TV Show | Zikoko!

Let’s be real, my people: Netflix’s Young, Famous & African has the drama and luxury down, but does it truly live up to its name? The current cast feels more like Established, Affluent & African—which, let’s face it, is a whole different vibe.

So, I decided to shake things up. What if the show featured a fresh, fiery lineup of Africans who are actually young, undeniably famous, and brimming with that youthful energy?

Think less boardroom, more vibe check. No shade (okay, maybe a little), but this is the reimagining we didn’t know we needed. Who’s ready for Young, Famous & African: The Remix?

Tyla (South Africa)

If Young, Famous & African were casting for the real deal, Tyla would be a no-brainer. She’s the epitome of the show’s promise—young, undeniably famous, and proudly African. As one of the continent’s biggest breakout stars, she’s proving that age is no barrier to global success.

Elsa Majimbo (Kenya)

From munching snacks and cracking jokes to becoming a self-proclaimed “Hollywood girl,” Elsa Majimbo has come a long way. These days, her content mixes work, travel, and spicy romantic tales, but one thing remains the same—she’s effortlessly funny and refreshingly offbeat. If she ever joined the show, her stories about living the high life, rubbing elbows with Beyoncé, and navigating her sizzling love life would hit harder than a Nigerian policeman. You know Elsa would bring that undeniable energy and unapologetic humour.

Enioluwa Adeoluwa (Nigeria)

Enioluwa is the full package—8-in-1, to be exact. A scholar, actor, event host, digital content creator, and fashion icon, he’s made for the spotlight. But beyond his undeniable talent, he’s got a wit that’ll keep you laughing and a charm that makes him the ultimate FFO (Food For Only). Add to that his massive female fanbase, and it’s clear: Enioluwa is an absolute cutie who was born for reality TV.

Uncle Waffles (Eswatini, formerly Swaziland)

Oh, haiboo! Uncle Waffles is the perfect mix of sass, spice, and vibe—guaranteed to be the livest in any room. With her tough exterior, she’s also the one who’ll fiercely defend her cast mates against any haters. When it comes to fun, her non-negotiables include impromptu dance parties and spontaneous twerking, because why not? She’s got that unfiltered energy that makes every moment unforgettable.

Black Sherif (Ghana)

Black Sherif is one of Ghana’s youngest entertainment stars and the first Ghanaian to perform at the Wireless Festival in the UK. He could also be the first actual young Ghanaian to appear on the reality show. I don’t know the exact vibe he’d bring, but his storytelling would be like a thriller film. His music would make you know this.

Madame Joyce (Nigeria)

Madame Joyce is the perfect blend of young, demure, and chaotic—a formula that’s always a hit. As the unapologetic “High Profile Babe,” if she isn’t stirring the pot with some entertaining drama in every mood, then who is? With her unmatched flair for mixing poise with unpredictability, she’s guaranteed to keep things interesting and leave you wanting more.

Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)

Victor Osimhen might not have as much screen time as he’d like between matches, but when he does show up online, his personality and banter are always A1. If he brought his steeze and football banter to the reality show, the cast and audience would be in for a truly entertaining ride. Get ready for some light-hearted moments mixed with serious swag!

James Brown (Nigeria)

For maximum drama, throw in James Brown—one of Nigeria’s most famous Instagram personalities. He’s the ultimate drama queen, serving up sharp-tongued remarks, gbas-gbos, and a fearless attitude that screams “zero fucks given.” Nobody does it quite like James. Not only would he bring the drama, but his gists and remarks would definitely spark some heated online debates. One thing’s for sure: Netflix would never be the same.
You may not be built for drama, but you’re likely reality TV material, and this is your golden opportunity to discover which of the “Young, Famous and African” cast members you share the same personality with.

Take the quiz:
In the last few years, a fleet of Nollywood television series have landed on several streaming platforms, such as Netflix. This development has contributed to the diverse Nigerian stories available for a global audience.

While many hardcore fans of Nollywood have protested what they say is the globalisation of the industry, there are many Nollywood TV series worthy to binge. If you’re looking for a Nollywood TV series to binge in this month of October, we’ve got you covered. Here are 10 worth our money currently streaming on Netflix.

