Announced at MIPCOM 2013 (the international TV and entertainment market held in Cannes once every year; where content is introduced for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing), Ben Pyne, president of global distribution at Disney, revealed that an "African version" of "Desperate Housewives" (the once comedy/drama series created by Marc Cherry, and broadcast on ABC from 2004 until 2012) was in development, for a summer 2014 debut.
The co-production deal was made with Nigeria-based EbonyLife TV (no affiliation with Ebony magazine) – a multi-platform broadcaster, and subsidiary of Media and Entertainment City Africa (MEC Africa) in Cross River State, Nigeria, run by Mo Abudu (aka Africa’s Oprah Winfrey, as she’s come to be known).
"Desperate Housewives" the "African version" will feature a pan-African cast, and will be set in Lagos, Nigeria, where it’s apparently been be shot, although its premiere date, as I only just learned, is now set for next month (not the initially-announced summer 2014 date – obviously), when it will air in 44 countries within the continent.
“We are going to make it relevant, number one, by using local talent — talent that our viewers will know and love; two, we are going to work with local stylists, local fashion designers, local interior designers," said Mo Abudu, CEO and executive chairman in a statement almost 2 years ago. “We are going to give the stories an African flavor. We will localize it, because there’s nothing that the West has that Africa doesn’t have: we love, we fight, we kiss, we make up. We like all the good things in life. There’s good and there’s evil globally. So all those human interests, those things that appeal to you, believe me, appeal to us also.”
The original ABC TV series followed the dramatic lives of a group of women, over a 13-year period, and 8 seasons, as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor who committed suicide in the very first episode.
The series has seen remakes in Turkey, Colombia, and Brazil, since its debut, and now heads to Nigeria.
No trailer for the upcoming scripted series yet (which I’m surprised by given that it debuts in a couple of weeks); but, I did dig up these individual cast videos, featuring each actress introducing herself, and sharing the role that she plays on the program – each apparently plays an "African version" (as they say) of a character from the original ABC series. So those who were fans of the original will likely recognize the character names mentioned. The above image is of these same actresses.
Get to know them all below:
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
A video posted by EbonyLife TV (@ebonylifetv) on
