No Problem! (TV series)

No Problem! is a Channel 4 sitcom that ran from 1983 to 1985, created by the Black Theatre Co-operative. The show was written by Farrukh Dhondy and Mustapha Matura.[1] Twenty-seven episodes were broadcast of the programme, which focused on a family of Jamaican heritage, the Powells, living in a council house in Willesden Green, London.[3] It was voted Britain's 100th best sitcom in a poll carried out by the BBC.[4]

No Problem!
GenreComedy
Created byBlack Theatre Co-operative
Written byFarrukh Dhondy,
Mustapha Matura[1]
Directed byNic Phillips
StarringVictor Romero Evans, Malcolm Frederick, Judith Jacob, Janet Kay, Sarah Lam, Shope Shodeinde, Chris Tummings, Angela Wynter[2]
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series3
No. of episodes27
Production
Executive producer(s)Humphrey Barclay
Producer(s)Charlie Hanson
Production location(s)London
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Original release7 January 1983 (1983-01-07) –
1 June 1985 (1985-06-01)

Synopsis

No Problem! was the first sitcom to be broadcast on Britain's new Channel 4 TV station. It was also the first comedy series specifically to address the lifestyle of the British black community.[5] The show's producers made a conscious decision to focus on comedy rather than "race issues", which drew some criticism. Writing for the BFI website Screenonline, critic Mark Duguid said:

The 1980s saw television moving with the times and beginning to respond, albeit awkwardly, to calls for greater sophistication in black representations. No Problem! (ITV, 1983–85) drew its cast and creators from the Black Theatre Co-operative, and concerned the teenage and twenty-something Powell kids, left to fend for themselves in a Willesden council house after their parents have returned to Jamaica. But the accent was on comedy, not politics, and the show quickly alienated some black activists, who objected to the narrow roles allotted to its female characters, to its casual jokes at the expense of Asians (ironic given its Asian co-writers, Farukh Dhondy and Mustapha Matura), and even to the scenario itself, which, in the words of cultural critic Paul Gilroy, put "voluntary repatriation at the heart of the situation".[6]

Cast
Bellamy Victor Romero Evans
Beast Malcolm Frederick
Sensimilia Judith Jacob
Angel Janet Kay
Susannah Sarah Lam
Terri Shope Shodeinde
Toshiba Chris Tummings
Melba Angela Wynter

Also directed/produced by Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.[7]

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References
  1. Smith, Gabrielle (3 December 2010). "Throwback TV: No Problem!". UK: I Am The NuBlack. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  2. Belcher, David (14 January 1984). "Weekend Viewing Guide". The Glasgow Herald. Glasgow, Scotland. p. 18. Retrieved 28 April 2011. The return of the patch comedy series about five young black Londoners whose parents have sold the family business and retired to Jamaica, and left them to run the family house in Willesden. With Shope Shodeinde, Victor Romero Evans, Janet Kay, Chris Tummings and Judith Jacobs.
  3. Lewisohn, Mark (10 September 2003). "BBC – Comedy Guide – No Problem!". BBC. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  4. "BBC – Comedy – Britain's Best Sitcom". BBC. 28 July 2003. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  5. Worthington, T. J. (November 2002). "Part One: From The Comic Strip to The Cosby Show". Off The Telly. Archived from the original on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  6. Duguid, Mark (8 June 2008). "Race and the Sitcom – How the sitcom has tackled one of society's must difficult subjects". British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  7. "Micky with the cast of 'No Problem!'". Monkees Live Almanac. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
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