Desperate Housewives Africa

Desperate Housewives Africa, also known as Desperate HWA, is a Nigerian comedy-drama-mystery television series Pan-African version of the American television series, Desperate Housewives created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios, that premiered on Ebony Life TV on 30 April 2015. The show features an ensemble cast, which includes: Joseph Benjamin, Kehinde Bankole, Omotu Bissong, Nini Wacera, Michelle Dede, Marcy Dolapo Oni and Linda Osifo.

The show was shot in Lekki. It is a Pan-African adaptation of the American series, Desperate Housewives, that aired from 2004 to 2012; the show has been minimally adapted to African themes; from character names to the main plot, but the main characters play the same roles as the characters in the original version.

Plot
A look at the seemingly normal suburban lives of African women as they seek to live out their aspirations through their families, career and relationships, set in the middle-class development on Hibiscus Lane on the Lekki Peninsula in Lagos. It begins with the shocking suicide of Rume Bello (Mary Alice Young); a beautiful housewife, known for her warmth and generosity. In death, Rume delves into the lives of the friends she left behind – commenting from her now elevated perspective. Her intimate circle of friends who are confused by her death, are introduced. Tari Gambadia (Susan Mayer) who is divorced, single-mother looking for love; Funke Lawal (Lynette Scavo) a corporate high-achiever turned stay-at-home mum of four children who create a huge scene at Rume Bello's wake seriously embarrassing her; Ese De Souza (Bree Van de Kamp), a devout and perfectly groomed housewife and mother of two teenagers, who is dealing with the outcome of her family's rejection of her façade and standards; Kiki Obi (Gabrielle Solis), ex Nollywood actress and trophy wife whose marriage to the rising movie financier Chuka Obi (Carlos Solis) fails to satisfy her deepest needs, and she turns to her personal trainer, Tai Etim (John Rowland) to alleviate her boredom. We are also introduced to the neighbours on the Lane including Rhetta Moore (Edie Britt) a twice-divorced real estate broker with a voracious sexual appetite, who aggressively competes with Tari for the affections of handsome newcomer, Larry Izama (Mike Delfino) who we later discover came to Hibiscus Lane with a hidden agenda. Tensions rise as Kay De Souza (Rex Van de Kamp) asks his wife Ese for a divorce; Chuka Obi treats his wife Kiki like she is on his payroll; Shina Lawal (Tom Scavo) is oblivious to his wife's frustration and growing desperation; Deji Bello (Paul Young), Rume's now widowed husband, seems to express his grief by suspiciously digging up his garden. Rume narrates the series from her vantage point, giving an insight into the lives, mysteries and conflicts of these four intriguing women.

Cast

 * Michelle Dede as Tari Gam
 * Omotu Bissong as Funke Lawal
 * Nini Wacera as Ese De Souza
 * Kehinde Bankole as Kiki Obi
 * Linda Osifo as Rhetta Moore
 * Mercy Dolapo Oni as Rume Bello
 * Nonso Odogwu as Kayonde De Souza
 * Femi Branch as Deji Bello
 * Joseph Benjamin as Chuka Obi
 * Jason Dwoga as Larry Izama
 * Susan Pwajok as Aisha Gambandia
 * Ben Touitou as Tai Etim
 * Ifeanyi Dike, Jr as Leo De Souza
 * Ozzy Agu as Shina Lawal
 * Omolara Akinsola as Esther Benson
 * Moyosore Okisola as Tobi Lawal
 * Emmanuel Osawaru as Tope Lawal
 * Imolejesu Noah as Tola Lawal
 * Esther Ubong-Abasi as Katherine De Souza
 * Shaffy Bello as Agnes Bassey
 * Blossom Chukwujekwu as Lekan Phillips
 * Carol King as Abike Haastrup
 * Lemmi Ilemona Adejo as Solomon Haastrup
 * Katung Musa Aduwak as Dunlandi Gambadia
 * Samuel Robinson as Akin Bello
 * Tina Mba as Furo George
 * Amaka Anioji as Nnena Okafor
 * Ayo Liyado as Father Ajayi
 * Nicole Vervelde Keza as Amanda
 * Faith Emmanuel as Bose
 * Gregory Ojefua as Private Investigator

Production
Auditions for various roles were announced in December 2013. Mo Abudu the CEO and executive producer led the production. Directed by Quinty Pillay, the cast members were mainly from Nigeria. The names of the cast were changed from names in the original show, in order to have African names. Michelle Dede plays Susan Mayer while Nini Wacera a Kenyan actress plays the adapted version of Bree Van de Kamp, as Kehinde Bankole plays Gabrielle Solis.Omotu Bissong plays Lynette Scavo, Mercy Dolapo Oni plays of Mary Alice Young and Linda Osifo plays Edie Britt.

The husbands that depicted the original version were, Joseph Benjamin playing African version of Carlos Solis, Larry Izama plays Mike Delphino, Femi Branch plays Paul Young, Ben Touitou plays African version John Rawland, Ozzy Agu plays Tom Scavo and Samuel Robinson plays Zach Young.

On July 30, 2015, the show went for a production break in order to replenish the remaining nine episode. It took over from September 3, 2015, from the fifteenth episode of the first season.

Broadcast
Desperate Housewives Africa premiered across the African continent and beyond on Ebony Life Television that is available on Multichoice dish, DSTV Channel 165 on 30 April 2015.

General Manager

 * Giovanni Mastrangelo

Created by

 * Marc Cherry

Created and written by

 * Marc Cherry

Written By

 * Marc Cherry
 * Jason Ganzel
 * Jenna Bans
 * Joshua Senter
 * Dahvi Waller
 * Kevin Etten
 * Brian Tanen
 * Alexandra Cunningham
 * Bob Daily
 * John Pardee
 * Joey Murphy
 * Wendy Mericle
 * Matt Berry
 * Kevin Murphy
 * Tom Spezialy
 * Jeff Greenstein
 * Joe Keenan
 * Jamie Gorenberg
 * David Flebotte
 * Marco Pennette
 * David Schladweiler
 * Chuck Ranberg
 * Anne Flett-Giordano
 * Susan Nirah Jaffee
 * Chris Black
 * Lori Kirkland Baker
 * John Paul Bullock III
 * Cindy Appel
 * Christian McLaughlin
 * Peter Lefcourt
 * Jeffrey Richman
 * Jim Lincoln
 * Scott Sanford Tobis
 * Valerie Ahern
 * Brian A. Alexander
 * Patty Lin
 * Tracey Stern
 * Adam Barr
 * Alan Cross
 * Katie Ford
 * Ellen Herman
 * David Schulner
 * Oliver Goldstick
 * Sheila R. Lawrence
 * Valerie Brotski
 * Bruce Zimmerman
 * Sara Parriott
 * Josann McGibbon
 * Annie Weisman