Memorable TV

WORLD TV - MISSION EUREKA to YIZO YIZO

MISSION EUREKA

Germany-UK-France / Bavaria Atelier-GMBH / 7x55m-e / 1990

Idea: Peter Marthesheimer / Writers: Ian Curteis, Terence Feely / Producers: Jorn Schroder, Georg Feil / Director: Klaus Emmerich

Scifi drama series. Scientists at Project Eureka try to save Euro satellite Pallidio which is somewhere lost in space.

With:- PETER BON GARTZ as Altenburg / DELIA BOCCARDO as Giovanna / PATRICK FIERRY as Lefebre / AGNES DUNNEISEN as Meike / MICHAEL DEGEN as Waldegs / JAMES AUBREY as Swann / SERGIO FANTONIO as Petrinelli / ELISABETH RATH as Marianne Altenburg

MONKEY

Japan / NTV-Kokusai Hoei / 39x45m-e / 1979-82

Book: Wu Ch'eng-en / English adaptation: David Weir

Fantasy adventure series. After crossing the Gods Monkey is ordered to accompany Buddhist priest Tripitaka. Also travelling with the pair were the usually depressed Sandy and the Gluttonous Pigsy. Tripitaka was travelling from China to India in the 7th century. Monkey could summon a cloud down from the sky to help transport him places and although a great fighter Monkey was never far away from trouble.

With:- MASAAKI SAKAI as Monkey / MASAKO NATSUME as Tripitaka / TOSHIYUKI NISHIDA as Pigsy (1) / TONPEI HIDARI as Pigsy (2) / SHIRO KISHIBE as Sandy / SHUNJI FUJIMURA as Yu Lung

MUSIK LADEN

A 1970's German pop show that featured all the top acts of the day, Abba for example, garnered their own hour long special.

MYSTERY! FRANKENSTEIN-LEGEND OF TERROR

Japan / Toei-Terebi TV / 1x90m-e / 1981

Director: Yugo Serizaix

Animated scifi. A combination of Mary Shelley's novel and a Marvel comic book with the monster saving the life of Frankenstein's daughter.

Voices:- NACHI NOZAWA / MAMI KOYAMA / HOSEIKOMATSU / KEI TOMIYAMA / ICHIROH NAGAI / MINORI MATSUSHIMI

NESTOR BURMA

France / 85x60m-e / 1991-95

Crime drama series. Cases of French Raymond Chandleresque PI Nestor Burma. Nestor ran the Fiat Lux Detective Agency in the heart of Paris.

With:- Guy Marchand as Nestor Burma / Natacha Lindinger as Helene (1991-1993) / Geraldine Cotte as Helene (1994) / Michel Fortin as Zavatter / Patrick Guillemin as Inspecteur Fabre / Pierre Tornade as le commissaire Farroux 

OBAKIE NO SAMBA, MON NON MONSTER

Japan / Tokyo Hogo 12-Watanabe-Kikaku / x30m-e / 1980

Director: Yukito Aizawa

Horror,musical, sitcom! A group of monsters, the classics - Frankenstein's Monster, Wolf Man etc, live in fake haunted house.

Minorv Sado as Count Dracula / TAKESHI SASANO as The Wolf Man / MIDORI FOKUHARA as Tabasa / HITOSHI OMEAE as Frankenstein's Monster

THE ORCHESTRA

Israel / United Studios of Israel / 10x30m-e / 1985

Writer/Director: Joy Chagrin / Producers: David Goldstein, Eliezer Dorot

Sitcom. An attempt, in mime, to poke fun at various apects of orchestra life.

With:- JULIAN JOY CHAGRIN as The Maestro / SEPHY RIVLIN as The Valet

OUR HITLER

Germany / 4x90m-e / 1980

Director: Hans-Jurgen Syberberg

Period drama serial. The rise to power and eventual downfall of Adolf Hitler.

With:- HEINZ SCHUBERT / PETER KERN / HELLMUT LANGE / RAINER VON ARTENFELS

PLAYBOY, PLAYGIRL, PLAYTIME

Bavaria / 1x60m-e / 1970

A musical special featuring singing and dancing aplenty.

