Life Is Wild

One of the most gratingly annoying things on this planet is when Americans try to make cheap and patronizing Americanized versions of great British TV shows. Moreover, the series "Life is Wild" was set in Africa, so we could have expected to hear at least one Afrikaan accent now and then. But no, even the African characters all had distinctly American accents! Surely the American ear is not so fickle that it cannot tolerate the sound of an authentic English or Afrikaan accent?

I tried to sit through several episodes but found the characters to be totally irritating, unbelievable, poorly constructed and 2-dimensional. The poorly woven character threads meant that the rather thin plots came across as boring and shabbily portrayed. I could not relate to any of the characters, nor identify with them as being part of an African setting.

The family came to Africa on the premise of having serious family problems, but this came across as being vaguely comedic and trivialized, and almost seemed reminiscent of a family crisis from the Brady Bunch. After sitting through the first episode I found myself wishing that a rampaging lion or hippo would come racing on to the set and devour the whole cast and crew.

I am so glad that this show was cancelled. If anything, the series did, by way of comparison, manage to place the spotlight firmly back on the UK version called "Wild at Heart". Of course it too has its occasional lapses, such as the rather disjointed and emotionally bereft episode following the muddled and poorly conceived death of Sarah, as well as its occasional sojourns into excessive sentimentality. But I am prepared to forgive these lapses in the knowledge that "Wild at Heart" is the version that has justifiably stood the test of time and has faithfully established itself in the hearts and minds of audiences around the world. Clever direction and precise casting is clearly evident.

As for "Life is Wild", I still cannot understand why any producer would have invested in an Americanized copy of a successful English drama. As the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" I am convinced that American audiences are not so fickle as to ignore a show just because the characters have unfamiliar accents. It is the accents that help establish the characters within the setting. This seems like a simple and logical point of direction, but one that was apparently lost on the directors of "Life is Wild".

I know it is based on a British TV show, but, while I don't get why anyone would produce a remake while the original is still being filmed, I loved this show. I was deeply disappointed after I found out there won't be a second season and I get angry about this fact every time I re watch the show. I think it's great that there is/was a show about moving to Africa for a younger target-group. Most TV shows about or from Africa are more heavy and serious (I don't mean that this is generally bad). I'm personally a big fan of happy endings and shows that have a bit of a moral focus as well. Anyway for me it's a lighthearted, fun teenage/family drama.

To be fair I should mention that the original is also good (though I knew 'life is wild' before 'wild at heart') but it is not published in my mother language and while I watch multiple shows in English some of the actors in the original are quite hard to understand for me. But judging from the few episodes that where dubbed and the rest in English I enjoy life is wild more because it is more relateable to me and in my opinion adds more small sidejokes to the drama than the original while the original is a little bit more serious.

When I first saw the preview for this series on television, I thought that it might be an interesting show. However, I wasn't scrambling to to watch every episode because other shows piqued my interest more. I have recently watched two episodes online-- Umbuntu and Open for Business. The pilot was unavailable at the time, but i did go back and skim through it at a later date. Others may have my initial feelings about the show. My thinking was that there were better series' on TV. That was until i watched the episode after the pilot (umbuntu). It was captivating and funny and had characters who could actually act! In high school, i always wanted to get away from my life. I would have loved to have moved away to some other country for a year. This family gets to do that and we as the audience get to watch their trials, tribulations, and victories as a blended family in a strange country trying to make their life work.

I wanted to watch this show because I love Africa and I was excited to see a show every week that would remind me of it. That part has been great! The dad on the show is a vet, so there are plenty of African animal plot lines, and that's fun. The rest of the plot though is predictable and not all that compelling. I continue to watch each week, but I don't think I'd care too much if I missed one. It is a pretty clean show, which is rare and refreshing. The boy gets into trouble, but it is usually followed up with a lesson and some character growth, another nice route. I think that the show is picking up speed, I'm starting to care a little more about the characters (7 episodes in) - sometimes a show takes a bit of time to get going. I will watch it as long as it runs.

It seemed like a dumb idea from the jump: moving the Brady bunch family to Africa to bond. Africa, of all places. This was like a PBS special where you'll get to learn about a new culture while learning lessons about life in the midst.

This show is like a poor version of 7th Heaven, when 7th Heaven was in its worst and final seasons (after half of their biological children left).

The first episode was mildly interesting. Every episode after literally put me to sleep. The parents were dull. The children were duller.

Perhaps if they focused less on trying to teach a loving lesson, it wouldn't have gotten canceled. Incredibly bad actors also, except the Mom.

But, GOD, what a boring show.