Life Is Wild

I have been watching the series since its inception and I thoroughly enjoy it. It is a novel approach to a family story and family situation, albeit it is in South Africa which adds to the charm. While it sometimes causes me pause to keep track of the relationships the various members have to each other in the family, when I stop and think about it, it becomes more real, because that is what modern families are like. It is a joined family with mom and dad each having children when they marry, and the move to South Africa is to better cement the relationships among the various members and ensure bonding. They move into a motel-like situation which they decide to turn into an Eco-friendly resort, with mom essentially in charge. Dad is a veterinarian and is increasing the number of animals on the preserve to have more for the tourist-visitors to enjoy. They are hindered, for the most part lovingly, by dad's first wife's father who lives there and ran the place before they came. He objects to hard work,mostly, but also lots of other changes. The oldest boy and girl are in high school and in trouble of one sort or another almost continuously. It is enjoyable to see how they get out and how they are growing to adulthood. I most identify with Chase, the younger boy, who personifies what I was like at that age,pretty much of a loner trying to fit in. Played by K'Sun Ray I feel much for his plight. The story is well worth plugging into, very enjoyable.

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".

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.

When I first heard about the show, I didn't even think about watching it because I assumed it would be a boring show without cute guys, parties, and drama. Instead, i went to go watch Gossip Girl and Girlfriends. But one day when I went home and had nothing to do, I gave it a try. After the pilot, I had to watch the rest. Now, I'm so incredibly addicted to it, it's not even funny. I recommend this show to everyone. I've heard rumors about it possibly being canceled because it doesn't have a large enough fan base, but that is only because of the lack of advertising! You never see an advertisement about Life is Wild on TV, but you see one about Gossip Girl or Beauty and the Geek about every 5 minutes. This show never really seems to have a down-point, where it's really not that exciting. Every episode is amazing. So if you haven't watched Life is Wild, go! I promise that you'll like it.