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The Ranakas
Mzansi Magic (DStv channel 161)
Thursday, 8pm
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Reality shows are our guilty pleasure, and in the past couple of years, South Africa has produced some great ones that have kept audiences glued to their screens –and created some big TV stars. As viewers, we have become besotted with watching others live their lives or some variation of their lives.
Not all reality shows are the same and some are heavily staged. Although there’s no script, there are writers who craft plot lines, twisting and tweaking footage to create conflict and shape a story.
With the Ranaka family and their dramas, I’m sure creating outrageous and unnatural plot lines isn’t a tough task.
The Ranakas is a spin-off of the highly successful TV and radio personality Dineo Ranaka’s reality show, Dineo’s Diary, which lasted for five seasons.
The Ranakas – now three seasons in – make for great television because, well, we all love flawed people.
Cast members talk candidly about their weaknesses and producers and viewers love that stuff.
Having Dineo work closely on the production, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of her family, makes great content.
Sure the Kardashians are involved with the production of Keeping Up with the Kardashians but the difference is that Dineo has a reckless honesty within her storytelling. She actively chooses to take things to the extreme and luckily her family participates.
Ntate Ranaka has the last word when it comes to family matters. Although his children are adults, that doesn’t stop Ntate from calling his son an idiot when the opportunity arises.
Mum Masiba is the glue that holds everything together. As the mother of adults who still require raising and their mother’s approval, Masiba and her husband are the real stars of this show.
Masiba is strict but she has an amazing sense of humour – as she should having “kids” that are as reckless and at times immature as the Ranaka kids. From calling one of her sons a dog to the occasional threat with a broom, Masiba is the quintessential black mother who will give viewers some deep nostalgia about the matriarchs in their families.
At the end of the day whether it’s fake or real, reality TV makes for damn good entertainment. Try the Ranakas and see little sprinkles of your own crazy family.
