After a dead summer season for the cinema industry, with literally no major releases in what is normally a peak season, our staple film stars have sought asylum in Ramadan’s television to make up for the dry spell.
Cameras started to roll in the last couple of months to wrap up several TV series and entertainment shows scheduled to air during the Holy Month, while taking in those big screen stars after their film projects got postponed until next year. It is safe to say TV producers have a whole lot on their plates. Not only are they busy with the normal Ramadan show marathon, they are also working on new channels and shows, both with political and entertainment orientation.
State TV
In the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution, Egyptian National Television (ERTU) made drastic changes in terms of collaboration with private companies. They have put all co-productions on hold and focused on creating their own content. ERTU now asks the private producers to bring in their series or shows along with their advertisers and sponsors in exchange for airtime and percentage of the ads.
Nihal Anbar, ERTU president, recently said that this Ramadan, ERTU has a diversified collection of series, talk shows and religious programs airing on state TV’s different channels. She also confirmed that Hokoma Show (Government Show), the political satire show starring comedian Azzab, will finally see the light after being shelved for two years due to censorship. Azzab imitates many figures from the former regime, including Ahmed Nazif, in the controversial show.
Nour and Mariam will hit our state TV’s channels this year, starring Lebanese singer Nicole Saba as the title character Dr. Mariam who discovers how corrupt her husband Nour really is. Nour is a famous lawyer who represents wealthy clients. The show is directed by Ibrahim El-Shawady and produced by Sout Al-Kahera. Hussein Fahmy will return in Telka El-Leila (That Night) as a businessman accused of a murder and is pursued by a journalist played by Dalia Mostafa. Telka El-Leila is directed by Adel El-Aassar.
Private Companies
In past years, Ramadan was the golden season for advertisers to reach out to customers, and needless to say, for television channels to make some big bucks in the process. The annual revenue yielded by Ramadan ads constituted a big chunk of the channels’ annual revenues.
This Ramadan, your series won’t be as severely interrupted by ad marathons as they were before. Producer and director Sherif Abdel-Ghaffar, founder of 601 Productions, says the business has not returned to normal since the revolution because advertisers are hesitant to spend large sums due to the current economic conditions.Many private companies as well faced severe delays in production due to the current events, which lead to some shows being postponed, Abdel-Ghaffar explains.
One of those postponed shows is the long-awaited Ferket Nagy Attallah (Nagy Attallah’s Band) starring Adel Imam, Haytham Ahmed Zaki and Anoshka. The show couldn’t be completed before Ramdan due to the January 25 events.
Although many shows have been postponed and advertisers have held back, this Ramadan viewers have even more choices as new channels pop up by the week. Abdel-Ghaffar, who worked in ERTU a decade ago as a director of entertainment shows, says that the majority of investments in the private sector during the last couple of months has been directed toward establishing new satellite channels like Al-Nahar and CBC. He predicts that these channels, which have only political orientations at the moment, will contribute to the recovery of the television market and its capital cycle in the future.
The Comedies
Comedian Mohammed Heneidy reprises a character he played three years ago on the big screen in his sitcom Monsieur Ramdan Mabrouk Abou El Alamein. This time, the naïve teacher leaves his rural village to go to Paris where he goes through many slapstick adventures.
Ahmed Mekki and Donia Samir Ghanem return again in El-Kebeer Awy (The Very Big One) which was a success last Ramadan, even though Mekki broke his leg during the shooting and was unable to finish the series. The series tells the story of an Upper Egyptian Mekki whose American brother comes in to inherit the land and power of their father.Hany Ramzy also star in Aris Delivery (Delivery Husband) as a poor unemployed man who falls in love with a rich girl who is controlled by her mother.
Many channels will air the new season of Ragel We Set Setat (A Man and Six Women), which has been a Ramadan staple for the past five years. Starring Ashraf Abd El Baky, Leka’ El Khamisi, Maha Abou Auf, amongst others, the sitcom tells the story of Abd El Baky who lives with his wife, mother-in-law, mother, sister-in-law, sister and daughter.
The Veterans League
Nour El Sherif finally returns with the third part of El-Daly, which was postponed from last year. The episodes pick up from the last season to continue the story of corrupt businessmen in the 1990s where money and power unite.
Hussein Fahmy also comes back starring in two series. The first is Maktoob Ala El-Gebeen (Written Fate) where he plays the wealthy omda (head of the village) of a countryside village who is forcing his daughter Nesma, played by May Selim, to marry her cousin. In Telka Al-Leila (That Night),he plays a businessman trying to help a young woman track down her father’s killer.
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