The glamorous Mosunmola Abudu is a visual symbolization of what the audience could achieve for themselves. The message, hammered home in every episode, is that their own destiny is within their grasp.