S4E6 - Eşref Rüya

Eda and Maha analyze, discuss, and explore Eşref Rüya, Mafia themes and their predictions & hopes for Season 2

Episode Notes

This week's episode is about Eşref Rüya. Eda and Maha explore the mafia romance genre, take a look at the main characters and do some analysis on each. They also make some predictions about the second season. Let us know what are your thoughts about Eşref Rüya in general. Did you enjoy the season finale? What are your expectations? Dizi Friends is on X and Instagram as well as Tiktok and Bluesky. Reach out to us, we're always excited to hear from you :)

Here's a link to Eda's essay about Eşref Rüya: https://edasavaseri.medium.com/eşref-rüya-and-the-three-musketeers-of-istanbul-dc19937690ce

Time Stamps:

00:00:00 - 00:12:00 Our thoughts on the mafia romance genre 00:12:00 - 00:26:38 Analyzing Eşref Tek 00:26:38 - 00:34:53 Analyzing Nisan/Rüya 00:34:53 - 00:48:17 Analyzing Çiğdem 00:48:17 - 00:56:40 Analyzing Kadir 00:56:40 - 01:00:19 Gürdal, Faruk and Müslüm 01:00:19 - 01:19:05 Season 2 Predictions 01:19:05 - 01:25:25 Closing words

As always, thanks for listening! See you on our next episode!

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S4E5 - Spotlight Chat with Rachel and Janina: A Group Chat gone live!

Rachel and Janina are our guests on this episode and the girls chat with them about dizis.

Episode Notes

This week Eda and Maha have two special guests, Rachel and Janina. Rachel is from New Zealand and Janina is from Estonia. They are Eda's first dizi friends and therefore have a special place in Eda'a heart.

Highlights from the episode:

03:18 - 05:39 Rachel introduces herself. 05:39 - 07:08 Janina introduces herself. 07:08 - 11:54 Janina's first dizi is "No 309". "Benim Tatlı Yalanım" also gets a mention. 11:54 - 13:17 Rachel's first dizi is "Sen Çal Kapımı". 13:17 - 18:20 How they would describe the dizi community during the pandemic 18:20 - 22:35 How different is the dizi community now 22:35 - 22:50 Mention of "Ateşböceği" - a cute romcom we recommended before 22:50 - 26:30 Mention of k-dramas and dizi edits 26:30 - 28:25 The effect of good translation 28:25 - 29:00 The new romcom: "Çift Kişilik Oda" 29:00 - 34:29 How the girls feel about mafia dizis and "Eşref Rüya" 34:29 - 36:17 Kuzgun is mentioned 36:17 - 38:21 Over the top villains that become boring ("Yargı" and "Uzak Şehir" mentioned) 38:21 - 40:03 "Maraşlı" is mentioned. 40:03 - 41:26 Elimi Bırakma mentioned 41:26 - 45:00 Their favorite actors (Son Yaz, Burcu Biricik, Gözde Cığacı, Aslı İnandık) 45:00 - 48:37 Janina recommends Oregon and 10 Days of a Curious Man on Netflix 48:37 - 51:12 What they would tell someone who is just starting watching dizis 51:12 - 53:49 Eda gives her thanks 53:49 - 56:13 Final thoughts

As always thank you for listening and please follow us on social media to get the latest news on our podcast!

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S4E4 - 10 Dizis To Get You Out Of A Slump

This week Maha and Eda make some dizi recommendations with lesser known dizi gems that will get you out of a dizi slump if you are in one.

Episode Notes

In this week's episode Eda and Maha have great recommendations for those of you who kind of feel like they are in a dizi slump. Even if you aren't make sure you check out these dizis that are probably lesser known gems. Here's the the list of dizis they discuss with the actors who star in them.

Rom Coms

  1. "Ulan İstanbul" (Bandits) is an action comedy drama starring Uğur Polat (Deha, Yargı), Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Kaan Yıldırım, Şebnem Bozoklu (Kızılcık Şerbeti)
  2. Benim Tatlı Yalanım (My Sweet Lie) is a rom-com starring Furkan Palalı, Aslı Bekiroglu, and Lavin Yaunleur.
  3. Baht Oyunu (Twist of Fate) stars Cemre Baysel and Aytaç Şaşmaz is one of the funniest and cutest rom-coms that have graced our screens.
  4. Kızım (Daughter) - Buğra Gülsoy, Beren Gökyildiz, Leyla Lydia Tuğutlu, Serhat Teoman, Tugay Mercan, and Sinem Ünsal (when she was first starting!)- a dramady with heart!

