Popular South African reality-TV show The Coolest OG’s is now streaming on Showmax – which means viewers across the world, including the UK, France, Australia and the rest of Africa, can now watch its engaging intergenerational stories.
The show, which sees 12 senior citizens compete for the title of hippest “golden oldie,” proved popular right across all age groups when it aired in a prime-time slot on SABC2 earlier this year.
‘Coolest OG’s’ on Showmax tackles ageism
“It’s more than just a TV show with grandparents doing wacky things – it’s an opportunity to talk about ageism in society,” says Jimmy Muteba, executive producer of The Coolest OG’s at Rebelintown Productions.
“Older people are a marginalised group, often excluded from conversations, media and entertainment. We need to talk about it – and The Coolest OG’s tries to do that in a fun way. If we’re lucky, we’ll all get old one day.”
Head of content at Showmax, Candice Fangueiro, congratulates the show’s team for their recent nomination for Competition Show of the Year at the 2021 Content Innovation Awards held in London.
“We’re delighted to bring our audience such a fun show that is shifting perceptions and starting important conversations around growing old,” she adds.
What to expect
Each episode introduces a new challenge for the contestants, ranging from gaming to songwriting, music video production (original music, wild outfits and all), modelling, art, acting and more – activities that might be second nature to millennials and zoomers (the Gen Z crowd), but could give an older person pause.
With the help of their grandchildren and influencers, the seniors battle it out, with someone being forced into early retirement every episode, until only one – the ultimate Coolest OG – remains, taking home a cash prize of R100,000. The judges – who look at both performance and swag – are a panel of four 20-somethings making waves in the fashion, music, film and food industries.
Season 1 of the South African edition of the show, which was shot in 6K on the RED Epic Dragon, was filmed at the height of the pandemic, in the safety of the contestants’ homes. Talks are underway for spin-offs in other countries such as the US, UK, France, Sweden, Nigeria and Kenya, among others.
Muteba hopes to get audiences chatting about the inspiring things that the elders in their communities have done, regardless of where – or how – they grew up. “By sharing their stories, we start to bridge the gulf between generations,” he says. “And that has a real impact on people’s lives and society at large.”
The Coolest OG’s is available on Showmax across Africa and in the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
For more information about the show, please visit rebelintown.com or follow them on Instagram @tcogsa, Twitter @tcogsa and Facebook @tcogsa.