Netwerk24 orders Op en Af as a second Afrikaans streaming soap; 65 webisode comedy series produced by Jester Productions and VIA will start in February 2020.

Media24's Afrikaans TV channel VIA is producing a second online video streaming soap, Op en af (Up and down), for the Netwerk24 portal that will play out in daily episodes from 3 February 2020.

The comedy of 65 episodes written by Leon Kruger and produced by Jester Productions of Diaan Lawrenson and Jody Abrahams, follows after Die Testament drama that marked Netwerk24's entry into Afrikaans online TV series. 

"The soap is about ordinary people who are a little bit eccentric and holds up a mirror," says Diaan Lawrenson. All the couples live in the same apartment building and are seemingly friends - although viewers later see that their interactions are loaded with jealousy and competition, and sugar-coated with some gossip."

The Op en af cast include Charlton George as André Mouton and Quanita Adams as his wife Bev who have been married the longest although Bev is hiding a secret life, while Neels van Jaarsveld's character Frans du Plessis dabbles as a stock broker and Nadia Valvekens' (Leande du Plessis) character is an online vlogger.

Marlo Minnaar and Nicole Fortuin play the recently-married Charlie and Ilse Daniels who are trying but struggling to get pregnant. Diaan Lawrenson also appears on-screen as Christelle, Bev's best friend.

Netwerk24 will roll out episodes of Op en af as 5-minute webisodes with a new episode on weekdays at 8:00 between 3 February and the end of April 2020.

"The reaction to our first soap, Die Testament, surpassed our expectations," says Henriëtte Loubser, Netwerk24 editor. "It's clear that such instant viewing enjoyment in Afrikaans is a format that resonates with Netwerk24's audience."

"While Die Testament had a dramatic approach our second soap is humoristic and provides a whole new experience."

Similar to Die Testament episodes of Op en Af will remain available on Netwerk24 indefinitely with subscribers who can watch a new episode daily or the omnibus over weekends. Eventually the entire series of 65 episodes will be available to binge watch.

Izelle Venter, VIA channel boss says "When we watched the first episodes and the actors felt completely like your friends on a Friday night we became really excited. We believe that Netwerk24 viewers will be just as excited over our new soap from the producers-duo Diaan Lawrenson and Jody Abrahams".

More More 7de Laan soap stars exit the SABC2 soap as Melanie du Bois, Masego Sehoole and Corné Crous contracts are not renewed; Anelisa Phewa quit.

More 7de Laan soap stars are exiting the long running Afrikaans soap on SABC2 with the characters of Felicity, Pulane, Sifiso and Kim who will also soon be disappearing from viewers' TV screens and the fictional Hillside community.

Melanie du Bois is done with her fashion designer character of Felicity Daniels Croukamp in 7de Laan after 15 years, with her character that will make an on-screen exit in October from the Danie Odendaal Productions show.

Also leaving is Masego Sehoole who played Pulane, Corné Crous who played Kim, and Anelisa Phewa who played Sifiso.

Melanie du Bois, Corné Crous and Masego Sehoole's were essentially fired; their contracts were not renewed by the soap, while Anelisa Phewa quit.

Anelisa Phewa was offered the opportunity to lecture in film and studies but due to new changes enforced by the SABC, actors are not allowed to do other work. Anelisa Phewa decided to leave the soap production to focus on the new lecturing opportunity at Afda, the Sschool of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance.

The latest 7de Laan exists follow the recent announcements that Diaan Lawrenson who played Paula, Jo da Silva who played Gita and Christo Davids who played Errol are also done with the soap.

Melanie du Bois who is going through a divorce from Reginald Botha after 14 years will be filming her final 7de Laan scenes on Friday and is opening up about her divorce and soap exit in the cover story of the latest issue of Huisgenoot.

BREAKING. Happening in 7de Laan in January 2010 and next year's BIG 10th anniversary!

You're reading it here first. A little boo-boo cause TV writers to get their hands on the info regarding what is happening in the first week of 2010 in 7de Laan on SABC2, and I'm not beyond spilling immediately - as well as being the first to talk and remind everyone else out there about 7de Laan's BIG UPCOMING 10th BIRTHDAY in April. Bless.

First up, 7de Laan is silent on birthday plans but it should be HUGE both on-screen as well as off.
The soapie's first episode went out on 4 April, 2000, which would make this April its 10th BIRTHDAY. 7de Laan's 10th BIRTHDAY BASH should BE BIGGER than any event or celebration the soap has before, including it's shindig to celebrate its 2 000 episode earlier this year.

In the first episode of 2010, episode 2 126 on Monday 4 January, Gita will feel the baby kick.

A day later Altus and Paula will have a dramatic moment where both reveal exactly how they really feel towards each other. Both will ''pine'' for each other.
Diaan Lawrenson who left the role of Paula earlier this year is back with the Danie Odendaal production.
In other teaser news Zinzi will be ''spreading a rumour about Emma'' that will upset the poor thing and ''Gita reveals her plans for the Heights''.

I analyzed 7de Laan's latest viewership figures. In the first week of November the show had an average audience every night of 1,92 million viewers in South Africa, making it the second most watched show on SABC2 after Stokvel.