Drama/Action

  1. Evlilik Hakkında Her Şey (All About Marriage) is a legal drama starring Gökçe Bahadır (Ömer), Yiğit Kirazcı (Leyla), Sarp Akkaya, Gökçe Eyüboğlu.
  2. İkimizin Sırrı (A secret between two)- based on the Korean drama Marriage Contract. Stars Leyla Feray, Ahsen Turk Yilmaz and Aras Aydin.
  3. Kasaba Doktoru (The Town Doctor) stars Ozan Akbaba, Deniz Can Aktaş and Hazal Subaşı. A remake of the medical Korean drama Dr. Romantic.
  4. Ölene Kadar (Eternal) - Stars Engin Akyurek and Fahriye Evcen in a great crime drama. It promises a quick watch.
  5. Vatanım Sensin (Wounded Love) stars Halit Ergenç, Bergüzar Korel, Miray Daner, Boran Kuzum, Pınar Deniz. It is a period drama full of epic scenery and wonderful acting.
  6. Kuzgun (The Raven) stars Barış Arduç and Burcu Biricik- a crime drama with some of the best chemistry duo.

At the end of the episode we ask each other what is a guilty pleasure dizi we have and here's our answers. Make sure you let us know which one is yours on social media. Maha: Hercai Eda: Thank You Next (Kimler Geldi Kimler Geçti)

Thank you for listening as always and make sure you follow us on social media. https://linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

See you on our next episode!

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S4E3 - What's Happening in the Dizi World

This week Eda and Maha discuss some news regarding dizis and the actors surrounding them.

Episode Notes

Hey Friends,

Maha and Eda are back after a long break — and they're thrilled to return! In this episode, they catch up with each other and dive into the latest dizi buzz. Tune in as they discuss:

Kuma (Second Wife) – their first impressions of this new YouTube dizi “The Daughters of Buket” – unpacking the buzz around this famous manager and her unique approach to spotlighting the actors she represents Why Hudutsuz Sevda fans are upset Uzak Şehir – what’s working and why they think it’s holding strong Eşref Ruya – why the chemistry works and why Demet Özdemir deserves more recognition What’s going on with Can Yaman? – their take on his recent absence Plus, a deeper conversation on why dizis are so addictive — and the impact of their increasingly disconnected from reality storytelling on international audiences Also, the Dizi Friends Podcast will soon launch a Patreon, and we’d love to hear from you. What kind of bonus content or extras would you like to see there? Thanks for listening — we’re so happy to be back. See you in the next episode! Stay connected with us on social media — all our links are here: https://linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S4E2 - Spotlight Chat with Daphne MacLeod

This week we chat with author Daphne MacLeod about her dizi journey and her favorite Turkish series.

Episode Notes

Disclamer: Unfortunately because we record on Zoom and are in different locations we have some internet delay issues. We are working on a solution for this and we hope to have it resolved starting from our next episode. Thank you for your patience.

Hi friends, in this week's episode our lovely guests is Daphne MacLeod, an author who reached out to us online and that's how we became friends. She was so inspired by dizis that she even wrote a book called Queen Bee and the Turk. We discuss many things in this episode mentioned below as they may be difficult to catch through us chatting. :)

Goodreads link to Daphne's book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210485598-queen-bee-and-the-turk

Dapne's IG address : https://www.instagram.com/daphnemacleodauthor/

*The first dizis Daphne watched were: The Protector (Hakan Muhafız) and Çarpışma (Intersection) and she also counted As the Crow Flies (Kuş Uçuşu) as one of the series she would rewatch. Kiralık Aşk is also mentioned.

*Daphne's favorite actress is Naz Göktan. She feels like Can Yaman is overrated.

*Eda mentions Asmalı Konak - a dizi from the early 2000s, if you haven't seen it, here's a link to its IMDB page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365980/

*When we are discussing how women are portrayed in dizis, Daphne mentions Mezarlık (Graveyard) on Netflix. Go check it out, the second season is out!

Thank you for listening and we'll see you on our next episode!

Don't forget to follow us on our social media! https://linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

You can ask for Daphne's book Queen Bee and the Turk from your local bookstore. <3

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S4E1 - Season 4 Premiere: Current Dizi Lineup

In this episode we talk about the current dizi lineup as of March 2025 and share our thoughts on new projects.

Episode Notes

Hey friends, it feels so good to be back! As we start our new season all we wanted to do first was to give you a summary of the weekly lineup and our opinions about the new projects that have started. Here are all our notes to keep you informed. We hope you enjoy the episode and don't forget to follow us here and on our social media. Also let us know you thoughts, what are some projects you recently started and liked? Thank you for listening and see you on our next episode!