King of Boys: The Return of the King (2021)

This TV show is about a local politician and businesswoman and, by extension, the underbelly of the Nigerian political system. Stars like Sola Sobowale, Toni Tones, Efa Iwara, and Nse Ikpe-Etim guarantee thrilling dialogues and actions.

Blood Sisters (2022)

A wedding ceremony turns into an investigation of a homicide case. A bride and her best friend are suspects of the groom’s murder. This is a Nigerian crime-thriller mini-series you should definitely watch. It’s star-studded with Gabriel Afolayan, Kehinde Bankole, Nancy Isime, Ramsey Noah, Ini Dima-Okojie and more.

Oloture: The Journey (2024)

A journalist works undercover as a sex worker to bring down a human trafficking syndicate. Beverly Osu, Omoni Oboli, Sharon Ooja and Daniel Etim-Effiong put their souls into this.

Shanty Town (2023)

This crime-thriller show explores the lives of sex workers, street gangs and corruption in Lagos’ political arena. The cast of Shanty Town includes Nancy Isime, Chidi Mokeme, Uche Jumbo and Ini Edo.

Far from Home (2022)

This high-school show focuses on a young boy and aspiring artist from a struggling background. The series shows him navigating his way through the world of the country’s 1%. Mike Folarin, Olumide Oworu, Bolanle Ninalowo and Genoveva Umeh star in this.

Postcards (2024)

The journey of a single mother (Sola Sobowale) to India for a medical check-up ends in a family reunion between her, her son (Tobi Bakre), and her brother (Richard Mofe-Damijo). If you’re looking for something lighthearted, Postcards works for you.

The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi (2023)

This show follows the story of a spirit haunting a secondary school after an incident of sexual abuse. It features veteran and new actors like Ireti Doyle, Jude Chukwuka, Martha Ehinome and Ejiro Onojaife.

Ololade (2023)

Two friends, a high school teacher (Frank Donga) and a car mechanic (Femi Adebayo) run into sudden wealth. This is a comedic series of fuck around and find out.

Castle & Castle (2018)

If you’re looking for a Nigerian legal drama series, then Mo’ Abudu made Castle & Castle for you. It’s about a couple who run a law firm together. They also have to hold their marriage together amidst the high pressure of their profession. Dakore Egbuson-Akande and Richard Mofe-Damijo take the lead on this.

War: Wrath and Revenge (2023)

A politician’s wife ruins his political ambition after discovering he wants to take another wife. It stars Rahama Sadau, Ayoola Ayoola and Mofe Duncan.

Check Out the 20 Best Nollywood Movies on Netflix Right Now (Oct. 2024)
In case you missed it, Chinua Achebe’s 1958 book Things Fall Apart is coming back in a TV series adaptation by Idris Elba and A24 Productions.

It’s confirmed Idris Elba is more than an executive producer on this project. He’s also going to play the protagonist, Okonkwo. While we will give anything to see Elba shirtless, playing Nna Anyi in this series, we just think of ourselves as better suited to do the casting for A24. Anyway, we found our own Okonkwo and other actors that’d eat up the major characters in Things Fall Apart.

Gentle Jack as Okonkwo

Veteran actor Gentle Jack isn’t only an actor who speaks Igbo fluently, he’s also an impressive act. His no-nonsense face, big-chief moustache, height, and big body build capture the Okonkwo profile so well. He has a firm baritone to match, too. Perfect.

Emeka Nwagbaraocha as Nwoye

This is a mummy’s boy who became a hard guy because his daddy’s a big bully. Our money’s on Emeka to balance Nwoye’s character development with an appropriate amount of emotional turbulence.

Chiwetalu Agu as Unoka

This is Okonkwo’s lazy and spendthrift father and Nwoye’s grandfather. Think of an actor who’d play someone who’s too cowardly to be a warrior but would conveniently walk around the village and borrow money—no one’s touching the legend of Chiwetalu Agu.

Jide Kene Achufusi as Ikemefuna

If there’s a perfect “son” for Okonkwo and a macho role model for Nwoye, no one’s playing it better than Jide Kene. Trust him to make Nwoye sharp quickly.

Uzoamaka Aniunoh as Ezinma

With her dove eyes and collected demeanour, Uzoamaka as Ezinne is the perfect character to be a soft spot of Okonkwo. Sweet and assertive is what this role needs. She’s got those.

