‘Buddy Language’ makes TV debut

After nearly seven months of waiting, ‘Buddy Language’ the latest creation of the man behind hit TV series ‘Things We Do For Love’ is finally out on the silver screen. The youth-oriented drama series made its debut on GTV last Sunday.

Last October, JIVE reported that ‘Buddy Language’, which, at the time, was a radio series on JOY FM was making a transition to the silver screens. Although the series was expected to have hit the screens in November last year, that did not happen, a situation the producers attribute to air-time constraints.

With the initial bottlenecks over, the producers say they are ready to make ‘Buddy Language’ “the biggest entertainment brand on TV.”

Written by Eddie Seddoh Jnr., writer of the award-winning ‘Things We Do For Love’ and ‘L&G’ (currently airing on TV3 and Africa Magic on DSTV), ‘Buddy Language’ tells the story of four young guys -- Apollo, Iron, Strongus and Flame -- who won an amateur hiplife competition and their encounter with instant fame, women and drugs.

The first episode (thirty minutes), which was aired last Sunday basically, introduced the four guys who constitute the ‘Buddy Language’ group and a few other characters.

The series started with the group being adjudged winners of a hiplife contest at a nite club. Shortly after the contest, they got into trouble during which Strongus, a member of the group run away at the sight of the Police officer who stopped their car. Strongus left behind an envelope containing money he had collected from an ex-girlfriend, Philippa at the nite club.

Iron, another member of the group gets upset with Flame (the leader of the group) for handing over the money to the cop who searched their car. The group’s situation is compounded when after their encounter with the police they realize they had run short of fuel. Iron leaves Apollo and Flame to their fate and heads home. Egyaba and her friend, Wendy, (also returning from the nite club) come to the rescue of the two guys.

Later that evening, Strongus realized a polythen bag he took from the car did not contain the money Philipa had given him but rather Indian hemp. He returns to Philippa’s in the morning to demand an explanation but that is deferred because Philippa was dressing for church and “could not afford to be late” but Philippa insists the bag contained one million cedis and not Indian hemp as Strongus claims. The story continues a 3pm next Sunday.

As had been said by the producers of the show earlier, the cast is made up of new faces never seen on the screens. Although the producer, David Bossman admitted that it was a risky move to cast fresh faces for the series, he said he was willing to give room to some fresh talents to show off their potential. However there are a few established faces among the cast such as Edem Smith (Flame) who also stars in ‘L&G’ and Salimi Akill (Feminine) of ‘Stars of the Future’ and ‘Miss Maliaka’ fame.

Unlike many of our local productions, acting so far has been impressive. The conversations have also been kept apt thus making the scenes fairly short and enjoyable to watch.

David Bossman told JIVE the plot goes beyond giving an insight into the lives of hiplife musicians, their encounters with producers and the impact the desire for stardom has on young people. David said there are lots of lessons for anyone who watches the series both young and old. He believes young people in particular will be able to make informed choices based on the lessons they draw from the series.

Casting is still on going for more roles in the series, which is sponsored by TIGO. (Interested persons can contact the hotline 027-4287777). The series is written by Eddie Seddoh Jnr., directed by Cosby Bikpe (of ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Hotel St. James’ fame) and produced by David Bossman (aka BB of ‘Things We Do For Love’ fame). Daniel Akwei Addo of Kensal Marketing is the executive producer.