7de Laan

7de Laan

Seventh Avenue (Sewende laan) logo
Created by Danie Odendaal
Country of origin South Africa
No. of seasons 18
No. of episodes 3916 (as of 11 november 2016)
Production
Running time 30 min (including commercial breaks)
Distributor SABC2
External links
Website

7de Laan is a South African Afrikaans soap opera created by Danie Odendaal and produced by Danie Odendaal Produksies.[1] The series is set in and around the fictional 7de Laan (Sewende Laan or 7th Avenue) in the suburb of Hillside, Johannesburg, where the characters live and work.[1] The programme's dialogue is primarily in Afrikaans and is subtitled in English with some English and Zulu dialogue in between.[1] The street and shopfronts which are featured on the opening visuals, are that of Seventh Street in Melville, Johannesburg.

History

Odendaal originally conceived of the series when he was a resident of the Melville section of Johannesburg.[2] At the time, Odendaal would watch the people of his community over breakfast and a cup of coffee at his favourite coffee shop.[2] He would make up fictitious characters based on what he saw.[3]

The working title for the show was Die Koffikan (The Coffee Pot).[2] Later it was renamed Hoe Meer Dae… (How many days), but the name was considered too similar to the American soap opera, Days of Our Lives.[2] Eventually, the title 7de Laan was chosen because it reflects a place where people live and work and because it is a common street name in South Africa.[2]

The series made its debut on Tuesday, 4 April 2000, on South African public television network SABC 2.[2] Initially, the series was broadcast on Tuesday only, then on Tuesday and Thursday, and eventually five days a week, Monday to Friday.[3]

In April 2010, 7de Laan celebrated ten years on television. During this month, viewers got to see pictures of the show through its ten years during the end credits of each episode. On 9 May 2013, episode number 3,000 was broadcast. On 20 October 2016, the series broadcast its 3,900th episode.[3] The 4,000th episode is anticipated to air in March 2017.[3]

Ratings

In 2009 7de Laan received 1.95 million viewers per episode.[2] In 2015, ratings were considered "still big but flat."[4] To improve the ratings, the show underwent changes in 2015, including a new theme song, opening credits, and sets.[4] At the time, almost half (45,3%) of the soap's viewership across all race groups was older than 50 years of age.[4]

In 2016, it was reported that the series was considered to be in "an ongoing ratings slide" but still drew 1.8 million viewers in September 2016 and was the 7th most popular programme on SABC 2.[5]

Storyline controversies

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) found the series and SABC 2 guilty of contravening the South African Broadcasting Code of Conduct for episodes aired on April 27 and 28, 2012, in which one of the actors drank heavily and contemplated suicide after his wife had left him.[6]

In May 2016, the BCCSA fined the SABC R15,000 for breaching the broadcasting code.[7] The show had been charged with broadcasting a depiction of violence during family viewing time with insufficient warning to viewers.[7] In an episode aired on 24 March 2016, the character Willem was shown strangling the character Gita in a violent scene.[7]

Contract dispute

In October 2016, it was reported that 7de Laan's production company, Danie Odendaal Productions, had not been able to negotiate successfully a new contract with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).[5] The company revealed that it had footed the bill for the series since July 2016 and could no longer afford to fund the production.[8] As a result, cast and crew were told they would not be paid.[5] It was also speculated that the 21 October 2016 episode could be the last one for several months.[9]

However, contract negotiations for both 7de Laan and fellow SABC 2 soap Muvhango were resolved satisfactorily.[10]

Theme song

The series' original theme song was composed by Louis van Rensburg and performed by the Soweto String Quartet.[4] Having been the theme song since the series' inception in 2000, the tune was considered "iconic" but was replaced in June 2015 with a new composition by Joe Niemand and Nomansland.[4] The theme-tune is so well-loved that many viewers complained when the instantly recognisable tune was replaced by the newer more modern theme.

