Bits And Pieces 2: No More Drama

TV - Drama - Summarized

Once upon a time, there was a hit TV series called Inside-Out that featured Barbara Soki. Then there were others such as Ripples, Checkmate, Behind The Clouds, and my personal favourite, Basi & Company. All these programmes had a peculiar characteristic in common: they made you hunger for next week’s edition. Viewers of today don’t just know what they missed.

How would they know, when examples of what they get as Drama include:

Un-Super Story
Much as I RESPECT and ADMIRE Mr. Wale Adenuga and his PEFTI productions, I am SO NOT feeling the current edition of his Super Story series titled: “Omajunwa - The Child of Destiny”. The artistes are stellar and all the necessary ingredients are sprinkled into the plot but the script seems somewhat dry (for lack of a better word).

Enebeli Elebuwa’s screen renditions of an invalid are right on the money but I think he delivered his act better while he was on his feet instead of just lying down all the time whining. His cheating wife, her Manager-boyfriend’s schemes, his insolent children’s continuous disobedience, the pseudo-serious security man (who by the way fails to amuse me every time) and the sudden introduction of a previously-unknown son aren’t helping in reviving the plot either. The only other person that may just keep me watching is the woman who portrays Adesuwa, the dedicated house help.

Mr. Adenuga, can you do something… Maybe like give us another better series. PLEASE…?

And TARIMA too…
Ok, so Emeka died long ago. Point One taken. OK, his widowed wife has been pregnant all this while. OK, Point Two. So, his village people still think she’s a witch. Big deal… When is TARIMA (Tribe And Religion In Marriage) going to come to an end? The deceased/widow plot has been flogged even far worse than a dead horse that I can’t just help thinking if the script writers can’t come up with something else. Why torture us so?

Now, as if to answer my prayers, Emeka’s ghost has taken to appearing to certain people in the village scaring the bejeezus out of them while mysteriously leaving the very people responsible for his demise and the ill-treatment of his widow looking none the worse for wear. And to make matters worse they decided to freshen up the musty storyline by reviving several formerly dumped characters and giving them a new lease of life with recycled dialogue.

Sigh… There isn’t any tiny morsel of suspense in the whole thing! And pray, when will his wife EVENTUALLY give birth?

What Area Are We In?
A certain drama series which features Patrick Otoro (as Barrister) as well as a certain long-legged, cute-in-her-own-way babe called Seyi Olu-something-or-the-other (as Rali) is supposed to mirror our country Nigeria in its own little way. Throw in Ikponmwosa Gold (as Vendor) and certain other obscure idiosyncratic characters together in an extremely boring script and that’s Area Eleven for you.

Area 11 (supposedly located somewhere in the FCT) is supposed to be a microcosm of our society with its attendant issues and its possible solutions but it misses the fine points of Drama horribly.

The character I most love to hate is a certain Senator - a caricature of the members of our dear National Assembly - who by the way says exactly the same thing every time.

Just 3 TV Dramas and I am already weary. The list could go on and on. Little wonder I favour the TV reality shows nowadays. Ever wondered why so many people are shunning evening Television to embrace the DVD craze, grabbing pirated copies of foreign TV series like “Desperate Housewives”, “Lost”, “Prison Break” and “24”?

Now you know why.