The ones with (*) are the new projects and you can find more info about their credits in the end.

Weekly Lineup

Monday

Uzak Şehir - Kanal D Kızıl Goncalar - Now

Tuesday

Bir Gece Masalı - ATV Bahar - Show *Kral Kaybederse - Star Mehmed: Fetihler Sultanı - TRT

Wednesday

Annem Ankara - Kanal D Kuruluş Osman - ATV - on its 6th season Leyla: Hayat…Aşk…Adalet *Sahipsizler - Star Sandık Kokusu - Show

Thursday

İnci Taneleri - Kanal D *Başka Bir Gün - ATV Hudutsuz Sevda - Now Siyah Kalp - Show

Friday

Arka Sokaklar Kanal D Zembilli - ATV Bir Zamanlar İstanbul - TRT Yalı Çapkını - Star Kızılcık Şerbeti - Show

Saturday

Can Borcu - ATV Gönül Dağı - TRT Sen Ağlama İstanbul - Star - Sadly ended its run on the 8th episode. Piyasa - Kanal D

Sunday

Kardelenler - ATV Şakir Paşa Ailesi - Now Teşkilat - TRT Deha - Show

New Projects

*Kral Kaybederse - Produced by OGM. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Gülseren Budayıcıoğlu, stars Halit Ergenç, Aslıhan Gürbüz, Merve Dizdar, Nilperi Şahinkaya. Directed by Yağmur Taylan, Durul Taylan and Cem Toluay. Screenwriters are Ertan Kurtulan, Eylem Akın and Sedef Bayburtluoğlu Gürerk.

*Sahipsizler - Produced by OGM. Stars Hazal Subaşı, Reha Özcan, Burak Berkay Akgül. Directed by Cem Karcı. Written by Selin Arapkirli, Ramazan Demirli, Özgür Ağaoğlu and Elif Hamamcı.

*Başka Bir Gün - Produced by Ay Yapım. Adapted from a British thriller called Keeping Faith by Rana Mamatlıoğlu and Bekir Baran Sıtkı. Director Çağrı Bayrak. Stars Ezgi Mola, Salih Bademci, Berkay Ateş, Şükran Ovalı.

*Can Borcu - Producer Mehmet Yiğit Alp, director Semih Bağcı, writer Onur Uğraş. Stars Bülent İnal, Ebru Özkan Saban, Mine Tugay.

*Kardelenler - Producer Nazlı Heptürk, Director Serkan Birinci, writer Gül Abus Semerci. Stars Barış Falay, Serhat Kılıç, Ayda Aksel, Uğur Uzunel

*Şakir Paşa Ailesi: Mucizeler ve Skandallar - Producer Fatih Aksoy, Director Bahadır Karataş, writer Hande Altayl. Stars Vahide Perçin, Fırat Tanış, Cem Yiğit Üzümoğlu, Meryem Uzerli, Denize Capezza, Nilsu Berfin Aktaş.

*Zembilli: Producer Süreyya Yaşar Önal, Directed by ufuk Hakan Eren, Written by Fatih Özcan. Stars Sude Zülal Güler, Emre Dinler, Damlasu İkizoğlu.

*Piyasa: Producer Pastel Film, director Serdar Gözelekli, starring İlayda Alişan and Alp Navruz - From the writer of Yalı Çapkını and director of Baht Oyunu, Yürek Çıkmazı and Afili Aşk

What’s Coming

  • Sustalı Ceylan - ATV - stars Sümeyye Aydoğan and Burak Yörük - Written by Sevgi Yılmaz, directed by A. Volkan Kocatürk - to be released soon
  • Eşref Rüya - Kanal D - stars Çağatay Ulusoy and Demet Özdemir. Produced by Tims&B, written by Ethem Özışık and Lokman Maral. Directed by Uluç Bayraktar - to be released soon

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S3E8 - Season Three Finale: Dizi Friends Podcast Unwrapped & Reflection

Eda and Maha share their dizi reflections and lists for the end of the year.

Episode Notes

In the final episode of 2024 and also the last episode of the third season of Dizi Friends, we really want to take a look back at the second half of the year especially starting from September and give you an update on all the new dizis that started. We also want to give you our version of Spotify’s Wrapped list and share a few numbers with you to give you an idea of the impact dizis have left on us this year.

