The long-tired drama series, Homeland, with Claire Danes finally cancelled after 8 seasons.

The 8th season of the drama series Homeland with Claire Danes seen on M-Net (DStv 101) will be its last, the actress confirmed in an American radio interview.

In an interview in America with Howard Stern on radio she confirmed that Homeland is cancelled.

"Yeah, that's it," confirming that Homeland from the Showtime channel is ending after the 8th season.

When she was asked how she feels about it, Claire Danes said she feels "really conflicted".

"I'll be ready. She's a lot, this Carrie-freakin' Mathison character. It's a workout, so I'll be ready for a reprieve from that."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 19 April 2018.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ TV needs fewer commercials - but the math is going to be hard.

■ Netflix: On the brink of global domination?
Now so powerful it even snubbed the Cannes Film Festival, are broadcasters around the world right to fear for their future?


■ Ghana's trash-petty TV station TV3 still can't stand that its former news anchor Nana Aba Anamoah left them.
So when she appeared on stage at the 19th Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, broadcast simultaneously on TV3 and M-Net's Africa Magic Family (DStv 154) on MultiChoice's DStv, the shoddy TV3 awkwardly censored its own broadcast and did a blackout for the minute Nana Aba Anamoah appeared on stage to present an award.

■ India's ZEE has big plans for Nigerian audiences - and talks upcoming content.

■ Three people in Ghana selling illegal DStv decoders smuggled in from Nigeria, arrested following a Cyber Crime Unit raid.

■ Kwesé TV says its TV channel Kwesé Inc. will run so-called "success stories" of African entrepreneurs who have used Kwese's services.

■ Judge in Sierra Leone releases a man who sat in jail in custody for 2 years for allegedly stealing a Samsung plasma TV.

■ Britain's broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, announces 7 new investigations into Russia Today (RT) over its spy coverage).

■ The new Lost in Space reboot on Netflix looks an awful lot like a Mass Effect TV show.


■ When TV shows refuse to die and overstay their welcome: Why The Walking Dead on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) keeps going although it only frustrates viewers - just like the long-tired Homeland on M-Net (DStv 101).

■ MUST READ: The New York Times on what it means that Amazon Studios has arrived at Culver Studios on the lot where Gone with the Wind and E.T. were made.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 5 October 2015

■ SABC's matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng tells Sunday Times the journalist is asking the wrong question.
SABC suddenly dumped planned cricket commentary for the first T20 international cricket match between South Africa and India on Friday, but it will now return after Diane Reimer, SABC head of sport told SABC staff that "we will not cover the India tour" because there is apparently "no return on investment".

■ The SABC "concerned" and regrets comments made by Leanne Manas
after SABC2's Morning Live anchor spoke about the alleged arrival of Microsoft founder Bill Gates in South Africa. SABC management "views this matter in a serious light and is in the process of engaging Leanne Manas and will communicate accordingly once all the internal processes have been finalized".

■ The Commission for Gender Equality clears the SABC's matricless boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng
after he was allegedly given a wife as a present by rural leaders in Limpopo in 2014. "We always said as the SABC that we believe that was a symbolic gesture," says SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

■ Dr. Phil crisis behind the scenes.
The new 14th season of Dr. Phil seen in South Africa on SABC2 is mired in chaos behind the scenes, with brutal firings, staff unrest, PR head fired, and there's "about to be a mutiny".

■ Better executives could help improve the struggling SABC.
Suddenly removing SABC board members for political reasons has made the SABC board dysfunctional says the Centre for Corporate Governance.

■ The ANC political party is worried about negative things at the SABC.
And the hate from the South African media for president Jacob Zuma. ANC says the crisis at the SABC reflects badly on the ANC-led government.

■ Meanwhile the South African Communist Party (SACP) blasts the ANC over matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng saying its"a stark example of what happens when we leave the media in the hands of those only interested in personal self-accumulation, including obscene increases in salaries for incompetent and unqualified individuals".
- Also says the SABC is an example of "growing shame and embarrassment":
It has indisputably been hijacked by a tiny cabal of self-promoting individuals, abusing political access to materially advance themselves, at the expense of the SABC itself, and of the millions of people it should serve".

■ Lifetime's (DStv 131) new "Unauthorized Story of" movies explained.
The biographical movies about the life behind popular 90s TV shows, from Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and Full House are because those teen viewers are now the grown target market as nostalgia hits a resurgence together with the remake of TV shows.
And the biggest revelations from The Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story.

■ Why American broadcasters are waiting longer to cancel low-rated shows.
Executives wait longer to see how shows add viewers in repeated viewing and later,time-shifted viewing on PVR.

■ H . A . M . S . T. E. R. S.
The opening title sequence of FRIENDS - done by hamsters.

■ Lame, boring Homeland remains
The new 5th season of Homeland on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) was supposed to mark a fresh start. But the tired drama is now a frustrating failure.

■ Laurence Fishburne will play Nelson Mandela in BET (DStv 129) miniseries.
Will play the hero in the 6-part miniseries with Nelson Mandela's grandson Kweku Mandela as the executive producer.