Rita Edochie as Ekwefi

Ekwefi is Ezinma’s mum. We’ve seen the mother-daughter chemistry between Uzoamaka Aniunoh and Rita Edochie in CJ Obasi’s Mami Wata (2023), and we’re confident they can take it up a notch in a Things Fall Apart show.

Kelechi Udegbe as Enoch

Kelechi Udegbe is the best fit to play a popular fanatic Christian in a village of traditional worshippers. If you’ve seen Kelechi in Mami Wata as a revolt leader (Jabi), or as a passionate police officer (Corporal) in Collision, you’d know that no one applies zealotry like he does.

Jennifer Eliogu as Chielo

She’s the priestess. Please, leave this role for her.

These 7 African Books Need to Be Adapted Into Film ASAP
Do you remember these Nigerian shows that fully dominated the 90s and early 2000s? Honestly, this quiz should be a piece of cake for anyone above 23. All you need to do is get 9 or more questions right.

Go ahead and test your TV show memory:
1) Annalise would be an Igbo woman.

Also, her middle name would be “Ndidi” and her accent would be thick as hell. Don’t ask why. Just go with it.

2) She would also be the kind of lecturer that stops students from entering the class after she comes in.

“Get out of this class if you don’t want to fail before you’ve written any tests or exams!”

3) She would’ve picked the Keating 5 just so she could use them as free labour.

E be slavery tingz.

4) When Annalise returned home and found Sam’s dead body, instead of screaming, “Nooooooooo!”, she would’ve screamed:

The official Nigerian trauma cry.

5) After Sam’s death was revealed, Sam’s sister, Hannah would’ve attacked Annalise with this accusation:

“I know how it works! I’ve seen ‘Living in Bondage’!!”

6) There would’ve been a supernatural subplot about the ghosts of all the people the Keating 5 murdered coming back to haunt them.

Because why the hell not?

7) The governor would’ve been pretty open about her plan to set Annalise up.

Because we all know Nigerian politicians get away with everything.

8) The show never would’ve gotten to season 6 because one person would’ve snitched on everyone else in exchange for immunity.

And we all know it would’ve been Michaela “Selfish Bitch” Pratt.

9) Finally, none of them would’ve been as worried as they were about being found out because of the Nigerian police force.

We’re not going any further. You know what we mean.

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The fantasy-adventure drama TV series, Merlin, aired for 5 seasons from 2008 – 2012 on BBC One. The show was wildly popular in Nigeria, with DVD store owners ripping off unsuspecting fans of the show by selling them discs containing shitty film adaptations of the Arthurian legend.

Even though it’s been over for 8 years now, there are things about the show that still bother me. Like how:

1) Merlin was a one-trick pony.

Throughout the show, Gaius never shuts up about how much power Merlin has and how he’s destined to do great things. However, the only spell we see Merlin cast 80% of the time is “Tospringe,” an unlocking spell. (Similar to the Harry Potter universe’s “Alohomora.”) Even worse, Merlin is useless during magical duels, only casting spells to knock his enemies down in slow motion for a few seconds.

2) Was no one really guarding that dragon?

After Merlin arrives in Camelot, he learns about the Great Purge, a raid twenty years earlier during which the King, Uther Pendragon, outlawed magic and killed all the dragons except one named Kilgharrah, who he imprisoned in a cave beneath the castle. Merlin (being a dragonlord) hears Kilgharrah down in the cave and goes there to talk to him, which is insane. Because, how does a king imprison a freaking dragon beneath his castle and then not assign guards to watch it?? For the remainder of the show’s run, Merlin waltzes in and out of that cave with the ease of someone going into their kitchen to grab a snack and I’m still confused.

3) Morgana had only six gowns.

Girl, ignore all that text on the image above. That’s an edit made by a fan that gave the show’s costume department too much credit. I get that a character can’t have an unlimited number of costumes. But still, for a princess, she should’ve had more.

Side Note: I LOVE Katie McGrath but her British accent on the show was terrible. She slipped in and out of it so many times, she gave Thandie Newton in the Half of a Yellow Sun movie a run for her money.

4) Why did the writers have Arthur and Morgana flirt heavily with each other in the show’s early episodes if they were later going to reveal them to be half-siblings?

