Bro'Town (2004-2009) is New Zealand's first primetime animated series produced by the comedy group "The Naked Samoans", and one that proved to be a wild success throughout the country. Filled with satirical cultural references and hilarious antics, it follows a group of teenagers living in Morningside as they bumble their way through school, puberty and life.
The group consists of Vale and Valea Pepelo, Sensitive Guy and Manly Man brothers; Sione Tapili, who thinks of himself as more popular and intelligent than he actually is; Rodney "Mack" McCorkenstein-Taifule, a soft-spoken and cultured young man who claims to have been raised on the streets but actually lives with adopted parents; and Jeff da Māori, who lives with his mum and eight dads. There are many other characters that flesh out the city, some more prominent than others.
Every episode starts and ends in Heaven with an argument or event ocurring that God, portrayed as a large, white haired Pacific Islander with dreadlocks and wearing a lavalava (Traditonal pacific island male dress), who then tells a story to show the people the error of their ways. Many characters have appeared in Heaven at the start and end an episode such as Jesus (portrayed as a slightly naive teenager), Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, Marie-Antoinette and many others.
Many guests have starred on the show, most of them being prominent in New Zealand or Pacific culture. Some guest stars include: Former All Black Michael Jones, Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, 3 News anchors John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld, Actor Keisha Castle-Hughes, Charles III (then-Prince of Wales), Rove McManus, Tana Umaga, Scribe, and Lucy Lawless.
The series ran for 5 seasons before ending with a total of 32 episodes, finishing in 2009.
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Tropes:
- Bland-Name Product: the competing schools in the "The Weakest Link" are thinly-disguised Auckland secondary schools - Saint Cuthersan's College (Saint Cuthbert's College
), Queen's College (King's College), and Howick Beijing College (Howick College)note - Catchphrase: Jeff da Māori's "Not even, ow!" for those unfortunate enough to have not seen it. For a time it had wormed its way into New Zealand slang.
- Valea, on the topic of girls. "Peow, peow!"
- Can't forget "Morningside for life!"
- Celebrity Star - Including, but not limited to: former Prime Minister Helen Clark, the 3 News hosts at the time (John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld), the entire New Zealand rugby team, New Zealand rapper Scribe and Charles III (then-Prince of Wales). In a subversion of the article description, it appears the guest stars are just thrown in for the hell of it.
- Fun with Acronyms: "The Weakest Link" had Francis of Assisi Grammar School.
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood - Most of the characters (that aren't white) have had rough childhoods, but none seem to be overly affected by it, and sometimes it helps. In the first episode, Sione knows all the measurements of Noah's Ark because his mother used to beat him with a Bible whenever he forgot his scripture lessons.
- King of All Cosmos: The God in Bro'Town is an amiable Polynesian chap, whose job is to keep order amongst the potentially-conflicting personalities in heaven.
- Luke, I Might Be Your Father: Jeff does not know who his biological father is. He's probably one member of a biker gang, so Jeff just refers to all of them as "Dad".
- Meaningful Name: Vale and Valea are the Samoan words for dumb and dumber, respectively. Which is silly, 'cause Vale is one of the more intelligent characters on the show.
- Product Placement: Common New Zealand products are often displayed such as; L&P soft drink, M&Ms, various Starburst candys and Watties canned goods. not for advertisement but to show the commercial side of Kiwi culture.
- Shown Their Work: Their principal Brother Ken◊ is Fa'afafine, a Samoan term referring to being born biologically male but embodying both male and female traits.
- Stock Foreign Name: Wong from Hong Kong, and also his family.