Cookbook

In 2010, a cookbook featuring recipes inspired by the programme's characters was published.[11] Characters featured include Hilda, Matrone, Charmaine, Maria, Vince, Lukas, and Paula.[12] The book was released in two languages, in English as Cook with 7de Laan and in Afrikaans as 7de Laan Kook.[12]

List of characters

Main cast

Guest actors

Past actors

Past guest actors

Shops, businesses and residences

7de Laan is set in Hillside which is a fictional suburb in Johannesburg. Within the suburb, there are many businesses and shops where the characters work, live, and hang out. These are some of the locations featured in the series:[1]

The Hillside Heights is the centre of Hillside. It is an old residential building that has small apartments where most of the characters live. The Hillside Heights building is owned jointly by Gita McGregor and Willem Spies, and Oubaas van Zyl is the keeper of the building. Many a spookstorie made its appearance in the building's alleys, and so often somebody gets locked-up in the store room by accident.

Charmaine (Beukes) Meintjies owns and runs Oppiekoffie, which is a coffee shop located on the ground floor of the Hillside Heights building and directly opposite the Eclectic E boutique. The current waiters at Oppiekoffie are Petro, Kopano, and Amoray. Many of the young characters worked there as waiters in the past: Annelie, Bernard, Clara, Connie, Danelle, Diederik, Kabelo, Kim, Lucas, Monique, Pieter, Tessa, and Zinzi Oklahoma

Eclectic E is the local boutique located opposite Oppikoffie. It was owned and by Felicity Daniels but is now unfortunately closed down till a new Felicity hires a new manager (who is a famed and successful fashion designer with her own designer clothing label called "Felicity Fashions"). Pulane currently works there as an assistant. Past assistants were Irma, Paula, Annelie, Clara, Monique and Tessa. It is a popular meeting place for many of the female chapaned*The Hillside Deli The Deli is owned and managed by Vince Meintjies (one of Neville Meintjies' sons), . Jerome, Bart, Vanessa, Matrone, Lukas,barnard Amoray,Pieter used to work here at different times.

The bookshop is owned by Ryno Lategan with the assistance of Matrone Netta Nortjè. The bookshop has featured many real life book-releases on the show with the author guest-starring in the particular episode to sign autographs and to answer questions.

Bruynwaves is an events organising company that was previously owned by Altus du Bruyn and bought over by now owned boss Vanessa Meintjies. Diederik, Sifiso and Justin are co-organisers.

T&T is the local sporting equipment shop, owned by Felicity Croukamp/Daniels . The Hillside Gym is located on the first floor of the building. Willem is the manager of T&T and Rickus work in T&T as shop assistants.

O'Malley's is the pub where the young crowd like to hang out. Former bartenders included Lucas, Pieter and Bernard.

The new after-work recreation and relaxation venue in Hillside. Owned and run by Marko Greyling.

This is a real, old time mansion, previously owned by author Ryno Lategan, then by the Croukamps, but now by the dark Welmans. It turns out to be a popular venue for house parties, fashion shows, book launches as well as wedding receptions. A fictitional character (never seen on screen) is Evelina, the residence's cook and famous for her dish Evelina se niertjies. She started working there when it was still Madel's house in early episodes.

Whenever there is a medical emergency, this scene comes into play. "Patients" are kept in bed for a short while, visited by the other characters, and then discharged home.

Other places (seldom seen on screen):

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "7de Laan: About the Show". TVSA: Television South Africa. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History". 7de Laan. SABC. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Javan, Melissa (10 August 2016). "Behind the Scenes of 7de Laan". Africa News Service.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "7de Laan drops its iconic opening theme song". Channel 24. 24.com. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Ferreira, Thinus (20 October 2016). "An update on the 7de Laan drama". Channel 24. 24.com. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Isaacs, Lauren (20 June 2012). "Soapie 7de Laan shoots itself in foot". Cape Times. Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd.
  7. 1 2 3 Ferreira, Thinus (6 May 2016). "7de Laan fined R15k for violent episode". Channel 24. 24.com. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "7de Laan to stay - or is it?". The Star (Johannesburg). 22 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "End of the road for 7de Laan?". The Mercury (South Africa). 21 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Muvhango and 7de Laan contracts finalized". The New Age (South Africa). HT Media Ltd. 25 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Cook with 7de Laan by Kerneels Breytenbach (Human & Rousseau, R250)". The Daily News (South Africa). Independent Online. 2 February 2011.
  12. 1 2 Thangevelo, Debashine (1 November 2010). "Cooking's just up their laan". The Star (Johannesburg).

External links

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