Roundups #85: Live-Action Pac-Man Movie Is In The Works, BET+ Acquired Broadcasting Rights To South African Drama Series Pulse And Doom Patrol Alongside Titans Expected To Be Cancelled

Pac-Man to get feature film

A live-action film is in development based on the classic arcade game character with an endless appetite, Pac-Man.

The project hails from Bandai Namco Entertainment — the company behind Pac-Man, as well as games like Galaga and Tekken — and Wayfarer Studios, the production company founded by Justin Baldoni and Steve Sarowitz.

First introduced in the U.S. in 1980 — and originally called Puck Man in Japan — Pac-Man became a coin-operated staple. The game is set in mazes where Pac-Man has to eat pellets while being pursued by colorful ghosts as the mazes get progressively more difficult.

Pulse is streaming overseas

BET+ has picked up the U.S. streaming rights to South African-produced sci-fi survival thriller “Pulse.”

“Pulse” tells the explosive story of an electromagnetic pulse that disables a secure building and disrupts the bio-electric signals in everyone’s minds, trapping a group of video game designers and turning each floor into a psychotic battlefield. The show questions whether the modern human race can really survive without the technology that defines our way of life today.

The series shot in South Africa as well as Mauritius.

Doom Patrol and Titans have not been cancelled

DC fans were sent into a flurry the past day as a Variety report circulated that Doom Patrol and Titans, two refugee shows from the DC Universe streaming service, were expected to be cancelled.

But now, it has been updated that piece to reflect that a decision has not been made and that “like all shows,” their renewal will depend on the performance of the upcoming seasons that will be out later this year. I think fans were freaked out about maybe even those seasons being not allowed to air, given that anything seems possible after WB killed its finished Batgirl movie in order to take the tax writedown. Nothing feels safe, even if so far, Batgirl and one Kevin Smith project appear to be the only confirmed casualties under the new WB Discovery management.

But even if Titans and Doom Patrol are safe for now, I would be somewhat surprised if that continued into the future, and for me personally, I do expect probably Doom Patrol, and possibly Titans to be canceled as WB tries to rein in its variety of DC universes they have running, whether that’s deserved or not.

New Series Alert: Valentine's Day Reigns In A Bit Too Late On eExtra With New Romcom Dis Complicated

eExtra, South Africa's dedicated free-to-air channel home to the very best Turkish dramas dubbed in Afrikaans alongside other content of a similar stature will be launching a new romcom in place of Fenix titled 'Dis Complicated' (also known in Turkey as Sen Çal Kapımı).

Dis Complicated follows Eda Yıldız longing to become a landscape architect. After losing her parents when she was young, this brilliant student pursued her studies with scholarships. However, she crosses paths with Serkan Bolat an obsessive workaholic who jeopardizes her plans.

The Turkish series stars Hande Erçel and Kerem Bürsin in the leading roles alongside other stars like Bige Önal, Neslihan Yeldan, Evrim Doğan, Anıl İlter and Melisa Döngel.

During its run, the Dis Complicated season finale garnered close to 8 million tweets a record which was previously held by HBO's Game Of Thrones' The Long Night. The series was sold to over 26 broadcasters with notable brands being Telemundo and HBO Max.

Dis Complicated is the another series from FOX which is said to go off air by next year as content folds onto Disney+ and an upcoming channel. But the other FOX original Dokter Ali's (Mucize Doctor) currently airing on eExtra with a new season of Doodsondes scheduled for e.tv in the coming week.

The first season to Dis Complicated will be made available to eExtra on weekdays at 19:30 from 13th September replacing Fenix.

Could The Rumoured SABC Encore Revival Be Scrapped As The Supposed SABC Children's Channel Enters Post Production?

SABC Encore is a defunct entertainment channel that was home to archived material mainly 80s and 90s shows by the public broadcaster that was once available on an exclusive basis alongside SABC News to MultiChoice's DStv and SABC's DTT platform.

Its been 2 years since the channel went off air and a year since rumours swirled around about the potential revival after the SABC had mentioned considering reviving the channel on another platform on top of that it's presence on Sentech which has since then been taken down.

As seen for the past year, SABC Encore was registered alongside SABC Children now updated excludes the channel as Children takes up the space once shared by the channel which raises concern for some readers.

Also seen in the past year was the SABC's mentions of an SABC Encore without any mention of MultiChoice. Of course, it's presence was often a temporary matter as it was used to beam memorials or catch-up on sports matches.

As seen earlier in the month, Openview consumers were alarmed to see SABC 1 branded as SABC Encore as this had happened frequently and of course eMedia Investments and the SABC remaining silent on the matter. Even TelkomOne at one point had an SABC Encore without using SABC 1.

Taking that to consideration I doubt SABC Encore is dead or at least from my perspective considering how sneaky they have been with referencing the channel so if anything the brand is going through somewhat of a phase that's beyond our understanding.

SABC Encore when first spotted was registered under its initial name SABC Entertainment which might as well be the future of the channel of course nothing is certain at this point in regard to the concepts of the channel.

