"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (2008) TV series 2008-????

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Family | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Orphan | Friendship | Sick Brother | Secretary | Africa

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Jill Scott	...	Precious Ramotswe (7 episodes, 2008-2009)
Anika Noni Rose	...	Grace Makutsi (7 episodes, 2008-2009)
Lucian Msamati	...	JLB Matekoni (7 episodes, 2008-2009)
Desmond Dube	...	BK (7 episodes, 2008-2009)
Thabo Malema	...	Charlie / ... (5 episodes, 2008-2009)
Tau Maserumule	...	Fanwell / ... (5 episodes, 2008-2009)
Lebogang Motubudi	...	Richard Makutsi (4 episodes, 2009)
Harish Patel	...	Mr. Patel (3 episodes, 2009)
Brenda Ngxoli	...	Florence / ... (3 episodes, 2009)
Dipshika Mahajan	...	Nandira Patel (3 episodes, 2009)
Mosako Mogara	...	Wellington (3 episodes, 2009)
Kgomotso Delia Tshwenyego	...	Rose / ... (3 episodes, 2008-2009)

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

UK | USA | South Africa | Botswana

Language:

English | Tswana

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Botswana

Company:

Weinstein Company, The

Trivia:

This television show is based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. The first line of the series' first book is, "Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of the Kgale Hill."). This line is a deliberate literary reference to the opening line of Isak Dinesen's classic memoir about Kenya, Out of Africa (which starts "I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills." When Out of Africa (1985) was made into a movie, its director was Sydney Pollack; before his death, Pollack was the executive producer for "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (2008).

Charming, funny, bright as rainbows

The pilot for this series is very very close to the book(s), in tone and in content, if a little lightweight. The book series was perfectly charming, original in concept, playful and dignified and respectful of the human hearts at the center of this African culture, and so was this pilot. I do very much look forward to watching the series - the actors are a pure pleasure, and there's plenty of time to beef up the plots - PLUS- some great music! NO murderous cops, rotting corpses, drooling vampires, autopsies upon which the ME and his assistant eat their sandwiches, waggling, eye-level rump/crotch shots, convoluted quasi-Machiavellian mafia mobsters, sub-literate scriptwriters, howlingly ignorant plot devices. An original premise ... What a concept...