26 - New Year's Special

26 - New Year's Special

Author: Gino Shelile January 1, 2024 Duration: 7:25

Welcome to the first podcast of the year, on the first day of the year. 1 January 2024. Happy New Year to all of you, wherever you are.
Let’s take a look at 2023.

Episode 01 of African Couch Potato - the Mash-up entered the digital arena on the 18th of July, Nelson Mandela's birthday.
It is now listened to from Johannesburg to San Francisco, from Toronto to Tokyo, Across Africa, the United States, through Europe and into Asia - not bad for six months.

We are available on over 15 different streaming/podcast platforms and so far have featured 14 in-studio guests - not bad for six months. 

We already have a good list of recommendations from you, the listener, and we will get to them as soon as we can. Keep sending them in - it is good to keep Gino busy.

Our local recommends while you are still doing the holiday vibe include:

On Netflix,
  The Queenstown Kids
  Can You See Us
  Love, Sex and 30 Candles
  Miseducation, Netflix
  Runs In The Family
  Yoh! Christmas
  Magenta Coal
  Six In The City

On Prime,

  My Girlfriend’s Father
  Courting Anathi
  The Honeymoon

On Showmax
  Adulting 2 
  1802

We wish you all a very Happy New Year, and trust that one of your New Year's resolutions is to keep on binging.

Yes? No? Send us a text

Let us know what you think, what movie or series you would like to see featured, or just to tell us how brilliant it all is:
instagram.com/africancouchpotato
twitter.com/africancouchpot
gino.arlechino@gmail.com

WhatsApp Channel: Mzansi Film News, Views and Reviews 

YouTube; African Couch Potato - YouTube 

https://www.patreon.com/c/AfricanCouchPotato 

Gino Shelile’s profile • Letterboxd
Member of the Film Critics Association of South Africa (FCASA)

Produced by Ted Loukes and A10 Consulting
ted@aten.co.za

Music by The_Mountain from Pixabay

© SANTE MEDIA 2026


Gino Shelile’s African Couch Potato offers a distinctly South African lens on the world of screens, big and small. As an award-winning TV producer himself, Gino brings a seasoned insider’s view that goes beyond simple reviews. Each episode feels like a relaxed, insightful conversation, blending a deep-dive review of a current film or series with curated recommendations for what’s worth your time in the coming week. The podcast truly shines in its interviews, where Gino chats with a variety of industry professionals right from the studio, uncovering the stories behind the stories we watch. There’s also a fond look back at older movies that deserve a fresh viewing, all discussed with a local flavour you won’t find elsewhere. It’s a comprehensive, engaging listen for anyone who loves to think and talk about television and film, delivered with the warmth and knowledge of a friend who really knows his stuff. Tune into this podcast for a regular, thoughtful fix of screen culture that feels both personal and professional.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 144

African Couch Potato
Podcast Episodes
S3 Ep40 Sean Radford on Foley and Sound [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Footsteps, glass breaking, punches, door slams, clothes swishing, rain on the windscreen. How would your TV or film be if all these sounds and many more like them were missing? In the world of production it is not always…
S3 Ep39 News, Views and Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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A quarter of the way through 2026 and it's another Monday morning and another episode of African Couch Potato. Welcome to the latest news, views and reviews. Sadly, we kick off with the loss of Chuck Norris. Probably mos…
S3 Ep38 Jonty Acton on “The Reconciliation” (Film) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:23
Over the last 30 years or so, we have seen many films and TV productions that have, in different ways, looked at the issues of South Africa's troubled past, but very few have looked from the white, English-speaking persp…
S3 Ep37 Chaeli Mycroft on the Chaeli Campaign (Podcasthon) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:53
Podcasthon! What is that? It is an international collection of podcasters who over this week will be dedicatig one episode of their show to a charity of their choice.Podcasthon started in 2023 with 300 French-speaking po…
S3 Ep36 Wesley West on Film Composition and Music Production [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:09
There are many people who play an integral part of any TV or film production, yet are often not noticed when it comes to fame and fortune. It is part of our mission at ACP to turn the spotlight on these people. On an eve…
S3 Ep35 News, Views and Reviews [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:07
March already! It'll soon be Christmas at this rate.Welcome to episode 35 of season 3 of African Couch Potato. This week we say Goodbye, Hello and Congratulations.We say Goodbye to Eric Dane. Best known for his roles on…
S3 Ep34 Tim Apter and Elle Oosthuizen on "Helderberg" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:16
On November 28, 1987, South African Airways Flight 295, a Boeing 747-200 named Helderberg, was en route from Taiwan, to Johannesburg with a scheduled stop in Mauritius. Shortly after midnight, the aircraft reported smoke…
S3 Ep33 Rian van Heerden on “Brakpan Chronicles” [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:23
In Brakpan if they invite you for a fight, a braai will break out. Even people from Brakpan make fun of Brakpan! The two-part documentary series Brakpan Chronicles is due out on Showmax this Friday and in this episode Gi…
S3 Ep32 Aluve Mjali on a Budding Career [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:26
Into the second month of the year and the next date on the horizon is this weekend's Valentine's Day. Two years ago saw the Valentine movie Forever Yena hit our screens. Patience, we'll get there! Playing the role of Kwa…
S3 Ep31 Keketso Mpitso on “Outlaws” [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:32
He’s the chaos agent you can’t ignore. The family menace who somehow built himself a fanbase. The man who turned balaclavas into a movement. Tlali is back for Outlaws Season 2 and he’s hungrier, wilder, and more unhinged…