/ 2 February 1996

Old new or just plain blue

On Monday, SABC television undergoes a radical facelift. HAZEL FRIEDMAN surfs the revamped channels for something worth watching

IT can hardly be described as a blushing bride — a hastily rouged matron is more appropriate — but there is definitely something old, something new, something borrowed and, in places, something slightly blue about the new line-up of programmes on the SABC’s revamped television channels. As is the case with most rites of passage, emotion and jitters have characterised the preparatory arrangements. But despite predictions of postponement, cancellation and even early annulment, animosities have been temporarily cast aside as apartheid’s former mouthpiece celebrates its relaunch on February 4. The three rearranged channels have lined up about 40 new programmes which will commence within two weeks of the official launch of the rainbow television station. As general-purpose entertainment channels, SABC 1 and SABC 2 will carry most of the new shows, which include magazine programmes, new drama series — local and imported — and talk shows. But overall, experience will supersede youth with tried, tested and tame family fare — soaps, children’s programmes, bland comedies and youth magazine shows — ruling the roost. Anglophones can take heart. Despite all the talk about multi-lingual accommodation, most shows on all three channels will be in English — and SABC 3 will be exclusively English. On SABC 1 and SABC 2, certain slots each day are set aside exclusively for other languages, and most of these will be devoted to news and current affairs. The content of magazine programmes on these channels will not necessarily be in the anchor language. For example, a programme hosted in Sepedi will not necessarily present the majority of its interviews in the vernacular. Which goes to show that old systems rarely die. They simply change their format, names and timeslots. Take the not-new-but-nonetheless-restructured Good Morning South Africa — dubbed the world’s worst actuality show — which will now contain more frequent news bulletins (every 15 minutes), specialist slots and ponderous reflections on the racial demographics of GMSA’s audience. (Trivial Pursuit players might be titillated to learn that black viewers now outnumber white viewers by five to four.) Agenda/Newsline will now be called Focus; it will be in English on SABC 3, and will alternate between Afrikaans, Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana on the other channels. There will be a few ‘new’ shows (many of which have been around for years) on SABC 3, the channel which has amalgamated the current NNTV and TV. The old and the faithful from both channels will do the shuffle, with soft Aussie soap Home and Away, America’s everyauntie detective series Murder She Wrote, Cinema Cinema and The Works shifting to SABC 3, and TV1’s Suburban Bliss and Beverly Hills 90210 assuming the SABC 2 mantle. So what’s really new? Our Monday-to-Sunday line-up picks out some of the regular highlights that kick off during the first week.

Chew on WILD OATS (SABC 1 at 9pm) for a witty, incisive and irreverent look at life, love and meaningless sex in the Nineties. The series negotiates the peaks and pitfalls accompanying single life in the big city, with the action revolving around two pairs of roommates — Shelly Thompson and Liz Bradford, Jack Slayton and Brian Grant. Great as a lightweight comedy, no doubt, but there are no prizes for guessing the plot diameter. A disillusioned young London policeman and his wife decide to relocate to the Yorkshire moors in HEARTBEAT (SABC 3 at 10.40pm), Britain’s number-one drama series for over two years and one of the hottest properties in the television-ratings war. A combination of humour and drama, it features an all-star cast and promises to be one of the best new series on the box.

Court TV’s Trial Story (SABC 3 at 5pm) chronicles some of the most newsworthy American trials in recent years, capturing the nail-biting intensity of the entire proceedings. Among the trials to be featured are the custody fight for baby Jessica, Gregory K’s divorce proceedings against his parents, and William Kennedy-Smith’s rape charge. Based on Alex Hailey’s bestseller, ROOTS (SABC 1 at 9pm) will provide some painful reminders of a legacy rooted in racial exploitation. The series tells the story of a slave who traces his roots from his capture as a young man in Africa to slavery in America and finally to freedom.

Forming an essential component of the SABC’s ‘made in South Africa’ marketing strategy is MEEULANDERS (SABC 2 at 7pm), an Afrikaans drama series starring Kevin Smith and Michele Burgers and billed as a love story reflecting ‘the realities of a South African community’. I have my doubts about this one but I’m going to do the patriotic thing and give it a punt. Not to be left off the party guest list, Bill Cosby returns with A DIFFERENT WORLD (SABC 1 at 8.30pm). Produced by Cosby, this teen sitcom is set in a college, stars sometime-singer Jasmine Guy and comedian Sinbad and offers a vivacious cast of characters and high-jinx plots. Although it forms part of the ever-increasing line-up of crime dramas emanating from the streets and sewers of the Big, bad Apple, there is some hope for the series NEW YORK UNDERCOVER (SABC 1 at 9pm). After all, it is modelled on the successful NYPD Blue and the now infamous Homicide: Life on the Streets. Better late than never, the British series THE Jewel In the Crown (SABC 3 at 9.10pm) begins in Mayapore, India, in February 1942 during a time of heightened political tension for a country on the brink of transformation. The series stars Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Charles Dance and Art Malik as Hari Kumar.

CLIVE JAMES: POSTCARDS (SABC 3 at 5pm) has the eternal traveller negotiating the vice city of Miami in its first

A must for lovers of British comedy and particularly of Rowan ‘Mr Bean’ Atkinson is The Black Adder (SABC 3 at 11.10pm). This cult comedy series is the recipient of an Emmy Award and also stars Miranda Richardson.

Just when you thought it only borrowed ‘bored in the USA’ shock ‘n shlock, the SABC emerges with a refreshing line-up of new series from down under. FIELDS OF FIRE (SABC 2 at 11am) is an epic story set in the late 1930s which examines the life of a young English immigrant who arrives in Australia to escape the Depression. Primetime viewing is JAG (SABC 3 at 7pm), a big-budget action series modelling itself on Top Gun. JAG (which stands for Judge Advocate General’s corps, an elite cadre of US naval officers trained as lawyers who investigate military crimes) comes from the creator of Magnum and Quantum Leap.

Travelling, hunting — even thinking and seeing … these are just some of the things plants get up to in THE PRIVATE LIFE OF PLANTS (SABC 3 at 7pm), hailed as ‘the best thing David Attenborough has done’. In this prime slot, it had better be. For sci-fi buffs and cyber junkies, SPACE PRECINCT (SABC 1 at 8pm) stars Ted Shackleton — long known for his achingly earnest role as Gary Ewing in the popular soap Knots Landing. In a milkshake mix of New York police drama and science fiction, he plays Lieutenant Patrick Brogan, a 21st century cop who gets more than he bargains for when he requests a transfer from the NYPD to the Milky Way. Be warned: this is not for the lactose intolerant. BUGS (SABC 3 at 8.30pm) sounds eerily like a spin-off of the American movie Sneakers. From the man who created the cult Sixties show The Avengers, this techno-gadget series follows a group of electronic crime busters who use brains — not brawn — to catch nasty crooks.

Passions of the soul (SABC 3 at 10.15pm) is the stuff that dreams are made of — that is, if you happen to be a Jungian disciple. This four-part documentary uses the mind-master’s ideas to examine who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Apart from a number of movie and documentary slots, and all the old, familiar programmes, that about sums up the week. As is the case with most modern marriages of the Nineties, the bedroom remains overcrowded with the baggage of the past. And once the honeymoon euphoria has been replaced by the PMT (post-marital trauma) of daily routine, television audiences will no doubt discover how much has changed at the SABC. Or, perhaps, how little.