I haven’t seen unintentional incestuous drama this messy since the original Star Wars trilogy. Even worse, Uther, knowing the truth, stood by and let it happen for some reason. It’s wild because they lived so close to each other and could’ve scheduled a genital bump session anytime. Christ.

5) The person in charge of Guinevere’s wardrobe clearly didn’t have Angel Coulby’s best interests at heart.

90% of Guinevere’s dresses were designed to hold her breasts up to her neck, a thing that couldn’t have been the character’s fashion choice because she was poor as shit. I remember always being super concerned when watching her scenes, wondering how much discomfort she must’ve been in while filming.

6) WTF was that ending??

In the show’s two final episodes, the writers go on a killing spree, in what I suspect was an attempt to shove as many tiny knives as possible into the hearts of fans. But the biggest knife is when Arthur dies before Merlin can save him. Merlin is distraught because now the prophecy of Arthur uniting Albion will never be fulfilled, but Kilgharrah tells him that Arthur will indeed rise again in Albion’s greatest hour of need. Fast forward to present day and we get a glimpse of an old, immortal Merlin still waiting for Arthur to rise up.

So in what I assume was millennia, Albion’s greatest hour of need never came? Is that hour of need Brexit?? Will Merlin’s watch ever end???

While you’re here, click here to take a quiz to see how much you remember from the show, Merlin.
We may give the Emmys props for adding Kunle Afolayan and Tunde Kelani to the Emmy jury, but why? The truth is that these men are damn good filmmakers, so it took them long enough!

The Emmys are pretty shortsighted, often repeating old shows for award categories even though there are waaaaaaay better shows on air. And since they won’t recognize some of these shows for their glory, this is Zikoko’s comprehensive list of the award categories, featuring shows and actors/actresses that we know the Emmys will NEVER recognize, but we secretly wish they did:

Best Use of Narration

For every time you wanted to hand the narrator an Emmy for being so awesome!

Jane the Virgin, The CW

A to Z, NBC

Fresh Off the Boat, ABC

Black-ish, ABC

Show with the Best Premiere

Wouldn’t you like to award the reason you watched episode 2?

Mr Robot, USA

You’re the Worst, FX

Unreal, Lifetime

Inside Amy Schumer, Comedy Central

Jane the Virgin, The CW

Best Use of Product Placement

Yes, we get it. They gave you money.

Vampire Diaries, The CW

Mad Men, AMC

House of Cards, NetFlix

Suits, USA

Modern Family, ABC

Best “let’s give someone else this award” Show/Actor

Please let someone else – anyone else – hold the moon man.

Modern Family, ABC

Julia Louis Dreyfus, Veep

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Most Overdue Actress

We still don’t understand why they haven’t got their due.

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Mae Whitman, Parenthood

Eden Sher, The Middle

Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Most Overdue Actor

For Gods’ sakes. Just give one of them!

John Hamm, Mad Men

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Louis C.K, Louie

Most Overdue Show

Really? Really? Wonder who they offended on the jury…

Parks and Recreation, NBC

Orange Is the New Black, Netflix

Show we’re most glad is not on the air anymore to win awards

No more cameos or crystal meth.

Entourage, HBO

Breaking Bad, AMC

Best “Hahahaaa, a-holes!” Show

To the shows that shock us, time and time again.

Girls, HBO

Broad City, Comedy Central

You’re the Worst, FX

Best “the Emmys don’t know it exists even though it’s freaking great” Show

They’re here, they’re great, they’re unrecognized.

Broad City, Comedy Central

You’re the worst, FX

Orphan Black, BBC America

The Middle, ABC

Satisfaction, USA

Best “How did this make it on air” Show

No words.

Ballers, HBO

Eye Candy, MTV

Scream, MTV

Bad Judge, NBC

Manhattan Love Story, ABC

State of Affairs, NBC

Best “Why is This Still on air” Show

Who the hell signed off on new seasons of these?!

Devious Maids, Lifetime

Suits, USA

Vampire Diaries, The CW

The Game, BET

Scorpion, CBS

Finding Carter, MTV

2 Broke Girls, CBS

True Detective, HBO

As you can see, we weren’t lying! Which other categories would you like to see in the Emmy Awards list? Let us know…