The management of SaharaTV has canceled the satirical program, Dr.
Damages Show. The decision was reached after a marathon meeting by top management of the online station.
Saharareporters sources at the sister establishment say that the
decision to cancel the show came after four consecutive weeks of poor
ratings. The Dr. Damages Show attracts an average of 10,000 viewers a
week on youtube while its competitor, Keeping It Real with Adeola, enjoys an average of 20,000 viewers on youtube per week.
People close to the decision making process
at the TV studio said that the producers at the station want to
consolidate resources around shows that are very promising with young
and dashing hosts, like “Inside the Diaspora” and “Africa in the City”.
There is no word on what will happen to the show’s host, Rudolf
Okonkwo. Sources say that he has proceeded on a one month leave to the
Caribbean. What he will do when he returns is anyone’s guess.
“He needed the break,” says an insider at the station who pleaded
anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. “After 130 episodes
the young man appears to have run out of ideas of recent.”
Incidentally what made the show popular is the same thing that
appears to have killed it. The risk the producers took in their skits,
especially the ones that presented the irony in the activities of men in
authorities, ended up disgusting viewers who felt the show disrespected
authority figures.
Viewers were especially pissed off by the satirical portrayal of
President Goodluck Jonathan being slapped by Bishop David Oyedepo- a
spoof of the viral video of Bishop Oyedepo slapping of a young woman in
his Winner’s Chapel Church.
“Good riddance,” a long-term viewer repulsed by what he called the
show’s propensity to ridicule church leaders. “He failed to respect
people in power and I fail to see why I should shed tears for him.”
In a profile published by Premium Times newspaper,
the host described the goal of the show this way. “Nigeria is a failed
nation that works for the very people who has failed it,” he said. “It
stays that way because there are no natural consequences for their high
crimes and misdemeanour. There are no forfeitures. The eternal damnation
that various religions prescribe is virtual and unproven to many of
these characters. Everything visible in their immediate environment
reinforces their bad behaviors. As an individual, I have no power to
impose any sanction. The only power that I have is the power to make fun
of them. If it helps to make them reflect, I have excelled. If it only
reduces their ego, my job is done.”
A Seattle based fan of the show told our reporter that he would
greatly miss Dr. Damages Show. “Because of him leading pastors in
Nigeria do not behave in careless manner anymore, like slapping people
in church,” he said. “And because of him the president, any president,
will never miss his speaking slot at any international conference.”
That was a clear reference to Dr. Damages’ satirical take on the
President Jonathan’s disappearance at the AU meeting last year in Addis Ababa.
“He’s a pioneer,” he added, “and he will be greatly missed by those who understood the deep meaning of what he does.”
Dr. Damages told Premium Times that the final stage of democracy is
when we are free to laugh at the people who rule us. On this day, the
joke appears to be on him.
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