Betoch

Betoch
Betoch
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Tilahun Gugsa
Starring	Tilahun Gugsa; Seble Tefera; Gelila Raesom; Nitsu Haile; Maekda Haile; Fikadu Fasil; Ashenafi Mehalet; Melat Tesfaye; Nibret Gelaw;
Theme music composer	Tilahun Gugsa Productions
Opening theme	"Betoch" voiced by Tilahun Gugsa
Country of origin	Ethiopia
Original language	Amharic
No. of episodes	365
Production
Executive producer	Tilahun Gugsa
Production locations	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Camera setup	Videotape; Multi-camera;
Running time	25–30 minutes
Production company	Tilahun Gugsa Productions
Release
Original network	EBC
Picture format	480i (season 1–5); 1080i (season 5–present);
Original release	12 January 2013 –; present

Betoch ([bé to chə]; Amharic: ቤቶች, lit. 'Houses') is an Ethiopian family sitcom starring Tilahun Gugsa airs on EBC (formerly ETV) since 2013. The series airs every Saturday and focuses on a middle class family living in Addis Ababa.^[1]

It gained wide popularity among the broader Ethiopian public as it was the first sitcom ever aired in the country.^[2]

Premise[]

Character Zeru (Tilahun Gugsa), is a patriarch who manages his whole family from financial problems and crisis, trying to make his family in the appropriate situation that is necessary to their life. His wife Azalu (Makda Haile) have knowledge about law, treating her children in a fair way. They live with their four children Meraf (Gelila Raesom), Bezabe (Fikadu Fasil), Erestae (Melat Tesfaye), and Yebekal (Ashenafi Mehalet). Although the series contains comedic in nature, it does touch on serious subjects from time to time, such as corruption.^[3]

Casts and characters[]

Actor	Character	Seasons
Actor	Character	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Zeru (ዘሩ)	Main
	Azalech (አዛለች)	Main
	Marfee (ማርፊ)	Main
	Yebeka (ይበቃ)	Main
	Bezabe (በዛብህ)	Main
	Erestae (እርስቴ)	Main
	Shashe (ሻሼ)	Main
	Eke (እከ)	Main
*	Tirfe (ትርፌ)* Deceased	Main					No Appearance
	Basha (ባሻ)	Recurring
	Na (ና)	No Appearance						Main

Death of Seble Tefera[]

Seble Tefera (24 August 1976 – 12 September 2015) was known for playing the role of "Terfe" killed by car crash while she was travelling to Bahir Dar with her husband in the Ethiopian New Year. The two were listening to radio aloud and caused distraction out of their attention. Her husband who was driving the car spontaneously crashed into a stationed truck in an area commonly known as Saris.^[4] Seble was pronounced dead on arrival in local hospital as she transferred by paramedics and her cause of death is blood loss and acute head trauma induced by blunt impact in her brain, her ceremony took a place in Holy Trinity Cathedral, with notable people and relative presented. Betoch suspended its broadcast to a month and showed snippets of her performances in the series as the cast members mourned.

References[]

^ Kassa, Lucy (Sep 21, 2015). "The Highest Price of Life on the Road". Addis Fortune.
^ Mulat, Addisalem (6 March 2016). "Ethiopia: 'The Ethiopian Film Industry Is Still Crawling,' Artist Tilahun Gugsa". All Africa.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Mulat, Addisalem (August 1, 2017). "Actress Stepping Up the Ladder of Success". All Africa.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Artist Seble Tefera Laid to Rest". www.durame.com. Retrieved 2018-09-02.

[Kassa_2015-1] Kassa, Lucy (Sep 21, 2015). "The Highest Price of Life on the Road". Addis Fortune.

[2] Mulat, Addisalem (6 March 2016). "Ethiopia: 'The Ethiopian Film Industry Is Still Crawling,' Artist Tilahun Gugsa". All Africa.^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] Mulat, Addisalem (August 1, 2017). "Actress Stepping Up the Ladder of Success". All Africa.^{[permanent dead link]}

[4] "Artist Seble Tefera Laid to Rest". www.durame.com. Retrieved 2018-09-02.

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