Matthew Krouse
The newsroom of The Bystander is in its usual state of chaos, buzzing with hacks who can barely produce a line. In reality, it’s a set buzzing with local luminaries, working like hell to keep the canned laughter bubbling along.
Scoop Schoombie’s second season is under way, having begun on February 12. And for this rather unsurprising sitcom things are beginning to look up. The cardboard studio walls may be dowdily dressed, but they’re harbouring what could be inklings of life. Recognisable characters are gaining a bit of history and new ones are coming up with odd quirks.
Top of the new cast list is James Ngcobo who plays Ernest Shapiro Ngwenya, a finance writer and a stock market gambler. With a middle name like Shapiro, you guessed, Ernest is something of a black Jew. So, a smattering of Yiddish is the little eccentricity built into his role.
The most bizarre thing about the character is that he is given stereotypically negative Jewish attributes such as financial expediency and the fact that, as the press release says, “he puts a price tag on everything”.
Of course, one can point fingers at the Scoop Schoombie ideas department, but as the series wears on one will realise that the characters stand as icons of their groups and are all showing off their stereotypical worst. This is the basis on which the humour of Scoop Schoombie is built.
There are occasional appearances by corrupt African politicians. There is an Afrikaans Department of Education representative sinking to the great depth of backing a black official in her proposal to do away with Shakespeare in the school syllabus. Of course, the Afrikaner’s job has to be under threat.
Additional stereotyping can be found in Stan Rabinowitz, the cranky Jewish lawyer, played by Russel Savadier; in the bookish English sub Norman Peake, played by David Clatworthy; and in the mindless bimbo of a receptionist, Candy Floss, played by Jolene Martin.
Timmy Kwebulana plays TJ Mthembu, The Bystander’s spineless, golf-addicted editor who represents the greatest of white fears: that there is an emergent, black manager-class of office buskers who would rather be outside playing sport than inside doing work.
It is only in the new role of fashion and beauty editor Maki Mohapi, played by “Doctor” Mmamphuthi Khasu, that one sees some fresh perspective coming across. The fashion and beauty thing is completely out of synch with the times (show me a paper with a beauty editor in this day and age), but Mohapi’s character at least has some credible contradictions. She’s a single-minded animal lover her pet border collies are named after kwaito stars Arthur and Mandoza and, according to the publicity rsum of her character, “she is not very successful in romance”.
Perhaps it is because of the fact that her character is informed by some sense of human endeavour that the actress has managed to create someone with whom one can feel a bit of empathy. Otherwise, the rest of the characters stand as cardboard cutouts and one doesn’t care much when they suffer slapstick injuries or when they make attempts that fail.
Then there’s the leading man Dan “The Scoop” Schoombie, capably played by James Borthwick. He’s a most unfortunate character who if one is an ageing white man will drive one to suicide in a single episode. He is uncouth, blundering and incapable of identifying a real news scoop. He’s given to making farting sounds with his mouth and saying the word “poephol” whenever he can.
The end credits of each episode tell us that the concept of the series was initiated by playwright Paul Slabolepszy, in consultation with Penguin Films producer Roberta Durrant. Why they originally opted for such an unrelentingly negative lead is anyone’s guess. Unsexy remains unsexy and nothing can change that.
The pool of directors and writers consists of the most-respected names in theatre and television. Playwright Antony Akerman functions as head writer, advising Craig Freimond, Russel Savadier and Minky Schlesinger.
The supervising producer is Mark Graham, who has directed a number of stage hits for Opdrag Productions and for theatre producer Pieter Toerien.
Perhaps in the third series of Scoop Schoombie this hi-pro collective will give some added dimension in the conception of their characters. It could bring the whole thing closer to real life.
Scoop Schoombie is on e.tv on Tuesday evenings at 6.05pm