Local TV Program Review
By Alberto Nyakundi Amenya aka Banana Peddler
When SELINA debuted on Maisha Magic East, it was interestingly watchable local television soap. Producer Reuben Odanga was very creative by then. All the characters he started with were all above par. The late Reagan McKenzie was one of the finest characters to watch. His arrogance brought out the real McKenzie.
When Ragan died in real life, they replaced him with another softer character although talented. He has also left and they have brought in another Reagan to take on the character. When Selina started, all characters knew their roles well. Unlike MAEMPRESS that had a Kikuyu Producer with all actors and actresses, editors and boom swingers being Kikuyus, (no tribal card, only facts) Selina was and still is, all-inclusive in terms of national outlook. The setup was okay and the program was one of the best. Zakayo was the real father of Selina and Mama Selina was that arrogant step mother who hates her step daughter.
Biko was, and still is a great character in the whole program. He blended well with Nelson especially when fighting for Selina. Patricia McKenzie was and still is, that no-nonsense rich lady. The beautiful Jackie was also the best in her character as the arrogant rich daughter. Maria was, and still is, the best nannie. Oh! And Zoey was also great with her son Babu and thuggish baby-daddy shocks. Luke McKenzie, the man of the house was a perfect character, and he is still a great actor.
The program went on interestingly well until somewhere on the way, the producer Reuben Odanga ran out of ideas and became artistically bankrupt and clueless. His production skills disappeared after he went to comatose. The man became totally clueless such that he went to source slay queens from tiktok, Slay queens who have no clue what acting is. I am talking about a character called Chichi in Selina and Azziad Nasenya –whatever the spellings – in real life. The fact that her video went viral on social media, would not necessarily mean she would do well on TV.
Producer Odanga gambled but flopped. As a disclaimer, I don’t know Azziad and I have nothing against her whatsoever. I am just speaking my mind. Chichi’s storyline in Selina is discombobulatingly dull. Funnily, when she first appeared, I was not sure if it was her because she is light skin on social media and dark on TV. It really confused viewers until they saw her name. But that is not important. Her role is absolutely inconsequential and practically dead. At least there was some life in her when Erico was still ‘alive’. Erico was fine. Out of ten, I can give Chichi the character one out of ten. She is uninspiring,
Another big blunder that Odanga did was to bring in Zawadi and Kate. Fine, they would do better in their roles but Odanga did not know how to make good use of them. The duplication of Nelson was also another pathetic idea because it totally confused and lost viewers. I suspect there was someone behind the entire production but left clueless Odanga alone at some point.
Initially, Selina the main character was vibrant but now she is tired and boring. The stupid lines given to them as and Rebecca in the name of script are preposterous and totally misleading. Selina is now the dullest and most boring actress. She is not worth watching. She is unskillful and idealess as well. Nelson is another pathetic character. The only impression he makes is to those women who think he is handsome.
The program is without plot, clueless, impractical, uninspiring and uninteresting. When it started, I’d give it ten over ten. But now I can give it three out of ten because of the role played by Biko and Mr. Luke McKenzie. I once gave this program a lot of credit when its viewership hit the roof. Read here what I said about Biko’s prowess in acting. Selina is now trailing in terms of viewership. From the social reactions especially on Maisha Magic East pages, it is evident that people are tired of it and want it discontinued because it has overstayed.
Maisha Magic should know that after the 7pm news, people watch Pete, then Kina but skip Selina due to its lack of content.
From the outlook, it takes a lot of money to produce Selina yet it is the most boring compared to other programs that run on Maisha Magic East that producers spend less but give the best results. Some of those top programs are Nyanya Rukia, Pete, Hulla Balloo among others. People love these programs in their simplicity form. In Pete for instance, it is just a simple cultural set up but very much educative. No cars, bungalows, expensive clothes and too much make up but the program is top. Producer Daudi Anguka knows what to do what he does. Kina is also great in that order.
I want to warn that Pete is a career threatening local program that must be avoided by our talented actors and actresses. If you don’t watch out, your acting career can die there for good.
Stay tuned for the next Local TV program review.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM