Super OD, a television legend extraordinaire

Can I stick my neck out to say that last Sunday saw one of the most well attended one-week observance of anybody I know?

Ebony’s one week remembrance day turned into a mammoth gathering of family, friends, musicians, actors & actresses, celebrities and ordinary people.

The optics were seriously numbing as people from all walks of life properly turned up to show their respect to who many consider as a fallen hero.

If that was the barometer to measure the popularity of the young artiste who passed away so sadly a week before, then we all are witnesses to the results.

I am sure if the family of Ebony, and everyone else for that matter, had underestimated the popularity of the budding artiste, they would have changed their minds by now.

They massive turn up means that come March 17, when the burial and funeral would be held, they would think about a bigger venue if that wasn’t the initial plan.

We are in the mourning mood for Priscilla Opoku Kwarteng and yet we have to make it clear to some people that those who seek to mourn her shouldn’t be branded as hypocrites.

I have seen many others say that they were hypocrites because they did not show the same level of love towards her as they are doing now. My advice: let us all mourn the young lady in peace!

My main agenda today is to write about one of the greatest television icons of all time. Super OD as we knew him on our black and white television screens was an awesome character, a great entertainer with an outlandish sense of humour bar none!

The Sunday night drama show of the 70s and 80s, Osofo Dadzie was a big drawer of viewers to the only television station we had at the time, GBC TV.

One episode would not end before we fix our eyes on the next episode the next week.

Our Sunday nights were always reserved for an appointment with Super OD, SK. Oppong, Fred Adei, Kwadwo Kwakye, Bea Kissi, Frimpong Manso(Osofo himself) and others.

This was a bunch of talented actors and actresses who knew their audience and played to their strength to entertain them on weekly basis.

Trust me, we fought with our parents when they put any activity at the time that Osofo Dadzie would air and our parents knew better than to cross our television viewing experience on any given Sunday night. It was a taboo they would not want to mess with.

You have to know that in those days, especially in the very early 80s when we had entered deeply into the Osofo Dadzie thing, there were not many television sets in this country.

Some of us didn’t even have television in our side of the home and thus had to go into other people’s homes or rooms to watch television.

There were those owners of television who were bluffs and wicked (at least that’s what we thought they were at the time) who will make us stand behind the window of their sitting room to watch the show, for reasons known to them, especially the fact they accuse us of not bathing.

I’ll also have you know that electricity had not been ‘democratized’ in those days as it has now and so homes and rooms with electricity were few and far in-between.

To watch the black and white TV, some of those who did not have electricity had to look for a car battery to power the TV sets.

The point here is that, people went out of their way to ensure that they made a date with their best television show regardless of the bottlenecks that television, electricity and economic status would put in their way.

As I mentioned earlier, the cast of Osofo Dadzie were talented actors and actresses who gave us more than we needed in entertainment.

However, the one character that stood out in those days was one of the actors known as Super OD in the series.

Born Asonaba Kwaku Darko, Super OD, passed away last week Tuesday, February 13 at the Swedru Government Hospital.

This happened only a few days after we had heard another bad news on the creative arts scene – the accident and death of Ebony.

Super OD died at 84.

It is important to note that OD entertained us, as President John Dramani tweeted, through some of the most difficult times in Ghana.

During the early 80s when drought, hunger, coups and curfews were the lot of Ghanaians, we still would laugh on Sundays when Super OD and his posse come around with Osofo Dadzie.

The writer and producer of Osofo Dadzie, Nana Bosompra chose his cast well and if there was one person he was right in choosing, it certainly was Super OD.

This tall, gangly, clean shaven man was a bundle of joy to watch as he cracked jokes in Fante and broken English.

Before I conclude with this eulogy of the great Super OD let me say this that there was no better moment on television, whether now or in the past, than when Super OD smacks his “sakora” head when something horrible happened. It is one thing many young people did not witness and I think they missed a great deal.

Even when Super OD wasn’t doing much on television we heard him on the radio doing what he knew how to do best – crack jokes and make people happy.

His comical commentary of a football match between Ghana and Nigeria is stuff of legendary making and we shall never forget it.

His role on Peace FM’s Woba Ada Anaa? is something we will always remember him with.

Super OD was born to entertain Ghanaians and entertain us he did.

At 84 he had lived his life to full and we appreciate that he spent most of that ensuring that Ghanaians would laugh their hardship, pain and all negativities away. Rest well, Super “Fantabulous” OD!