Noh Matta Wat! is a Belizean dramatic television series. It airs on Great Belize Television (Channel 5), Tropical Vision Limited (Channel 7), and Krem Television (cable).
It was created by the local advertising company 13 Productions, headed by businessman Denvor Fairweather, in conjunction with American film producer and Howard University professor Steve T. Berry. Fairweather is creator and executive producer; Berry is producer and director.
Premise The Diego Family (comprising the grandmother Tomasa, Margaret, her "sister" Lisani, and her son Randy) is a seemingly normal Belizean family. However, a chance meeting with a slick American stranger changes everything. The show chronicles their struggle to "live the Belizean life."
Characters Major Sherlette Lopez- (Margaret Diego) Carrie Fairweather- (Tomasa Diego) Curtis Gillett- (Steve Castillo, Season 1 only; likely to reappear) Shakera Samuels- (Lisani Diego) Kerret Paulino- (Randy Diego/Dynamo) Hershabeth Ramclam- (Rosanna Ramirez) Javier Canul- (Jack) Kent Clare- (Clifford Rowland) Allison "Dan Man" Hemsley- (Dan Man/Himself)
Recurrent roles Melton Morrison (Ray Phillips, Season 1,2,3; killed in season 3)
Minor Ichelle Jeffords (Tricia Rowland, Season 2 only) Samantha Hessler (Vanessa Ramirez, Season 2 only) Olimpia August (Nanigi) (Season 2, 3) Denvor Fairweather (Preston) Ansel West (Preston in Season 2- replaced Fairweather for two episodes) Steve Berry (intermittently in Season 2) Lucian (Juni) (Season 1, 3) Steven Lecky (Luga) (Season 1, 3) Elizabeth Villanueva (Shanice) (Season 2, 3) Pedro Cruz (Ramon Ramirez- Season 2 only) Glenda Price (Agnes Ramirez -Season 2) Fred Pakeman- (Faceless Stranger -Season 2) Ramon Joseph- (Jamie -Season 2)
Guest stars Famous Belizeans who have made appearances in the series so far:
Joan Burrell (community activist) EJ Hill (DJ, KREM FM) Lindsford "Supa G" Martinez (punta rock artist) Kenny Morgan (DJ, WAVE Radio) Myrna Manzanares (community activist)
The Diegos
The Diego family are the main characters in the Belizean television miniseries Noh Matta Wat!.
Tomasa Diego Tomasa (played by Carrie Fairweather) is the matriarch of the family. She is the voice of reason and often mediates conflicts between Margaret and her children, in addition to being a confidant to Margaret. She is quiet, wise and dignified as befits her character. Early in season 3, she visits relatives in the southern town of Punta Gorda, where she helps to quell a domestic violence situation threatening to explode, before returning to Belize City as of the fifth episode.
Margaret Diego Margaret (played by Sherlette Lopez), otherwise known as Mags or Maggie, is mother to Randy and Lisani and the daughter of Tomasa. She is struggling to expand her business while at the same time dealing with the return of the men in her life, Steve Castillo and Clifford Rowland. She is strong, opinionated, dedicated, fiery and protective, as seen in season 3 in her dismissal of Rowland and dealings with Randy following the latter's run-in with troublemakers.
Randy Diego The volatile sixteen-year-old (played by Kerret Paulino) attends high school in Belize City and aspires to become a rapper. He has secured the mentorship of neighbour Dan Man and has had at least two records played on national radio. His troubles stem from the fact that he does not know his father until he meets Minister Clifford Rowland in the middle of season 1. When he finds this out he becomes even more determined to be his own man. But early in season 3, after a run-in with escapees Juni and Luga, he seeks out his father's protection, signaling a possible change of heart.
Lisani Diego The industrious 18-year-old (played by Shackera Samuels) attends a tertiary level institution in Belize City and works part-time at a hairdresser's for extra money. The shock of meeting her father (Steve Castillo) in season 1 causes her to briefly rebel, but she returns to the fold just as quickly. She eventually normalizes her relationship with Castillo, only to run into more difficulties when one of her coworkers announces she is pregnant by him. This situation remains unresolved as of season 2. Early in season 3, Lisani receives a scholarship to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. (coincidentally the home of series director Steven Berry).
Theme and musical score The score and theme to Noh Matta Wat reflects dramatic origins. The theme was written by Steve T. Berry, music by Oscar Herrera and performed by Dan Man and Dynamo. The score and music for both seasons of the show has been composed by artists including Berry and Adele Ramos, as well as Shawn Tewes, Soundtrack and Enigma.
Opening, commercial and closing credits
Season 1 Each episode opens with the character of Granny Tomasa (Carrie Fairweather) taking a walk with a young boy, presumably from the neighbourhood, where they discuss aspects of the country's history as it relates to the series. After the last scene, cut to Garifuna drums being played as the theme music begins. A series of clips is shown for each of the characters Tomasa, Margaret, Randy, Lisani, Rosanna and Dan Man (in that order) before the camera freezes one clip and reveals that particular character's name in white. Another sequence is shown featuring the credits for the writer, director, producer and executive producer (over other show clips in yellow) before fading to black as the theme song ends.
