by Thinus Ferreira
With national lockdown regulations eased to Level 4 in South Africa production has resumed on the third season of the weekly Afrikaans female talk show Tussen Ons on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) - but without the 6-row studio audience, the addition of clear social distancing between the 5-women panel, and with Ricky Schroeder as the new floor manager.
The View-based talker filmed at Atlantic Studios in Cape Town and produced by Homebrew Films was suddenly forced to stop recording 7 weeks ago during the Covid-19 lockdown as the rest of South Africa's TV and film industry grounded to a halt.
Tussen Ons has now filmed and broadcast its first new episode - episode 6 of the third season - after the relaxation of South Africa's national lockdown measures. The hourlong show has however been forced to drop the in-studio audience and had to make some other changes.
In the new episode panellist Tracey Lange, who shares the talk show stage with Kay Karriem, Zelda la Grange, Ingrid Jones and Success Lekabe, said "goodness, this is our very first recording during the lockdown times, so without an audience naturally, which is very different than usual for all of us".
Tracey Lange announced that Ricky Schoeder has joined Tussen Ons as floor manager. "There's a new addition to the whole team. His name is Ricky Schroeder".
Set design-wise the normal Tussen Ons talk show table is gone, now replaced by an oval-shaped baby blue soft cushion-couch doubling up as a coffee table in the middle of the set.
The 5 women have also noticeably been spaced further apart as part of the government-mandated Covid-19 social distancing regulations that studios must now follow.