It was never part of SABC's initial DTT offering but due to the load of followers it just led them with the idea of reviving the channels which too would be unveiled with SABC's untitled streaming service which would introduce further channels and programming.

The further channels will carry archived material so there's no reason to not believe it's Encore or something remotely close to it, SABC Entertainment but how do you go about adding "further programming" if the name boasts on repeats we'll see what happens.

If anything I'm expecting them to either make the channel cater to viewers of the 80s and 90s with fresh content that compliments their tastes or to just use the concept for their SABC 4 and 5 that were part of their failed DTT attempts which was just diving SABC 1-3 to cover more ground.

Scooby-Doo Resembles Late 60s Sitcom

An all-American athletic boy with blonde hair. A beautiful popular girl. A lazy beatnik with a goatee who peppers his speech with "like" and "man." A brainy, petite brunette.

That sounds like a quite familiar quartet, right? Perhaps one that drives around in a green and blue van with a Great Dane?

Those descriptions apply to the core characters of The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis or Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! — and with good reason. The latter Hanna-Barbera cartoon, which premiered in 1969, was based on the former black & white teen sitcom from a decade earlier.

Here are the voice actors behind the characters of 'Scooby Doo, Where Are You!'

The development of Scooby-Doo was inspired by a couple popular teen sensations of the 1960s. Fred Silverman, CBS's head of daytime programming at the time, was looking to duplicate the success of the Archies. His rough pitch to animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera was this: a teenage rock band that would solve mysteries. Hanna-Barbera assigned the task to writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and artist Iwao Takamoto. Their first draft was a group dubbed the Mysteries Five, consisting of kids named Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda and W.W., along with a bongo-playing sheepdog called Too Much. These teen toons were rough analogues to Archies characters Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Hot Dog. (W.W. was an additional kid brother.)

Unimpressed, Silvermen sent Ruby, Spears and Takamoto back to the drawing board. This time, the creators simply mimicked Dobie Gillis.

Take a good look at the photo up top and it becomes pretty obvious. Fred is Dobie (Dwayne Hickman), Daphne is Thalia (Tuesday Weld), Shaggy is Maynard (Bob Denver) and Velma is Zelda (Sheila James). Heck, "Velma" even sounds like "Zelda."

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis showed its influence in other realms of pop culture, too. Dobie Gray, the pop-soul singer known for chart smashes like "The 'In' Crowd" and "Drift Away," was born Lawrence Darrow Brown. His record label suggested he use the name "Dobie" to ride off the popularity of the sitcom.

In a less evident example, Gerry Marshall admitted that his hit Happy Days was patterned after Dobie Gillis. Then again, just about every sitcom about teenagers can credit Dobie Gillis, down to Saved by the Bell. Dobie is a pioneer. This early gem was the first sitcom on a major network to focus on adolescent characters. He may have been a Boomer, but it feels like he hasn't aged a day.

INX Prime - A Fresh Approach To Islamic TV

INX Prime is a new channel on DStv that comprises a host of shows with an Islamic ethos at its core. Content on the channel is set to be vibrant, entertaining, informative and spiritually uplifting. The channel will launch on Wednesday, 24 August 2022 on DStv channel 345.

The channel will feature fresh shows that brings both Muslims and non-Muslims of all ages together with topics ranging from current affairs and community upliftment, to cooking and comedy. Shows to look out for on INX Prime include the flagship show, Prime Live, as well as The Muslim Gallery, Prime Culture, You Are Not Alone and one for the children: INX Kids.

Speaking on behalf of MultiChoice, Georginah Machiridza Executive Head Content Strategy & 3rd Party Channels at MultiChoice says, ‘as part of our commitment to showcase a diverse content offering, we are proud to be launching INX Prime, a channel designed to cater for our customers that are interested in programming that is both entertaining and informative whilst rooted in the Islamic religion’.

Personalities joining the channel include the highly acclaimed Nasreen Chamdar who will be hosting Finding Halaal, an exploration of South Africa’s best halaal cuisine; Anne Cabot- Alletzhauser, co-founder of the Responsible Finance Initiative (RFI); presenter, actor and author of “Mama I sold you”, Thaamir Moerat; to name just a few.

The news and lifestyle shows will be filmed and broadcast locally from the INX Prime headquarters in Houghton, Johannesburg. Boasting a purpose-built multi-studio facility, the channel is geared to showcase high quality content that is relevant and relatable not only to all South Africans, but all Africans across the continent.

INX Prime’s Managing Director, Farhad Omar, believes that the creation of the new channel is a historic development in the media landscape in Africa. “We will provide original programming that recognizes the multiple needs of Muslims on the continent,” says Omar, “For many years, we understood that we needed to make a positive contribution to the news and information available to Muslims on the continent and what we are announcing today will help us achieve that goal.”

In addition to the lifestyle and current affairs shows, INX Prime will also feature a range of movies and series from across the world to ensure that there is a wide selection of content with something that appeals to all.

INX Prime promises viewers that their content will uplift, entertain and move audiences! Catch them on DStv channel 345 launching on 24 August 2022.