Commercials A brown title card with face shots of all the main characters side by side appears as a male announcer says, "This segment of Noh Matta Wat is brought to you by...", followed by fade to commercials. No introduction is used coming back from commercials. The last segment usually features a dramatic moment followed by freeze frames of various characters; then the theme music plays as the end credits crawl up the screen on the right side: cast, crew, locations, sponsors. With the exception of episodes 3 and 4, the theme music accompanies the closing credits. In episodes 3 and 4, the closing song "Daddy Come Find Me" was written by Adele Ramos Daly and performed by Kerret Paulino and Dan Man.
Season 2 The opening credits now feature a highlight reel from the previous episode. The theme music plays after a camera swings back to the audience to reveal the show's name. Clip series is the same, except blue is used instead of brown, and the real names of the actors are added in italics above the character name. Clip sequences have been added for Kent Clare's Clifford and removed for Curtis Gillett's Steve. Commercials: A shot of the Diegos' house on Amara Avenue is shown, covered in blue with the show logo on the lower left, as a male announcer (who also introduces the highlight reel) says: "This segment of Noh Matta Wat is brought to you by...", followed by a female announcer reading the list of sponsors (she also announces the acknowledgment of season 2's corporate sponsors, Grace Kennedy (Belize) Ltd. and BTL). The same clip is shown on return from commercials, with a different male announcer shouting, "NOH MATTA WAT!" (He also shouts this phrase at the freezeframe section of the show and at the start). Closing credits remain the same. This has been edited in subsequent airings.
Writing and direction Noh Matta Wat! storylines and scriptwriting were scripted by media and film veterans Adele Ramos (a staff writer and senior editor at the Amandala newspaper) in season 1, and Kimberley Vasquez (Belizean stage and screenwriter) in seasons 1,2 and 3. Steve T. Berry returned in season 2 to direct the first two episodes, while James E. Cheek took the helm to direct episode 3 and the final episodes 6, 7 and 8. In addition, Kelley Chatman directed episode 4 and Eric Berry directed episode 5.
The DVD release of season 2 has been re-edited by Steve T. Berry so that the original sequencing of scenes has been rearranged. To add further confusion as to who directed what the existing credits on the first release of season 2 DVDs contains several errors. For instance, the reedited version of episode 2 now contains several scenes directed by James E. Cheek without mention of him as director in the credits and episode 3 has Kelley Chatman's name as sole director in the opening credits when in fact the episode contains scenes directed by both Ms. Chatman and Eric Berry. But the most glaring error is the opening credit given to Eric Berry as the director of episodes 6, 7 and 8 when in fact the re-edited versions contain scenes mostly directed by James E. Cheek and a few scenes directed by producer Denvor Fairweather.
Sponsors For the past two seasons, Noh Matta Wat! has been sponsored by Belize business houses. As of Season 2, 13 Productions (the distributor of the show as well as its creator) solicited some corporate sponsorship. A full list of sponsors may be seen in the show's closing credits as well as on its website.
Unlike other programs, Noh Matta Wat!'s sponsor commercials are embedded in the telecast, added during post-production.
Season overviews The pilot episode of Noh Matta Wat! aired November 28, 2005. To date, nineteen episodes of the program have aired, five in season 1, nine in season 2, and five in season 3.
Season 1 In Season 1, we are introduced to The Diego family. The family, of Garifuna descent, is a seemingly normal Belizean family. There is grandmother Tomasa Diego, her granddaughters Margaret and Lisani and Margaret's son Randy Diego. Margaret loves her son and sister. But she tends to believe the best in people, a belief that seems to do her more harm than good. Lisani, an independent but slightly naive girl, is studying and working part-time to furnish a better lifestyle for the family. Meanwhile, Randy dreams of becoming a performer and artist. He works with neighbour Dan Man, an established Creole entertainer who sees Randy's talent and nurtures it as best he can. Dan Man represents a sort of father-figure to Randy.
Lisani and her best friend Rosanna Ramirez, a wayward Spaniard with a penchant for excess, are picked up by the American expatriate Steve Castillo. Castillo, himself a flirt, finds it easy to converse with both young women, and has little idea that Lisani is the child whom he abandoned in youth to follow his own life. Margaret, who had never told Lisani the truth about Castillo, is now forced to tell her and, in so doing, endure her hatred for a time. Steve, who vows in one of the scene in the last episode to be there for Lisani, is later accosted by thugs Juni and Luga, shot, and forced to flee Belize.
Randy, stressed about not knowing who his own father is, records the single "Daddy, Come Find Me". In an irony of fate, Randy and the street hoods Juni and Luga and the erstwhile drug dealer Ray Phillips were hanging out when the latter trio shot and killed a rival. Randy is framed for the murder, and in jail, finds out that the man who will defend him, Clifford Rowland, is his father and a minister of Government and that he and Lisani are in fact half-brother & sister.
Season 2