My first introduction to Turkish series was 10 years ago when I was leaving my teenage years behind and thinking of myself as an adult while my acts were still very juvenile. It was in the second year of college when I decided the most major step for me at this time and choose to be specialized in architecture. I and my colleagues left all of this new exciting stage behind and only talked in our free time about one thing. The new Turkish series —which happens to be one of the best turkish romance dramas— that was airing at the time in our channels, Forbidden Love.
Like anyone of my colleagues, I was hooked to the romantic series. It was dubbed to Arabic and aired in our TVs for everyone in our region to watch. I don’t think that anyone wasn’t following the show or at least have someone in their family member who’s watching it. Even the non-tv people became addicts to the show. And what not to love in a forbidden love.
Back then, we didn’t know what’s the sequence of the Turkish series is like. Is it long, short, dramatic, full of events? We were hooked to the drama and the romance in this series which is something we as Egyptians love to indulge in. We make the same kind of series, but we don’t give the same love portion in our shows. Mainly our Egyptian series are aired daily except for the weekend. And each episode is 30 minutes long, yes, including the ads. Forbidden Love was originally long. Each episode is 120 minutes long, aired weekly. When our channel aired it, it had to cut each episode to 4 episodes for us to watch in 4 different days. What we noticed is that the Turkish series is filled with details that we as Arab viewers can get bored with if we watched the developments of the events in four days. And if you think that this problem stopped us, you’d be wrong. The show was a major success which encouraged tourism in Turkey. Turkey became the dream destination in our countries. Even the villa that the series was filmed in is still one of the attractions that Arabs love to visit when they travel to Turkey. We felt the familiarity in their culture, and we felt safe to discover more. Muhannd (Kivanç Tatlitug, the lead actor of Forbidden Love) is a memory of the dream man a girl once fantasied for months. For the majority of the girls who didn’t like him, they hated the fact that he doesn’t give them a chance to be prettier than him. A thought I heard more than once by girls who don’t think of him as their dream man.
From that moment, Turkish series entered our lives and our news in a way that I couldn’t handle. It was everywhere, and I was one of those who wanted a full movie or a full series in front of me to end and get done with. I abandoned the Turkish series after watching another one that was aired right after Forbidden Love in the same way (on tv, with ads and each episode divided into 4). I thought I was done for good with Turkish series and their deliberate events.
Two weeks ago, my friend was catching up with me and noticed that I need a portion of corny love in my life. I assured her that I watch romantic-comedy movies every other week and I’m in a good state. She introduced me to a new series called Erkenci Kus (Early Bird). A Turkish romantic-comedy series about a girl named Sanem who can’t land a permanent job and dreams to become a famous writer one day. She then goes to work in an advertising agency her sister works in. And where she meets Jan, and his brother Emre. Two bosses that one of them turn her against the other, while she fell in love with Jan and the adventure begins. I was in need of a thing that I can’t forget myself in and dive deep after working without any rest to relaunch the site for straight three months. For the first time in a long time, I needed the little details.
The series was more than what I expected. Trendy, talked to our age in a very fun and carefree way. Easy going, light like any romantic-comedy movie you can escape to after a day of work. The episode is so long, a movie long, but thanks to Youtube, I enjoyed watching it. Also, it was the first time for me to watch a Turkish series translated so it was more real. I learned a lot of things. Like, most of the nouns of the Arabic language and Turkish are the same. So it’s interesting to learn Turkish, and now I can understand why so many Arabs learn Turkish. There is a similarity in both cultures and food which also, can now understand more why we are so hooked to them.
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Demet Özdemir and Can Yaman are playing the most charming couple. We can say they are the dream couple of 2019. Everyone one in the cast is playing their part as if it’s their real life. And each woman in the series played a vital part that stuck with me. Sanem’s close friends, sister, mother, neighbor, enemy, and frienemy, each one already exists in our lives, and the series was taken from this life and performed in the most perfect way. For customs, Parlaque is doing an amazing job in applying the trends on Can and is not afraid of showing it. Can style is loud and clear, and the little details she adds speak the loudest. Furthermore, Dilsan Selek the stylist for Demet, Öznur Serçeler and most of the cast did a remarkable job for us viewers to easily understand each personality from what they are wearing before they start to act. I even had fun watching her outtake in the ’80s fashion in a fun clip the girls did in the series (above photo).
After two days of binge-watching, I was watching Katie’s stories in a very low sound and I swear I felt like she’s talking in Turkish and I’m trying to understand her by turning it up. It hit me halfway there that I’m hooked to this life more than I thought. After watching 3 to 4 episodes a day, yes, I literally didn’t want to do anything else. The only thing that stopped from watching more is sleep. You can’t finish an episode without at least check the episode after to know what will happen. You can’t close in the middle of the episode because there’s always a catch. Whether it’s a party, a kiss, something you want closure for. I felt like I was back in time when I used to watch Disney movies as a child and was so intrigued about the dramatic events, but waiting for the happily-ever-after ending so bad that I’m sure it’s going to happen eventually.
On the fourth day, the soundtrack of the series became my alarm. Preparing my morning coffee while it’s playing on the background is the time of my life. After playing 28 episodes in one week, I discovered that the show is still airing in Turkey. And I have to wait weekly for the remaining episodes. That’s when the fun stopped, and I had to wake up. And writing about it to fall in this mood again.
Update
Turkey series became my beautiful escape. Where I disconnect from work and the rushing lifestyle I’m living right now. After writing this post, Erkenci Kus got canceled because they elongate it, and did a second season which was, in my opinion (and the audience), not necessary for the story. But the good news is, when the show started to get boring, I started to look for other Turkish series and movies. And I found out that I don’t like Turkish movies as much as series. I’m having fun watching few of the best Turkish romantic-comedy series out there, scheduled only on the weekends. If you are searching for suggestions of Turkish dramas like Erkenci Kus, here is a handful of selection that I think you might like. Love Has No Words (Aşk Laftan Anlamaz), a portion of love you don’t need IRL and might kill you, but would love to watch, thank me later.The Queen Of The Night (Gecenin Kraliçesi), and Falcon Crest if you need a little action between all the romance scenes for some refreshing.
