As
spilt last year,
Binneland Sub Judice will be history on M-Net as from April 2011. The medical soapie, which took a legal-eagle turn and lost headliner
Michelle Botes in the process, will be moving to kykNET exclusively.
A new half-hour daily soapie titled The Wild will be taking over. The headline stars:
Connie and
Shona Ferguson.
The husband and wife team who've divorced their starring roles in
Generations and
Scandal! have signed and sealed the deal and are now officially married to M-Net. (I'm trying to get my clutches on the pre-nup.)
Word is Shona finished filming his final Scandal! scenes in the past week and will soon start work on The Wild, which is being filmed on location,
in the wild. There are no studio sets, rather everything is real world, filmed in HD.
The series is set at a game reserve - at a fire-star resort type place - and looks set to include Muvhango-elements i.e. chieftancy's are involved.
Shona plays Ithumileng Tladi, described as: the charismatic oldest brother of the powerful Tladis, the protector of his community and heir-apparent to the chieftaincy - a character with dark complexities.
Connie plays Marang Lebone: a wealthy mother from an affluent family who has an influential presence on all her family members.
So what can we expect from it? ...
Will they have to watch each other kiss others in front of them? Will they think of each other when they do?
What do they talk about over supper now? Do they speak their lines instead of Connie and Shona words?
Will we see them locked in steamy on-screen moments? If so, will they get it on as Connie and Shona or Marang and Ithumileng? How will we know the difference?
How much are they getting paid? (My guess: R65 000 a month, each. Reason:
Khanyi Mbau told me that
Mara Louw got paid about R65 000 on Muvhango so I always use that as a benchmark)
Is Shonnie the best name for them? (I've tried other variations and they don't roll off the tongue as well). Will they remain such household names being on pay TV?
Will they have to shoot each other at some point?
How long will the soapie last? Will we grow old with them as they grow old together? (imagine 2035)
The series premieres on Monday, 4 April and will either air at 18h00 or 18h30 - time to be confirmed, Mondays to Thursdays.