■ David Boreanaz: Bones should end after the 11th season.
Says forensic drama series has gone on long enough.

■ MultiChoice says its investing $3 million in East Africa.
Pay-TV platform is growing an East African content hub to churn out films and shows from Kenya.

■  New Quantico, Minority Report draw most diverse viewers.
Quantico on Vuzu AMP (DStv 114) and Minority Report on FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) are the new TV dramas drawing the most diverse audiences in America - in part thanks to the diverse casting choices.

BREAKING. Homeland's 4th season to be filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, to double as the Middle East.

The fourth season of the spy drama Homeland will be filmed in Cape Town in November; Deadline's Nellie Andreeva first reported the news.

With Homeland star Damian Lewis gone after three seasons, declining ratings and critics who have gone lukewarm about the show's storylines, the show is planning a soft reset for the upcoming fourth season.

Production is now planned for Cape Town which will double as a Middle Eastern setting with Claire Danes.

Pre-prodcudtion will start in Cape Town in mid-June and filming will commence in November.

Homeland's executive producer Alex Gansa told Deadline: "We knew going into season four that we would need to move the production overseas to tell the story of Carrie returning to the Middle East as chief of station".

"We are thrilled to have found a new home in Cape Town and look forward to getting season four production off the ground."

Homeland already filmed in Israel, Morocco and Puerto Rico in past seasons. For the third season of Homeland the show was supposed to film again in Israel but shifted production to Morocco following the civil war in nearby Syria.

M-Net subscribers are once again complaining about Homeland and the brilliant drama being shown in an inappropriate timeslot.

M-Net subscribers are once again complaining about the TV drama Homeland - not about the show itself but that M-Net is broadcasting Homeland in an inappropriate timeslot.

After major complaints from M-Net subscribers in 2012 during the first season of Homeland during which viewers were shocked and upset over M-Net's decision to screen Homeland at 20:30 given the content, M-Net has just started showing the second season of Homeland - again at 20:30.

Viewers who didn't want to see scenes on M-Net of masturbation, nudity and sex at 20:30 - with some even complaining at the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) said "the time schedule is completely inappropriate".

ALSO READ:  M-Net brings 't-ts & -ss' to primetime at 20:30 for the first time: Is Homeland inappropriate viewing for the timeslot?

Last year M-Net said that the pay-TV broadcaster is aware of complaints on social media and at the BCCSA.

After that M-Net moved the second season of Homeland to an appropriate starting time of 21:30.

Yet M-Net, which calls itself a responsible broadcaster, decided to once again schedule the new third season of Homeland on Mondays at 20:30 again, prompting a new slew of complaints from M-Net subscribers over not the brilliant show, but the timeslot.

M-Net isn't explaining why the second season of Homeland was at 21:30 and is now back at 20:30 for the third season, but says in response to a media enquiry that "Homeland is a highly acclaimed, Emmy award winning series that deserves a primetime spot on the M-Net schedule."

"The 20:30 slot is half an hour after the watershed and the show is accompanied by clear content warnings," says M-Net.

M-Net brings 't*ts & *ss' to primetime at 8:30pm: Is Homeland, starting on Wednesday, inappropriate for the timeslot?

The brilliant new drama show Homeland starts tomorrow on M-Net (Wednesday, 20:30), but I'm wondering about, what is to me, some very odd scheduling on M-Net's side. The South African pay TV broadcaster is going to show extremely graphic "t-ts & -ss" to viewers way earlier than usual - and there is some on-air M-Net promo oddities I've noticed as well.

While this terrific drama on the Showtime channel was shown at 10pm in America, M-Net is bringing the extremely graphic content of Homeland to 8:30pm - the same primetime timeslot in which M-Net subscribers on other evenings usually see family dramas and forensic crime shows such as The Good Wife, CSI: Miami, Blue Bloods and The Lying Game.

Homeland has the audible "f*ck" word twice in the opening theme of every episode. It's part of the show but seems inappropriate for the 8:30pm timeslot. Have you ever heard "f*ck" at 8:30pm on South African television before? I was wondering if M-Net is going to bleep it out or not.

Homeland contains graphic nudity in the form of for instance breasts and butts but oddly the on-air promos of 16VLS on M-Net carries no N warning for nudity. Viewers who watch the show from Wednesday, based on the indicated classification M-Net is selling it, could be in for a shock.

M-Net plans to show Homeland which is intended for a mature audience and contains sex scenes and masturbation, way earlier than similar TV dramas such as Californication and Game of Thrones which it more corresponds to in terms of its visual presentation.

I've also heard from upset viewers regarding the Homeland promo on M-Net which contains the bit "look at his hands; he's signaling someone". The one promo I saw clearly shows part of the scene where the forensic agents zoom in on the TV footage at the end. It's basically the premise of what the show is built around: is the marine returning to America now a secret double agent? By including this "spoiler" the Homeland promo reveals that in fact he is.

I asked M-Net about all of these questions I have around Homeland 's scheduling which as a TV critic and writer I finds out of kilter given M-Net's overall primetime schedule and the content of the show.
Here is M-Net's response.

