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Dramatool
International meeting point for drama, theatre and education
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HLumiti
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 21
Location: Mombasa, Kenya
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 Thespians and TV
The Cobra Squad - striking mediocrity …
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Someone has assembled a group of otherwise able thespians and converted them into a lowly spectacle on national television.
In times past, the common excuse has been that lack of funding was hampering producers. What will it be this time around?
To see veteran actors put through such boringly ordinary paces lacking in originality just grates on the teeth.
Are our producers so used to improvising with props that they cannot resist the urge to improvise with the real thing? What cobra software is this that employs about six keyboard strokes to scroll mug shots on a screen? Is the presence of the LG plasma screen that intimidating?
I can well understand a sponsor’s wish to see their product feature here and there but surely, what was the hapless detective doing fiddling with a recharge card between his fingers so prominently? I almost expected him to slit his colleague’s throat with it.
Has anyone ever seen a doctor sprinting inside a hospital ward? To a patient lying three steps away?! And the eagerness to put on screen the mouth-frothing of the dying patient is ignorant comedy. At what point is an overdose-patient likely to froth? Ask??!
As for the chopper “stunt”... Ok, the Cobra Squad has a chopper.
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 Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 11:02 am
_________________ Harun Lumiti,
Mombasa,
Kenya
Theatre-Vista
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Babamuse
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 149
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Wow!
Whether this is a negative view of Cobra Squad or not is definately reason enough for me to make it a matter of priority to watch the program this weekend. I don't have a TV set in my house. This is because of reasons I would not like to discuss here.
I was elated when I learnt that finally, Kenyans are taking up most of the less than 1% of the time allocated to them by their own local TV and radio stations. II was proud of the tag Made in Kenya. The man behind the program- the government spokesman, Dr. Alfred Mutua is also a person of high competence, or so I believe; having taught film production in Dubai.
When the program opened, I was sent a message on my mobile phone to tune in but I counldn't. That it is a drab program is mournful. Anyway, being a Kenyan program, it is very many steps in the right direction. To paraphrase Indira Ghandi, one of India's earlier premiers on the ocassion of independence, I may say that 'we are going to make many mistakes, but at least, we are seeing our own faces on TV'. Could we please then, make these our faces, tell our stories, and tell them authentically!
By the way, I have heard that Kameme is opening a local vernacular and authentically Kenyan T.V station. These were the rumours that spread in the late 90s about the Nation, now NTV, which said that it was going to be an authentically oKenyan station, and it eventually became what we know it to be- a dumping ground for tired programs from Europe, America, Asia and Latin America!
I must watch the Cobra Squad!
Baba M.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:01 pm
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Glooscap
Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Posts: 72
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Oscar Wilde
And others...
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Oscar Wilde said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." That is to say you are only famous if you are being talked about. Bad news: "Cobra Squad" is a mediocre TV show. Good News: "Cobra Squad" is a Kenyan TV show! You must start somewhere.
An American film writer named Paddy Chayefsky once said,
"Artists don't talk about art. Artists talk about work. If I have anything to say to young writers, it's stop thinking of writing as art. Think of it as work." That is to say, craft must be built. The more you build the better craftsman you become. Good news: Kenyan actors are getting work in TV. Bad news: The writers of "Cobra Squad" need to work more. Good news: The writers can get better!
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Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 12:25 am
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