THE PRINCESS AND THE POOR

Italy / Anfri / 4x120m-e / 1997

Director: Lamberto Bava

Fairy tale type drama serial.

with: Anna Falchi / Max von Sydow / Mathieu Carriere / Remo Girone / Jacques Perrin / Lino Capolicchio / Jennifer Nitsch/ Axelle Grelet / Vincent Lecoeur

THE SEA

France / 15x30m-e / 2000

Indepth documentary series looking at the Sea in all its amazingness, traversing the world as it does so.

SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE

Sweden / STV / 6x50m-e / 1973

Writer/Producer/Director: Ingmar Bergman / Camera: Sven Nykvist

Drama serial. The story of a marriage break up.

With:- LIV ULLMAN / ERLAND JOSEPHSON / BIBI ANDERSSON / GUNNEL LINDBLOM

SHARMA

Pakistan / Karachi TV / 1976

Writer: Fatima Surriya Bajia 

Drama seemingly based on US daytime soaps. 

With:- Ghazala Anjum / Javaid Sheikh / Begam Khurshid Mirza / Zeheen Tahira / Ishrat Hashmi / Qamar Iqbal /Abid Wasti 
Zahoor Alahi 

SHEHZORI

Pakistan / Karachi TV / 1977

Writer: Haseena Moin 

Drama. A young couple get married without telling their parents who do their best to split up the relationship.

With:- Neelofer Abbasi as Tara / Shakeel as Kaifi /Arsha Munir / Subhani BaYunas / Sumbal / Muhammad Yousaf / Ishrat Hashmi 

SHORTLAND STREET

New Zealand / Grundy-Pacific / x30m-e / 1990's - continuing   

Music: Graham Bollard

Medical drama series. Life for the staff and patients in a busy A & E department in an Auckland medical centre.

Cast members have included:- ROBYN MALCOLM as Ellen Crozier / KATIE WOLFE as Bridget Hastings / PETER ELLIOTT as David Kearney / MAGGIE HARPER as Jenny Harrison / TANDI WRIGHT as Caroline Buxton / KARL BURNETT as Nick Harrison / JOHN LEIGH as Lionel Skeggins / ANGELA BLOOMFIELD as Rachel McKenna / BLAIR STRANG as Rangi Heremaia

SNOKEN

Sweden / SVT 1 / 20x60m-e / 1993-97

Creators: Tony Holland, Louise Boije af Gennäs

Crime drama series, cases of maverick Stockholm based private detective Anders Grip. Grip lived on a houseboat and had a dog called Tubbe.

With:- Starring Sven-Åke Gustavsson as Anders Grip / Axel Düberg as Captain Nelson

SOUS LE SOLEIL

France / 1999-continuing

Producer: Pascal Breton

Drama series. Romantic machinations of a group of young people living in St Tropez.

With:- TONYA KINZINGER

SPECTREMAN

Japan / Rosenfield Prod-Fuji Telecasting / x30m-e / 19?

Fantasy. A typically surreal Japanese superhero show with Spectreman doing regular battle with men in rubber monster suits.

STOLEN LIVES

South Africa / Ivan Hall Prod / 13x60m-e

Writer: David Gilman / Camera: Buster Reynolds / Music: Lindsay Du Plessis / Executive Producers: Paul Kemp, Eve Matthews / Producer/Director: Ivan Hall

Drama series. The daughter of a wealthy socialite learns she is adopted and embarks on a quest to find her true parents.

With:- GINA BENJAMIN as Dawn / BRUMILDA VAN RENSBURG as Judith / PAULINE O'KELLY as Evelyn / JAMES RAMSAY as James / FIONA RAMSAY as  Sam / RACHEL BOTHA as Baby Dawn

TANHAYAAN

Pakistan / Karachi TV / 1987

Writer: Haseena Moin  

Comedy drama. When their mother dies two sisters have to go and stay with their auntie.

With:- Shahnaz Sheikh / Asif Raza Mir / Marina Khan / Behroz Sabazvari / Qazi Wajid / Badar Khalil / Azra Sharvani 
Durdana Butt 

TAXIDRIVER

A late 1990's no budget show from Ghana about a Taxi Driver played by Psalm Adjetifio who got involved with the problems of his passengers. The show made ample use of back projection for when the cabbie was supposed to be driving.

TOMBOLA

Spain / Telemadrid / 200 episodes of varying length / 1997-2001

Often outrageous mix of debate, talk and just plain gossip, the show would sometimes last for several hours (often as many as five in fact) and much of the material centered on the private lives of various Spanish celebs and the like.

TO TOUCH HAPPINESS

Israel / Channel 2 / 120x30m-e / 2001

Creator: Liora Nir / Creative Director/Producer: Danny Faran

Soap style drama series that includes all the staple ingredients of soap opera, romance, entangled love affairs, big business and the like. Shown each night on cable TV it currently gains half the available audience. The main rule on the show is that there is to be no mention of "the situation" in Israel.

With:- DAN TURGEMAN / NETA HABER

TUM SEY KEHNA THA

Pakistan / PTV Karachi Centre / 1996

Writer: Haseena Moin 

Comedy drama heavily based on US film While You Were Sleeping about a woman who pretends to be the fiancee of a man put in a coma by a car accident and ends up falling for his brother.

With:- Marina Khan / Ali Haider / Manzoor Qureshi / Badar Khalil / Seemi Pasha / Ferhan Aagha 

ULTRAMAN

Japan / Tsuburaya Prod-TBS TV-United Artists / 39x30m-e / 1966-67

Fantasy action series. The exploits of super hero Ultraman, doing regular battle with the likes of monsters. The original Japanese title was Urutoraman and between 1971-72 there was a sequel called Return of Ultraman.

With:- SUSUMU KUROBE 

UNCLE URFI

Pakistan / Karachi TV / 1976 black and white

Writer: Haseena Moin

Comedy drama about the middle aged Uncle of the title going to stay with his family.

With:- Shakeel / Jamshed Ansari / Akbar Subhani / Azra Shervani / Qurban Jilani / Imtiaz Ahmed 

UNKAHI

Pakistan / Karachi TV / 1985

Writer: Haseena Moin 

Comedy drama. Sana Murad, who works in an office, falls in love with her boss, what she doesn't know is that new boy Faraz is in love with her. 

With:- Shahnaz Sheikh as Sana Murad  / Javaid Sheikh / Shakeel / Salim Nasir  / Badar Khalil / Behroz Sabazvari / Jamshed Ansari 

THE WATER MARGIN

Japan / NTV-NTV Tokyo / 10x45m-e / 1975

Director: Toshio Masuda / English adaptation: David Weir / Music: Masaru Sato

Epic period drama series. A group of knights in thirteenth century China fight corruption and evil. The title came from the groups headquarters, the Water Margins of Lian Shan Po. 

With:- ATSUO NAKAMURA as Lin Chung / KEI SATO as Kao Chia / HAJINE HANA as Wu Sung / SANAE TSCHIDA as Hu San-niang / YOSHIYO MATUSO as Hsiao Lan

THE WEEKEND SHOW

Germany / Sat 1-Brain Pool / x90m-e / 1990's - continuing

Music: Andres Grimm / Executive Producer: Rainer Bender

Long running Saturday evening entertainment show. With:- Ingolf Luck, Anke Engelke, Bashian Pasteoka, Markus Maria Profiltlich

WEEKEND WARRIORS

Late 1990's

A bizarre show from Denmark's TV2 in which various groups of men embark on male bonding weekends. 

WIN A JOB

Hong Kong / ATV / x30m-e / 2002 

Bizarre game show in which jobless contestants took part in a "TV Showdown" to win a position. New jobs were advertised at the end of each show and the contestants had to go through the normal recruitment drills before the TV appearance.

WORLD CRIME HUNT 

France / ABC-Etoile / 26x30m-e / 1953

Crime drama series. Cases of a pair of French cops working for the Surete. Syndicated in Great Britain under the title Paris Precinct. 

With:- LOUIS JOURDAN as Inspector Beaumont / CLAUDE DAUPHIN as Inspector Bolbec

YIZO YIZO 

South Africa / x50m-e / 2000

This drama series celebrates the courage and determination of a school community to overcome obstacles in the way of a good education. Will continued violence in the community threaten the school's survival? Will the students resist drugs and the easy life? Can teachers find strength in the face of job insecurity, corruption and apathy? The show attracted a certain amount of controversy over the level of violence featured on the show.

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