SABC1 adds local legal eagle drama with Pallance Dladla solving a murder mystery.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC1 has commissioned a new locally produced legal eagle drama series Good Men from Ochre Media which will debut on the channel on 4 September in the competitive Sunday-night 20:00-timeslot.

Good Men - with Stan Joseph as executive producer and Portia Gumede as writer who is also showrunner - has 16 episodes broken into two seasons of eight episodes each, and starts when two men from different background come into direct opposition with each other in the court.

Zola (Tabile Tau), a 17-year old math genius with a temper and in his matric year, is accused of murder.

Pallance Dladla plays Jama, the brilliant but ruthless and materialistic criminal defence lawyer whose life takes a drastic turn when he must take on a pro-bono case. 

SABC1 says Good Men will show a "cross-section of real-life, from elite to underclass" with "both men who meet at a threatening point in their lives, each desperately wanting to save themselves".

Gugu Mbuyaze (Kamogelo Ndawo), a 17-year old girl, is connected to Zola and has "a potentially bright future and a big heart" whose whirlwind romance with Zola is cut short by his death.

Mbali Mlotshwa has the role of Betty, fiancé to Jama. She is a prosecutor and wants to see justice done, while Thabo Malema plays the role of Lwazi Nzimande, a civil litigator. He met his wife Ivy (Petronella Tshuma) at a law school, and she is the whisper in his ear telling him to fight to get his name on the door of the Meyiwa and Associates law firm. 

Dumisani Mbebe plays the role of Solezwe Blose who dreams of becoming president. The rest of the Good Men cast includes Marcus Mabusela, Zikhona Sodlaka, Sparky Xulu, Cedric Fourie, Lebogang Motaung, Lihle Ngubo and Mbali Mapumulo.

"Good Men touches on a socio-matter, as society turns a blind eye and reacts with passionate disgust when the tragedy strikes," Portia Gumede tells TVwithThinus. "In the heart of it, it's a human drama with the justice system having to play its part at the end of the day."

TV REVIEW. Shadow on Netflix as a South African drama series is unnecessary TV pain - underwhelming, boring, not good acting and not moving any goalposts.

The new South African TV drama series, Shadow on Netflix - the first South African produced show to be added to the global video streaming service - is underwhelming, dreary, with not such good acting and is borderline boring, without actually moving borders.

While the character of Shadow is unable to feel anything, viewers watching it will definitely feel some pain.

Extremely formulaic as a run-of-the-mill South African crime-of-the-week procedural episode show, Shadow lacks oomph and that binge-watching quality users pay for with streaming series. Shadow feels as if it was made for ordinary week-to-week television like The Docket on SABC3, the only twist being that the protagonist can't feel physical pain.

With an avalanche of content to watch, that's not enough to make Shadow stream-watch worthy.

Shadow, produced by Motion Story Productions, reminds very strongly of Jongo, that was touted as "Africa's first-ever superhero show" that was broadcast on BET and e.tv, just without the extremely overt supernatural part.

It coincidentally hails from the same production company as the 2016-show and it's clear that Motion Story has learnt and improved somewhat with the more down-to-earth approach of Shadow, although this 8-episode series still also feels underwhelming and borderline boring.

Imagine a South African, more low-budget version of Netflix's Luke Cage from Marvel, like Jongo but without the Jongo blue eyes special effects.

Pallance Dladla is the titular character Shadrack "Shadow" Khumalo (struck by lightning as a child and impervious to pain) and becomes a crime-fighting, problem-solving vigilante after the murder of his 6-year old daughter. Amanda Du Pont is Ashley and Max (Khathu Ramabulana) is one of Shadow's former partners.

Nothing really pops and the acting in Shadow is sad to say, underwhelming. As former TV soap actors, who were more believable in former roles, the problem here is probably more a script and characterisation issue the characters they've portrayed in Isibaya and Generations felt more "lived-in" and authentic.

Several action and weapons scenes come across as very "acted" and fake-choreographed, like kids' lightsaber-playing. How much did everyone involved actually practise?

Again, similar to The Docket, the hunt for a killer is the overall series' story, with episodic dilemmas ranging from abuse and bribery to stalking as the "crime of the episode".

Is there a hook to want to make a viewer immediately want to watch the next Shadow episode on Netflix? No. Does Shadow offer something revolutionary, outstanding and mind-blowingly different in terms of narrative, visual style or acting besides being that it was produced in South Africa? No.

Shadow, directed by Gareth Crocker, is filled with predictable TV tropes, none of which are actually upended to surprise, tantalise or grab the viewer to want to watch more. Little in or from it willmake a viewer go "wow".

Shadow's episodes and stories feel forgettable and fail to tread new ground, with a slight build-up of tension and never enough pay-off.

Some of the same frustration and criticism about a lack of forward momentum and development that applies to Marvel's Iron Fist on Netflix is applicable to Shadow - viewers wait for "more" to happen in terms of a bigger and better story that draws you in, actual character actualisation, and to make you forget that you're watching a show, which doesn't happen.

Why Shadow is on Netflix isn't clear. It feels mundane, run-of-the-mill and like yet another retread of what there's exists a lot of already - and done better - from the BBC's Luther to the SABC's Zero Tolerance.

Shadow on Netflix is unnecessary TV pain you can do without.


ALSO READ: Netflix's first locally-acquired South African series, Shadow, stars Pallance Dladla and Amanda Du Pont.
ALSO READ: How bad is Shadow as Netflix's first South African series? Apparently very, as Netflix SA cancels a planned media event and isn't giving screeners to critics, saying the Motion Story Productions drama already got enough coverage.

Netflix's first locally-acquired South African series, Shadow, stars Pallance Dladla and Amanda Du Pont.

Shadow, the first locally-acquired South African TV series, is set to become available on Netflix South Africa from Friday 8 March with Pallance Dladla and Amanda Du Pont in a crime drama spanning a variety of set-pieces giving a feel for the African continent.

While Queen Sono, a spy drama series with Pearl Thusi, produced by Diprente with Kagiso Lediga as director is Netflix's first commissioned African and South African original drama series, Shadow is Netflix's first locally-acquired drama series.

Following the unjust murder of a young girl, Johannesburg detective and former task force specialist, Shadrach "Shadow" Khumalo, portrayed by Pallance Dladla, quits his job to become a fixer for people who, like him, have been failed by the criminal justice system.

With the help of his former partner, Shadow cuts a swathe through the city’s underworld taking full advantage of a rare condition that affects his central nervous system: he is impervious to physical pain.

Amanda Du Pont plays Ashley, Shadow's love interest in Shadow that has 8 hourlong episodes.

Shadow is produced by Motion Story Productions, with Gareth Crocker as director.