Jonah from Tonga

Jonah from Tonga
Genre	Comedy Mockumentary
Created by	Chris Lilley
Written by	Chris Lilley
Directed by	Chris Lilley Stuart McDonald
Starring	Chris Lilley
Theme music composer	Chris Lilley
Composer(s)	John Foreman
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Laura Waters Chris Lilley
Producer(s)	Laura Waters Chris Lilley
Location(s)	The Grange P-12 College, Hoppers Crossing, Melbourne, Australia
Cinematography	Nick Gregoric
Editor(s)	Ian Carmichael
Running time	26–27 minutes
Production company(s)	Princess Pictures ABC HBO
Release
Original network	ABC iview (online) ABC1 (television)
Picture format	576i (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	2 – 4 May 2014 (iview) 7 May – 11 June 2014 (ABC)
Chronology
Preceded by	Ja'mie: Private School Girl
Related shows	Summer Heights High

Jonah from Tonga is an Australian television series written by and starring comedian Chris Lilley. The mockumentary series follows Jonah Takalua, a rebellious 14-year-old Australian boy of Tongan descent who had been introduced in Lilley's 2007 series Summer Heights High. At the conclusion of that series, Jonah was expelled from Summer Heights High.^[1] In this series, his father, Rocky Takalua, has sent him back to his homeland of Tonga to live with his uncle and their family in order to get Jonah's life back on track. The six-part series was produced by Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley in conjunction with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and screened on ABC1 in Australia, HBO in America, and BBC Three in the UK.^[1]

The entire series was available for streaming online for one weekend from 2 May to 4 May on BBC iPlayer and ABC iview, before starting a six-week run on ABC1 on 7 May 2014 and from 8 May on BBC Three. This was a first for a major Australian TV production.^[2] The series itself was a "ratings disaster" for both the ABC and BBC.^[3][4] It was later announced that the entire series would screen at select cinemas in several Australian cities followed by a Q and A with Chris Lilley.^[5] These events were subsequently cancelled, with refunds given^[6] and the website created to promote them removed.^[7]

Production

On 27 November 2013, Lilley confirmed that he would be bringing back Jonah Takalua (Summer Heights High) for a new show titled Jonah from Tonga in 2014.^[8][9][10]

Melbourne-based production company Princess Pictures and Chris Lilley produced the series with Australian Broadcasting Corporation and HBO. Parts of the show are filmed at The Grange P-12 College, a western suburbs school in Melbourne.

Characters

Jonah's family

• Chris Lilley as Jonah Takalua, the main character of the show. He previously appeared in Summer Heights High.
• Tama Tauli'i as Moses Takalua, Jonah's brother who has a talent for singing. Along with Jonah, he is a member of Fobba-licious.
• Isaia Noa as Rocky Takalua, Jonah's father. Rocky was previously portrayed by Tovia Matiasi in Summer Heights High.
• Linda Horan as Aunty Grace, Jonah's aunty, who he shows affection for.
• Jane Reupena-Niko as Melody, Jonah's cousin, who he finds attractive and occasionally attempts to date.
• Eigawe Hunt as Mary Takalua, Jonah's sister, who he constantly picks on for being overweight.
• Tevita Manu as Uncle Mamafu, Jonah's uncle, who decides that Jonah can no longer live with him on Tonga.

Holy Cross High School staff

• Doug Bowles as Mr Joseph, the teacher in charge of Lazarus House. He has difficulty teaching Jonah, which often leads to violence.
• Uli Latukefu as "Kool Kris", a youth worker who encourages the Fobba-licious crew to enter the Feel Da Beat competition.
• Meaghan Butler as Miss Hunt, a teacher at Holy Cross High School whom all the boys find attractive.
• Dorothy Adams as Sister Monica, a naive but kindly administration officer at the school in charge of the sick bay.

Other school students

• Jason Moleli as Manu, Fobba-liscious member.
• Lafaele Tauli'i as Israel, Fobba-liscious member.
• Tana Laasia as Sonny, Fobba-liscious member.
• Ilanna and Peggy, Fobba-liscious members.
• Bryce Padovan as Graydon, Mary's boyfriend and the school captain who doesn't get on with Jonah, the two of them always fighting and making one another.

Garingal Juvenile Justice Centre

• Belinda Sharp as Therese Cooper, an officer at the Juvenile Centre.
• Mose Mose as Kevin, Jonah's cell mate at the Juvenile Centre.
• Braydan Pittman as Jarrod, one of the boys that disrespects Jonah. Jonah says that he is a cockhead and always goes into arguments.

Reception

The series received mixed reviews, attracting criticism both for its portrayal of Tongans and for Lilley's use of make-up. The series was poorly received by Tongans in Australia,^[11][12] and several organisations in the United States criticised HBO's decision to air it.^[13] Morgan Godfery, writing in The Guardian, described Takalua as Lilley's "most endearing character", but said that he had made Polynesians "collateral damage on [his] quest to critique racism". Godfery also suggested that because not all viewers could "identify Lilley's purpose", he was "in essence, acting out a modern minstrel show".^[14] Giles Hardie, writing for The New Daily, described the show as "quite blatantly racist – playing on the cultural traits and responses to an ethnic community", but "hitting a variety of ethnicities and in doing so lumping us all in together". However, Hardie also noted that Lilley was "one of a handful of comedians in the world" who "force society to laugh in recognition at an unacknowledged reality and, while it laughs, to engage in some healthy introspection", and concluded that the series was not "creating the stereotype", but "challenging an existing one that is found in society".^[15]

Episodes

Home video releases

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Official website
• Jonah from Tonga at the Internet Movie Database