I Love Lucy: UN Edition?
Bored with Desperate Housewives and Seinfeld? Is Dr. McDreamy leaving you hanging? Tune into “Plastic Sheeting in the Wind,” to be broadcast in primetime every Saturday night beginning May 30th on Japan’s public television network (NHK)! The concept for the new television drama, which follows the life of a fictional pu blic information assistant named Rika Kudo who joins the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is based on the need to improve awareness of the United Nation and its work with refugees and internally displaced persons.
The show highlights the dangers aid workers face in conflict-prone areas and the challenges faced by asylum-seekers in Japan, while incorporating sensationalist elements to entice millions of viewers to tune in week after week. The protagonist must overcome obstacles and hardships most of us do not typically encounter in day-to-day life, including having to bid farewell to her husband, a UNHCR protection officer, when he is reassigned to Sudan. Other twists and turns are sure to have you clinging to the edge of your seat!
Using fictional accounts, the show will raise awareness of the UNHCR and stimulate dialogue about refugee issues of increasing importance in today’s conflict-ridden world.
