Life after Generations

But as of today, the soap opera is off until December as creator and producer Mfundi Vundla “rewrites the entire show” to somehow allow for the disappearance of the characters played by the 16 principal actors he fired after they ignored his ultimatum to return to work in August.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Last Generations episode: SA reacts

Superfans will feel the loss of their daily fix from tonight, but with a deadline in place for the screening of new episodes, Generations’ production company MMSV Productions can’t afford to let the brand fade from the consciousness of their more than 7 million viewers.

So it is that the soapie – and its characters – still have a social media presence. The pre-filmed episodes of the show may have run out yesterday, but a number of storylines were still planned and written, with the characters played by the now fired actors still alive and well.

Yesterday morning, Noluntu Memela (formerly played by Zenande Mfenyana) and Senzo Dlomo (formerly played by Thamsanqa Mngqolo) engaged in a conversation on the soap’s generationsextra.co.za feed regarding whether or not the former would get together with Samora Lembede (Atandwa Kani). The show’s Facebook page punts this potential relationship as well, despite the fact the actors were fired on August 18.

Odd as it is, this strategy is sensible in that it potentially allows Vundla and other writers to wean fans off any characters they might be removing from the soap between now and December so that, come the reintroduction of the series on television, it will only be those with no awareness of Generations’ social media presence (780 000 Facebook followers, for starters) who will be shocked.

FIXTURE. Sophie Ndaba, who plays Queen Moroka in Generations, had been with the show for more than two decades before joining the recent strike.

MMSV Productions is holding auditions for new actors (dates and locations not yet announced at time of writing) and running a fan competition via generationsextra.co.za, kicking off on October 5, that will involve fans voting for finalists and a winner in a “Be On Generations” contest.

Meanwhile, the jury’s out on what impact Generations going off air and then returning will have.

VIRTUAL IMMORTALITY. Atandwa Kani’s Generations character is still involved in an online storyline, despite the actor having been fired from the soapie.

TVPlus editor Lucia Swart-Walters says: “The Generations debacle is fascinating in terms of TV in general. Will a soap really be able to survive such an mass exodus of key characters? If it does, it means a popular soap is indeed bigger than its characters. If it doesn’t, then it proves the industry needs to take actors’ demands more seriously. Reading between the lines, it does seem like some of the actors regret going on strike.

“For once, though, there wasn’t any interference. The decision to suspend the show was solely made by the production house and producer – not the ANC Youth League or any other political figures. That at least shows some independent action in a very controversial SABC environment.”