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."

Coronavirus: Lockdown in South Africa brings Lockdown and Trackers to Mzansi Magic as the M-Net-packaged channel on DStv scrambles to plug scheduling holes left by unfinished seasons of Housekeepers and eHostela.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's national lockdown period has forced M-Net to use Lockdown and other shows to plug sudden holes on its Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) schedule.

The spreading global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic also affecting South Africa's struggling TV industry, caused a vast number of locally-produced TV series on public television and pay-TV to abruptly shutter in late-March.

M-Net is now replacing schedule gaps left by incomplete shows on its Mzansi Magic channel, packaged for MultiChoice's DStv channel, with various library series.

After broadcasting new promos throughout March for the second season of Housekeepers, produced by Oche Moving Pictures with Portia Gumede as showrunner and starring Thando Thabethe, Mzansi Magic has pulled the season that was scheduled to debut on Monday 6 April at 20:00.

In its place because of the national lockdown, Mzansi Magic is now showing a borrowed "lockdown": the 5th season the local prison series Lockdown, produced by Black Brain Productions, that was moved to MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax last year and that made its debut in January 2020 on the streamer.

Since filming hasn't yet finished on all of the episodes of Housekeepers with the production that only started filming at the beginning of March, M-Net decided to remove the series for the time being and to postpone its launch.

It has now been replaced with the prison-wall set series starring Dawn Thandeka King, Connie Chuime, Zola Nombona, Linda Sokhulu and Lorcia Cooper.

The second season of Housekeepers will now start at a date that is still to be determined later in 2020 with insiders who told TVwithThinus that the production was affected and shuttered due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

In another stopgap measure Mzansi Magic also replaced the second season of the KwaMashu-set series eHostela.

The Stained Glass TV produced series was also forced to shutter causing unplanned production delays, with Mzansi Magic that replaced it this past Sunday in the 20:00 timeslot with the locally-produced drama series Trackers that made its debut in October 2019 on the M-Net (DStv 101) channel.

Since 17 March MultiChoice, and individually the various M-Net-packaged channel sets, have all been asked numerous times which TV series specifically have been impacted or shut down because of the virus issue and the national lockdown but so far there's been no response.

Mzansi Magic's new local drama series, Housekeepers, with Thando Thabethe and showrunner Portia Gumede is cleaning house to right a wrong.

Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) new local drama series will revolve around Johannesburg's champagne crowd but while Housekeepers will show those sipping it and living the high life, the focus is squarely on those bringing it to them and plotting to bring them to a fall.

Housekeepers, produced by Oche Moving Pictures with Portia Gumede as showrunner, peeks behind the high walls of Fourways mansions to explore the lives and the drama of the rich as seen through the eyes of those who serve on them and see and know all.

In Housekeepers starting on Monday 8 October at 20:00 on Mzansi Magic, a devoted daughter goes to look for the truth when Linda Ndlovu (Thando Thabethe) who hides her identity behind an apron, assumes the role of housekeeper in an attempt to bring the Zwide family to justice after one of her loved ones are framed for murder.

"Viewers are taken on a journey of discovery. They learn about the secrets that bind the Zwide family and the people that hold the keys to their freedom as they make their beds every morning; keep their homes clean and are the invisible souls that know their employers’ sins," says Mzansi Magic in a statement.

"We are excited to be able to tell a story of the voiceless and sometimes overlooked beings, yet they run the households of those with financial power and social stature," says Reneilwe Sema, the director of local entertainment channels at M-Net.

"Housekeepers is an exploration of the class dynamics that exist in our society. As Mzansi Magic, we wanted to go into the unfamiliar territory which is not foreign to our audiences."

Housekeepers stars an ensemble cast led by Mangaliso Ngema as Peter Zwide, Zikhona Sodlaka as Boniswa Mzobe, Clementine Mosimane as June Ndlovu, Matsepo Maleme as Eunice Khotso, Connie Chuime as Maria Motsepe, Linda Sokhulu as Pru Yeni, Zodwa Nkosi as Phindi Molefe, Mike Mvelase as Max, Masasa Mbangeni as Nomhlubi, Bohang Moeko as Kabelo, and Gabriel Mini as Conway.

No, M-Net is not moving its telenovela, The River from 1Magic to Mzansi Magic or making episodes available on that DStv channel.

M-Net is not moving its new local telenovela The River on the 1Magic (DStv 103) channel to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and the pay-TV broadcaster has no plans at the moment to make episodes of the series available to lower-tiered DStv subscribers.

M-Net says The River - produced by Tshedza Pictures where it's written and executive produced by Phathutshedzo Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon with Connie and Shona Ferguson as supervising producers - will remain exclusively on 1Magic as a viewing offering for a DStv Premium audience.

"It was definitely a joke. The River is not moving to Mzansi Magic, Nondumiso Mabece, head of publicity at M-Net local entertainment channels, tells TVwithThinus.

It comes after the writer and producer Portia Gumede on social media told people on Monday - that happened to be 1 April - "Great news. The River on 1Magic is being moved to Mzansi Magic. Now we can all watch it". It turns out that it was an April Fool's Day joke.

The River on 1Magic is only available to DStv Premium subscribers since it started on 29 January this year, while Mzansi Magic is available to more pay-TV viewers including Premium but also DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact subscribers.

While the ratings of The River of just a few thousand viewers per episode over the past two months has been so-so, it's to be expected and not out of line with some other Premium only DStv channels like M-Net (DStv 101), since the premium audience targeted telenovela is only available to the smallest potential pay-TV audience.

That upmarket audience lured to tune in to the weekday drama starring Sindi Dlathu and Hlomla Dandala - although small - are however highly courted and the most sought after by advertisers, justifying higher per thousand viewer ad spot rates for the 1Magic channel.