Will M-Net be bleeping and remove the "f-", "f-" word in the Homeland opening sequence or keep it?
Controlling the language on their decoders is the responsibility of our viewers. They can tune into the Family Soundtrack, which will block offensive words, or listen to the Original Soundtrack.

The promos for Homeland on M-Net runs promoting the show with the age restriction of 16SVL (no N). Why does M-Net deem Homeland not to contain scenes of nudity? Does M-Net consider Homeland's first episode to not contain nudity that viewers shouldn't need to know about?
A preliminary rating is often used for promos, but each episode of our series is viewed by our programming acceptance team and the actual episodes could carry a different rating, based on the team's recommendation. The Homeland episodes in question will have an age restriction of 16SNVL, thus including nudity.

The 8:30pm timeslot for Homeland seems inappropriate from a scheduling point of view, since similar shows such as Californication and Game of Thrones, has a starting time of much later. This will be the first time ever that M-Net will have such as show with such strong graphic content on a weekly basis in the 8:30pm timeslot. Why did M-Net decide to schedule Homeland so early and push boundaries?
The watershed time for South Africa is 8pm and this is not the first time a series with such a rating is scheduled at 8pm on M-Net. By scheduling these programmes at 8:30pm, later than the watershed, we acknowledge its mature content while informing viewers of the age restriction on air at the same time. Californication and Game of Thrones are more risque in terms of theme and visual material and are rated R18VSNL.

Regarding the language profanity and sex scenes it will be the first time that viewers in the 8:30pm timeslot on M-Net will be regularly hearing and seeing some graphic content which M-Net, in terms of regular series, has always broadcast later. Why is M-Net bring the "F"-word to 8:30pm?
The first three episodes contain scenes of nudity and sexual content, but it's not the case in all the episodes and not a theme in the series. Viewers can control the language option, as previously mentioned.

I've heard from upset viewers regarding the Homeland promo on M-Net which includes the scene right at the end of the first episode which is the big reveal ("look at his hands, he's secretly signaling someone"). What is M-Net's current policy regarding possible spoilers and promos?
Our promos are designed to have an intriguing end or cliffhanger in order to entice viewers to watch the episode. We believe the inclusion of this line (not accompanied by visuals) in the promo is such a cliffhanger. There is a difference between a cliffhanger and a spoiler.

Is there anything regarding the context and scheduling and age classification of Homeland as seen on M-Net that M-Net wants to say or give context to.
All M-Net's programmes are viewed by a team of progamming acceptance experts, who have clear guidelines in terms of the way age restrictions are decided upon.


As I've said, Homeland is a great show narrative wise, I just don't think the timeslot of 20:30 is appropriate for what the broadcaster is trying to do with it. I've placed a few screengrabs from the first episode below if you want to judge for yourself whether the graphic content of Homeland is appropriate for the time.
The nature of the scenes and content continues in further episodes.
(If you click on READ MORE below, its because you chose to.)

BREAKING. M-Net gets brilliant new drama Homeland; 'new 24' set to start on pay channel on 18 April.

You're reading it here first.

M-Net has scored another great new TV title and this one is going to the M-Net channel (DStv 101): Homeland - called ''the new 24'' is starting on the pay TV channel on Wednesday 18 April at 20:30.

I heard yesterday from the pay TV broadcaster who told me that Homeland is coming after M-Net scooped the broadcasting rights for South Africa. The brilliant show (which I've already started watching) is a ''newer'' kind of 24 - packed with mysteries, suspense, hidden clues, action, and lots of drama revolving about family life, but also how to be a great professional and not come across as crazy.

Homeland centres around an American soldier, suddenly found after a few years in Iraq. He comes back and literally gets a hero's welcome. Yet a secret agent - who has a chip on the shoulder and is a bit crazy because of 9/11 - got a tip that an American soldier has been turned during captivity and is now working for an extremist terrorist organisation.

Is the soldier who he appears to be and is she she just crazy for spying on him and trying to convice her one boss about a big terrorist plan? Or is the soldier, suddenly back in his family's life, secretly now against America?

Damian Lewis as the platoon sargeant who returns, Claire Daines as the CIA analyst, and Mandy Patinkin as her boss willing to go out on a limb and believe her, make Homeland true must-watch television.

Interestingly there's two concurrent trends taking place on the M-Net channel. Firstly, on the one hand M-Net (the channel) is continuing the way in which it's watering down and diluting its perceived brand value. The channel is fast losing what it once stood for, which was/is the best TV shows shown as quickly as possible. Once Upon a Time, The River, White Collar and other shows, and now even the Grammy Awards, are shows which in my opinion should actually be on, and belong on, M-Net as a channel.

More and more great stuff - which made M-Net distinctive content wise and solidifies its place as a premium channel - is trickling away.

Then the M-Net channel is also becoming more edgier and envelope pushing again. Remember when M-Net showed Eden, the late night risque tropical resort soap? That was decades ago. Also M-Net isn't and won't give viewers and go Spartacus Vengeance edgy (sadly that will never happen) there is a renewed focus on edgier and riskier fare - Game of Thrones, Shameless - which for a long time M-Net somewhat moved away from.