The Riviera
Channel: SABC2
TX Time: 19h30
Genre: Comedy-Drama, Period Drama
Comedy-drama television series that explores the complexities of growing up in Cape Town during the 1980s.
The series is set in the year 1989 and revolves around the experiences of a 12-year-old Muslim girl, Riana Isaacs, growing up on the Cape Flats.
While the country and the world are in dramatic upheaval, Riana innocently sets out to achieve her own personal milestones: become head girl in her final year at Catholic primary school, star in the school play and make the boy of her dreams fall in love with her.
Riana (newcomer Kelly Damon) is the first born, eldest child of Nazeem "The Naz" Isaacs and Lemeez "Liz" Isaacs. Her mother converted to Islam to marry her father, but is still called Liz by everyone, including The Naz.
She has a younger brother Reza with whom she shares a bedroom. They share the house with Liz's mother, Ma B, who is a devout Anglican. The Isaacs are a practicing Muslim family.
Riana lives in Lotus River on the Cape Flats, affectionately and rather glamourously referred to as The Riviera. Half Riana's family are Muslim and the other half are Christian.
It has made her tolerant of both religions, though this often puts her at odds with her family or religious instructors.
Riana's younger brother Reza (Abdul Abrahams) has a penchant for things that go bang - he can often be seen carrying dry twigs and leaves into corners, along with flint, pool chemicals and more often than not firecrackers.
Reza is very good looking and possessed of a natural and easy attractiveness that showed itself from a very early age. It could prove to be a blessing and a curse.
Naz (Keenan Arrison) is an arc welder by trade - a designer, engineer, master craftsman and general 80's TV dad by nature. He is the head of the household, even though he knows he's not the one running the show.
Blanche Brown, or Ma B (Margie Pankhurst) as she is known, is the matriarch of the family and lives with the Isaacs' in their home in Lotus River.
She is loved and feared by everyone, in spite of being five-foot nothing and weighing all of 45kgs. She is a devout Christian and every Sunday the clip clop of her heels can be heard marching off to church.
Most significantly, and yet almost negligibly Ma B is white. In 1989 any talk of living in contravention of the group areas act was dangerous. Ma B lived out her life with her new Muslim family with a love that was fiercely protective.
In the series premiere, "Clean Slate": It is the first day of Riana's final year of primary school. As a Muslim attending a Catholic school, she is used to feeling somewhat out of place.
Making matters worse, her favourite teacher has been removed from the school.
But when a new boy, Carlo, joins her class Riana falls instantly and hopelessly in love.
Created and narrated by Quanita Adams, whose own life inspired the story, The Riviera introduces Kelly Damon as Riana and stars Keenan Arrison as Naz and Chantal Herman as Liz, the parents of the culturally blended Isaacs family.
MORE:
SABC2 capitalises on Cape Town TV craze with two new series
The Riviera Teasers - Season 1
TVSA Show Page: The Riviera
Madam & Mercy
Channel: Mzansi Magic (DStv 161)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Docu-Reality
Follows the larger-than-life personalities of matriarch Evodia Mogase (Madam) and her daughter Mercy, who starred in the first season of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg.
Cameras follow a more intimate account of their lives in which no expense is spared as they embark on luxury travels and shop for designer fashion, beautiful homes and fast cars.
Showcasing their uncompromising love for the finer things, the series navigates through family tensions and finding balance when tradition often clashes with the their outspoken natures.
The show also includes Madam's baby girl Princess, as well as her husband Peter. Mercy's celebrity friends also provide lavish support as she tries to make it as an entrepreneur.
TVSA Show Page: Madam & Mercy
Ready for Love
Channel: SABC3
TX Time: 19h30
Genre: Dating Game Show, Reality
Matchmaking competition television series in which three pre-selected bachelors go through a process to discover romantic partners from a field of 36 potential matches with the aid of matchmakers.
The series attempts to answer the age-old question: How far would you go to find your soul mate? Three of America's most eligible guys are about to find out.
Executive Producer Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) is inviting eligible women across America to participate and find out how easy it can be to find true love.
In the first Facebook partnership of its kind, women could log on to the show's Facebook page and apply to participate to be on the show.
Longoria hand selected three men who are committed to finding the right women with whom to share their lives.
Ben Patton, a financier from Dallas, Texas; Tim Lopez, a musician from Santa Barbara, California and Ernesto Arguello, a philanthropist from Miami, Florida will vie for the chance to find true love.
In order to find their ideal partners, Longoria has enlisted the help of three matchmakers.
The series begins with the matchmakers' nationwide search for the potential perfect mate for each man, and then launches into a romantic journey that combines in-studio competition and reality show elements.
Each week, the women who fail to make a connection with the men are sent home.
In the finale, the quest for love culminates when the three men choose their final three women who together must decide if they'll get engaged, married, or simply live happily ever after.
No matter what happens, they will all discover if they are really Ready for Love.
TVSA Show Page: Ready for Love
The Shop 2
Channel: 1Magic (DStv 103)
TX Time: 20h30
Genre: Talk Show, Reality
Gives you a one-of-a-kind barbershop experience, which for many provides a sanctuary for free-flowing and spirited discussions.
The series visits barbershops around the USA to gather distinguished individuals who can speak honestly on sports, music, pop culture, world events, business and other culturally relevant topics.
The series features a lineup starring four-time NBA MVP LeBron James and Maverick Carter.
Joining James and Carter in the first episode of the new season are Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, American rappers and activists Meek Mill and 2 Chainz, New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis and stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael.