‘Iyanu: Child of Wonder’ Animated Series Greenlit At HBO Max And Cartoon Network

HBO Max and Cartoon Network announced a 2D animated adaptation of “ Iyanu: Child of Wonder ,” a Dark Horse Comics/YouNeek Studios graphic novel series heavily influenced by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The project will be financed and overseen by Black-owned animation studio Lion Forge Animation.

“Iyanu: Child of Wonder” is a superhero tale set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, which draws from Nigerian culture, music and mythology. The series follows Iyanu, a teenage orphan who spends her days studying Yoruba history and ancient arts but yearns for a normal life. One day, responding to danger, she unknowingly triggers her divine powers, the likes of which have not been seen since the Age of Wonders. With newly discovered superpowers, Iyanu joins forces with two other teenagers as they embark on a remarkable journey to discover the truth about the evil lurking in her homeland. Throughout her adventure, she’ll uncover the truth about her past, her parents, and her ultimate destiny to save the world.

 

The series is created by Roye Okupe, who will also write and direct multiple episodes. Lion Forge head of production Saxton Moore serves as supervising director. The writers room is led by Brandon Easton. Executive producers include Okupe, Doug Schwalbe, Carl Reed, Lion Forge’s David Steward II and Matt Heath, Impact X Capital’s Erica Dupuis and Forefront Media Group’s Ryan Haidarian.

The greenlight of “Iyanu: Child of Wonder” is notable as it continues signaling the emergence of Africa as a player in global streaming. Much of this growth begins in the kids and family space — for example, Lupita Nyong’o became an equity partner in Nairobi, Kenya-based production company Kukua in 2021 and stars in its YouTube Originals animated series "Super Sema.” African titles made for older audiences are also beginning to cross over, such as Netflix’s South African drama “Blood & Water,” which debuted in 2020 and made Netflix’s Top 10 list in the U.S. Netflix also recently released “Blood Sisters,” the streamer’s first original series from Nigeria.

“‘Iyanu: Child of Wonder’ has it all – vast world-building, authentic characters, a strong, African female hero at the center, and a first-class team of stellar creators and producers,” said ​​Amy Friedman, head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros. “While created for kids, the series will resonate with anyone looking for an adventure filled with surprise, magic, lore and legend. We feel so lucky to be the home of ‘Iyanu’ and partnering with this team.”

 

“The authenticity of the ‘Iyanu’ story means everything to us and aligns perfectly with our mission to create and deliver inclusive content to global audiences,” said Steward, founder of Lion Forge. “A powerful means of accomplishing and sustaining this is through franchise building, and the depth and layers of the Iyanu world allow us to explore and create a beautiful universe on-screen alongside tremendous partners.”

“When I set out to create ‘Iyanu’ for a global audience, I wanted to develop a world that combined everything I love about the fantasy genre with the majesty and awe that is ancient West Africa,” said Roye Okupe. “On top of that, working with Godwin Akpan, who illustrated the books, as our art director and collaborating with a thoughtful studio like Lion Forge Animation that prioritizes authenticity and diversity, is beyond belief.”

What If CBS Reality Was Added Onto DStv Easyview Perhaps As A Replacement To Real Time?

DStv Easyview is one of the mild mannered or least spoken about packages on MultiChoice's stable not only for how affordable it is to a market that caters to SABC and e.tv but also the offering in general.

There's not much to watch unless you open yourself up to endless possibilities for those who do use this platform are either watching the best of AEW which include Dynamite, Rampage and several PPVs on TNT or yesteryears batch of Valerie's Home Cooking on Discovery's Real Time.

Of course for those who've been around this package the longest know how it's like when adding or losing a family member.

 

You get Blackbelt, KidsCo, AMC and MagicWorld only for them to be deprived either from the supplier or distributor and when seeking alternatives they aren't always available like on the higher figures which is what led this package to reserve the name Easyview.

Easyview is a gamble sometimes the price of 3 channels is the value of 1 channel and other times when a channel e.g. TV Mall is scrapped the value is close to 0.

Which brings the topic of today, CBS Reality.

CBS Reality is a general entertainment channel from Paramount and AMC International that garnered attraction on its portfolio for its selection of factual and reality programs like Hardcore Pawn, Operation Repo, Dogs Behaving Very Badly and Confessions.

 

One of the things that kind of cloud the channel's judgement is shows like Judge Judy and Cheaters as both recycle the same batch of episodes with come in the form of a marathon similar to HGTV weekday offering.

Another setback on the channel includes the faulty connection as it's sometimes met with signal interruptions.

An ideal channel for Easyview right???

 

Easyview can get more channels and that's a fact the issue relies on MultiChoice as they haven't hike the fees for nearly a decade as the consumer base on the package followed when attempting to hike it several years back.

Channels come and go on that package as stated not all of them are replaced as stated and a channel like CBS Reality would put a damper on MultiChoice's money bin unless it came at the expense of another channel, Real Time.

The value of these channels are more or less and the variety comes in opposite angles. Real Time can introduce you to a variety of flavours and other explorations while CBS Reality functions more like a cinema with endless storytelling.

SpongeBob Learns How To Speaks Zulu With Nicktoons

Nickelodeon is about to make history again as they become the first international brand for children in South Africa as SpongeBob SquarePants has just learnt another language, Zulu.

SpongeBob SquarePants follows the adventures of a yellow sea sponge of the same name who enjoys being a cook at Krusty Krab, lives in the Pacific Ocean. He embarks on various adventures with his friends at Bikini Bottom.

 

Since its inception in 1999, the series has become a top ranked show for children accumulating every Nickelodeon KCA it could grab its hands on. It also accumulated several video games, feature films and shortly after creator Stephen Hillenberg's passing spinoffs.

You can kind of get why SpongeBob would be their first pick. Despite being the eldest in their stable, it has managed to live longer and remain relevant than most shows on the channel that live on through memes used on The Rise And Fall Of Nickelodeon (TRAFON)

 

Aside from SpongeBob, Paramount also supplies an Ethiopian dubbed Nick Jr. alongside a Portuguese dubbed Nickelodeon channel for viewers in some parts of Africa with its focus within South Africa continuously expanding following the launch of NickMusic last year.

Nicktoons will telecast the first Zulu episode to SpongeBob SquarePants from the 14th of July at 17:30.

Journey Into The Unknown With CBS Reality And CBS Justice Africa - August 2022 Highlights

CBS Reality:

WOMEN ON THE FORCE
Season 1 & 2
Channel Premiere
Weekdays at 07:30,12:45, 21:35, from 1st to 22nd August.
With unprecedented access to West (Season 1) and North (S2) Yorkshire Police, from the Chief Constable to emergency response officers on the frontline, this landmark series reveals the realities of policing in Britain today and the everyday pressures and challenges which women officers at every level have to confront.
Each episode charts the unfolding stories of three women across a week long shift for the force. With frontline policing tougher than ever, every shift gives an insight into the demands the job can place on their lives – both while on duty and at home.
Over the past 20 years frontline policing in Britain has been transformed and the percentage of women on the force has almost doubled. But the dangers these officers face and the impact the job has on their private lives have also increased.

MY EXTREME OCD LIFE
2x60min
Channel Premiere
Saturday, August 20th and Sunday, August 21st, at 07:05 and 20:40.
In this powerful documentary mini-series we follow the lives of 8 young people as they attempt to live a normal life in the face of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. These extraordinary first-hand accounts reveal young people whose daily lives are consumed by routine and ritual. They fight an internal and often secret war with frightening intrusive thoughts, which compel them to complete endless rituals- convincing them that terrible things will happen if they don’t. We meet them as they take those first steps into adulthood battling to conquer their OCD demons.

 

EATING OURSELVES TO DEATH
1x60min
Channel Premiere
Saturday, August 27th at 07:05 and 20:40.
The obesity epidemic is becoming a crisis. It currently kills more people than road traffic accidents, terrorist attacks and Alzheimer’s disease combined.
And for Darren who is super morbidly obese his weight is now a matter of life and death. His fast food lifestyle has led to serious heart complications and the problem is, surgeons fear his huge weight will mean he won’t survive surgery. We follow Darren on his journey to lose weight as the clock is ticking.
Mum of two Alice now tipping the scales at 35 stone (over 220kg) is worried that she may not live to see her children grow up. But unable to change her ways, will an ultimatum from husband Mark give her the jolt she needs to turn her life around?
In Falkirk, Alex’s love life has been destroyed by his food addiction. Now a virtual recluse, he needs a cocktail of drugs every day just to keep himself alive. Ex-boyfriend Ben is worried that Alex is eating himself to death, can he step in in time to break his downward spiral?

MY OBESE LIFE
1x60min
Channel Premiere
Sunday, 28th August at 07:05 and 20:40.

In this film we follow three extraordinary young women who have all battled with their weight. As they fight perceptions, and their demons head on, we hear how the simplest things derailed their body image. They are learning to love their bodies and to overcome what others think. Nearly 3 million 16- 24 year olds and around half of all women of childbearing age tip the scales beyond their recommended BMI weight. We meet 20 year old Shannon, she is a size 22 and celebrates her curves by selling lingerie products to the larger ladies; we also hear from 24 year old Naomi, who has been a secret eater for most of her life and is desperate to stabilise her weight; and we join 24 year old Jess, who comfort eats to cope with stress, as she tries to shed some pounds.

 

CBS Justice:

KILLER SIBLINGS
Season 2.
Channel premiere.
Weeknights at 19:00 from 15th until 29th August.
"Killer Siblings" delves into the disturbing true stories of some of the deadliest
siblings of all time. Featuring exclusive interviews and firsthand accounts, the
series explores the minds, upbringings and motivations of family members
who were driven to kill. Each hour-long episode profiles a different set of
siblings and the brutal crimes they committed, offering insight into their
murderous bond and what led them down a path to murder.

THE REAL PRIME SUSPECT
Season 1 & 2.
ORIGINAL TRUE CRIME SERIES
CBS Justice celebrates Jackie Malton, host of “The Real Prime Suspect”
On weeknights at 20:00, from Monday August 2nd until August 22nd.
Jackie Malton is a former Scotland Yard detective and an inspiration for the character of DCI Jane Tennison, portrayed by Helen Mirren in the award winning drama series “Prime Suspect”.
Jackie joined the force in 1970 and spent most of her service in the Criminal Investigation Department, probing all aspects of crime including armed robberies, rape, murder, fraud, arson, and blackmail. She served on The Flying Squad as the only female amongst forty men at one point, and is a trained hostage negotiator.
A recovering alcoholic, Jackie has an MSc in Addiction Psychology. For the last thirteen years, she has voluntarily facilitated weekly addiction groups in a male prison, plus 1-1 therapy work. Jackie also continues to support the men in the community and recovery process after their release.
In “The Real Prime Suspect”, Malton gets access to case files and revisits investigations into infamous crimes with the police, detectives, and other professionals who experienced them first hand.

AMC+ To Launch Streaming Service Across Europe In 2023, No Indicator On When Or If It Will Roll Out In The UK And Africa

Even more American prestige TV is headed to Europe. This week it was announced that AMC+ will find its way onto small screens in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets.

AMC Networks’ executive vice president Levente Málnay — who was speaking at the NEM Dubrovnik European TV conference — revealed that the streaming platform will be available to CEE customers in 2023.

The streaming service combines original programming along with series and movies from various other AMC-owned streamers and studios, including Shudder , Sundance Now, BBC America, IFC, and more. So the content on the service already has significant international influences but Málnay added that as AMC+ expands, it would focus on balancing specific regional content with its own U.S.-based programming.

 

The news comes at a time of expansion for the fledgling platform. AMC+ began streaming in June 2020 and grew its reach to the Australian market last year. As of the end of the first quarter, AMC’s combined streaming services — both under the AMC+ umbrella and the individual services — have reached 9.5 million global subscribers.

Málnay indicates that the streamer will take “baby steps” when planning larger-budget offerings, but he also suggested that local dramas may be in development as well. In Q1, AMC saw 3% year-over-year revenue growth, but profits dropped by almost 15% for the same period, due in large part to the enhanced investment in content creation. Domestically, AMC has also worked to ensure subscribers can easily find its streaming channels, making them paid add-ons to services such as Amazon Prime Video and YouTube TV.

 

An AMC+ release will bring hit shows like modern classics “The Walking Dead ,” “Better Call Saul,” and “Mad Men” to CEE.

Additionally, in April, AMC+ announced that it would be enhancing its offerings by bringing a new movie from corporate sibling IFC Films to the streaming service every week immediately following its theatrical release.

AMC+ is a premium streaming bundle that includes the best from AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, Shudder, Sundance Now, and IFC Films Unlimited containing original, award-winning series, popular movies, festival favorites, plus horror, sci-fi, true crime, and thrillers. You can subscribe to AMC+ for $8.99/month (R153.84/month) or save over 40% with the annual plan for $59.88/year (R1005.88/year).

Development Hell: The Pending The Third Season To Star Life's The Evil Eye

The Evil Eye was the first and one of the few attempts Africa got to supernatural on Star Life alongside A Magical Love Story which came amidst a pandemic with the second season was also filmed in such a climate.

Since its abrupt end, some viewers can't stop boasting about the show that it got to a point where they advertised fake repeats and even listed Bengali adaptation Nojor (pictured above) as The Evil Eye season 3.

Ever since A Magical Love Story ended, there hasn't been a site of venomous snake or anything supernatural on Star Life even on Zee World as regional stations are the closest to viewing them dubbed while others are distributed in their original language with subtitles.

 

Amidst the phasing out of these shows sources state that Star Life picked up Bold And Beautiful and The Evil Doom which were scheduled for a late 2021 to mid 2022 release which never came to pass.

Joining that trio was the fake third season of The Evil Eye which is now considered a new season but supposedly on a new Indian entertainment channel that was set to replace Star Life.

This supposed channel was said to focus on Bengali which is similar to Hindi in an attempt to "differentiate" the offering from StarPlus but hey some of the content from Bengali are remakes to the Hindi content and vice versa.

 

The thing about this was Disney Star the owners of these brands already operated a Bengali channel Star Jalsha which is niche I mean every market has their niche. In South Africa, it is Tsonga, Sepedi and Siswati as Zulu, Afrikaans and Ndebele dominate the region.

The question would have to be why trade one group for another if the plan was to replace wouldn't it be better to source areas like Telegu, Tamil and Malayalam as they also reside in the Bollywood community under the Disney Star.

Zee TV had every chance to launch such a channel but instead opted for reruns channel, Zee One.

Streamlining Efforts: The Way To Paradise And Operation Pacific Are Telemundo Africa's First Pick To Weekday Mornings, To Clash With Super Series The Legend

Super Series is a brand name Telemundo gave to a lineup of action series like Lord Of The Skies, Woman Of Steel, Close Enemies, Queen Of The South and The Way To Paradise. For those familiar with these shows they'd carry a high level of violence and/or sex.

For several years, these series have been deprived from broad daylight as such content would risk potential lawsuits and other legal issues that could damage the image of the channel but as seen in the past several years, management of the channel has recieved constant adjustments.

First moment Telemundo was telenovela exclusive then opened their doors to series like Confessions Of The Stars and Case Closed. Last year, the brand unveiled a streaming based studio where streaming for a while had lesser restrictions.

 

As seen this past week, reruns to season 1 of The Way To Paradise will make way to Telemundo on June 19th once My Heart Beats For Lola comes to close. Actors from My Heart Beats For Lola that are joining The Way To Paradise as already seen are Carmen Villalobos and Fabian Rios.

Another reported show set to join this trio likely in the coming year (2023) is the military cop drama also super series Operation Pacific starring.

Telemundo has a lineup of content coming later in the year and through 2023 and if you've noticed there hasn't been a lot of super in the lineup just some basic stuff like Nurses, Hidden Passions and Until Money Do Us Apart which doesn't imply a halt in super series.

 

Lord Of The Skies and Queen Of The South have been picked up for more seasons and Operation Pacific has its own thing going on with most of the cast involved in other projects. The idea to have more super series on weekdays are just a step to those future developments.

They'll always be an 11pm block but it won't always cater to the likes of Lord Of The Skies if anything it could compliment one of the existing offerings on the channel. Softer adaptations in the super saga like Close Enemies and False Identity could fall victim to weekday mornings.

As mentioned, Telemundo has a lot of content coming up majority aren't super series and the day more super comes in viewers are onboard with the offering. There could be censorship here and there but take one thing to account, Telemundo is not Cartoon Network.

Nicktoons Africa Could Be On The Chopping Block

Nicktoons is a kids channel currently owned by Paramount and ranked top performing channel for its ability to differentiate from other Nicktoons channel which have been dependant on Nickelodeon for most of their programming.

In detail, Nicktoons was no different to other feeds in terms of programming despite being reruns most of the content like Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold! and The Ren And Stimpy Show where sidetracked for current series on Nickelodeon.

Over the years, Paramount had attempted to differentiate the offering from sister channels Nickelodeon and Nick Jr but sourcing out third party shows like My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Horrid Henry and the short-lived Pokémon: Sun And Moon.

Even went on to get various Nick originals like Double Dare or Paradise Bay onto the channel and curated a 22 minute series based on the brand, NickMusic.

 

But as seen by several consumers like myself the channel appears to be lifeless at this point almost as if Paramount is ready throw in the towel with Paramount+ scheduled for an early 2023 rollout.

Paramount had been merging and cutting back on localised feeds. Not to take out the fact there have been channel closures as seen in Japan earlier in the year and I remembered Nicktoons Africa is also a localised feed.

I get that isn't guarantee enough about the possible demise of this iconic brand but you notice several faulty things about the channel.

Take for instance, the graphic designs weren't they aligned with the U.S. at one point only for it to mysteriously revert back to the designs seen internationally and you'll obviously won't get a reason for that.

 

The promos regarding upcoming developments look identical to Nickelodeon aside from them hosting similar festivities with Nicktoons getting less of the pie with its focus on animation.

Notice how The Casagrandes learnt to speak German between breaks mixed with English which is all kinds of confusion I get we all got to multitask but in all my years I've never seen someone speak two different languages at the same time.

Another signal to termination would be programming, I noticed everything on the channel except NickMusic is either current perhaps to Nickelodeon or cancelled like Horrid Henry with series like ALVINNN!!! And The Chipmunks now treated as a Nickelodeon exclusive.

Nicktoons had an upcoming show lined up as announced in the MultiChoice Showcase titled Big Nate but from the looks of it don't be surprised if it moved over to Nickelodeon as the channel became a reruns graveyard with the fate of NickMusic up in the air.

 

I don't think NickMusic is done for perhaps it will move over to Nickelodeon or MTV Base.

The idea of Nicktoons being phased out doesn't seem far fetched I mean these months Nicktoons appears to be somewhat of a timeshift or catch-up to Nickelodeon as some of the content air at the exact same time just a different season.

The Nick Jr block which has been used in an attempt to boost Nicktoons offering is also on Nickelodeon again sufficient evidence for Paramount to call it quits with the channel.

Paramount+ will be rolling out early in 2023 and we'll basically see past content from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr which was the whole point of Nicktoons making the brand obsolete at this point.

Recommended Games #4: Play At Your Own Risk, The Trainwreck To All Nintendo And SEGA Games Somari

Somari is an attempt to bring the original Sonic the Hedgehog to the 8-bit Famicom. Mario (or "Somari") can run and jump like Sonic, spinning into enemies, collecting rings and running around loops, with the spin dash technique included from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for good measure. The game attempts to mimic the Mega Drive game as closely as possible, though its special stages are based on those found in the 8-bit version of the game (meaning there are no chaos emeralds), presumably due to hardware limitations. Scrap Brain Zone is also missing, though remnants of it exist in the ROM.

There is no ending sequence should the player manage to complete the game - just a single screen showing Dr. Eggman juggling chaos emeralds and some text claiming he will return.

 

As a very early attempt at getting Sonic to run on simpler hardware, Somari is riddled with issues, from poor collision detection and unresponsive controls to game-breaking glitches. Like many unlicensed titles of its kind, the game is very difficult to play, but is infamous, particularly after being rediscovered on the internet, for its low quality presentation and obvious novelty value.

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