We look back at the dizis of 2024 in three categories and here are the dizis we mention during the episode:

First Category: Survivors

  • Leyla: Hayat... Aşk... Adalet...
  • Siyah Kalp
  • Deha
  • Bir Gece Masalı
  • Annem Ankara
  • "Holding"
  • Uzak Şehir
  • Şakir Paşa Ailesi
  • Sen Aglama Istanbul
  • Can Borcu
  • Sahipsizler

Second Category: Dizis That Are Ending Soon

  • Yabani
  • Yali Capkini
  • Sandik Kokusu

Third Category: Cancelled

A few more dizis have ended but we only mention two that really affected us.

  • "Kalpazan"
  • "Kara Dut"

Our Dizis Unwrapped Answers:

MAHA’S ANSWERS

MOST WATCHED DİZİS Leyla, Uzak Sehir FAVORITE ACTOR ACTRESS Ozan Akbaba from Uzak Sehir, Cemre Baysel (Leyla) and Gonca Vuslateri (Nur) from Leyla: Hayat... Aşk... Adalet... NUMBER OF DIZIS WATCHED Kızıl Goncalar, Leyla, Bahar, Bir Gece Masalı, Uzak Şehir MONTH YOU WATCHED DIZIS THE MOST September and October MOST HATED VILLAIN OF THE YEAR Sadakat from Uzak Sehir

EDA’S ANSWERS

MOST WATCHED DİZİS: Kızıl Goncalar, Kızılcık Şerbeti FAVORITE ACTOR ACTRESS Erkan Avcı (for playing Sadi Hüdayi), Mina Demirtaş playing Zeynep NUMBER OF DIZIS WATCHED 6, Kızıl Goncalar, Kızılcık Şerbeti, Bir Gece Masalı. Apart from these some episodes of Kalpazan, Siyah Kalp and Annem Ankara MONTH YOU WATCHED DIZIS THE MOST September and October MOST HATED VILLAIN OF THE YEAR Vahit from Kızıl Goncalar played by Tolga Tekin

We are grateful to have completed another year and two more seasons of our podcast during this year with you. It was a year of humble milestones for us and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank every single one who has been listening, sharing, commenting and supporting us.

See you next year on brand new episodes, there's lots of fun content we planned for the year ahead! If you still aren't following us on social media, make sure you do so you're notified of our new episodes each time!

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S3E7 - Uzak Şehir

Eda and Maha discuss the phenomona of the new dizi- a Turkish remake of the Arabic "Al-Hayba" and the magic of Mardin.

Episode Notes

There is a new dizi in town and this week Maha and Eda discuss the hype around "Uzak Şehir" (remake of the Arabic series "Al-Hayba") and why it might be such an instant favorite.

  • The iconic Lebanese singer mentioned in the episode is Fairouz (also known as Fairuz). Her song "To Beirut" is the one that the theme song is based on- take a listen to her amazing voice here:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ayX6ZSpBgg

Join us for a fun discussion on this new dizi and don't forget to send us your thoughts through our social media.

linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S3E6 - Spotlight Chat with Derin Universe: The Dizi Industry and Women

Eda and Maha connect with Derin from the Derin Universe Blog and talk about women and the dizi industry.

Episode Notes

This week, Maha and Eda have a guest on the podcast; we get to speak with the person behind Derin Universe. Derin is a Turkish blogger who lives abroad and studied business in France and is starting her Masters in Creative Industry which includes TV and Films in London. She mostly writes in English so you can follow her writing easily. Interestingly, Eda discovered her blog through an article where she wrote about dizis and why there were not enough female producers.

Join us for this interesting chat and we hope you will learn fun things along the way! Also interesting that this also includes the podcast's first Turkish guest. It's a rare and valuable insight to have two Turkish women from different generations talking about dizis. Things discussed in this episode center around women and the dizi industry, some things discussed may be triggering for our listeners who are sensitive around topics such as violence against women so please keep that in mind.

Check out Derin's article that is mentioned on the podcast: https://derinuniverse.com/f/t%C3%BCrkiye%E2%80%99de-filmler-ve-diziler-yap%C4%B1mc%C4%B1lar%C4%B1n-ataerkil-g%C3%B6sterisi

Find all our social media links here: https://linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

See you on our next episode!

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

S3E5 - Dizi Therapy: Venting About Kızıl Goncalar, Bahar, Bir Gece Masalı

Eda and Maha discuss their opinions and thoughts about the current state of dizis using venting as therapy

Episode Notes

In this episode Eda and Maha are doing some dizi therapy and are sharing some things that are bothering them about the dizis they are watching. We know for many people who watch dizis it's a way to let off steam but lately dizis have been causing Eda and Maha some stress too so if you are interested in why join us for an engaging conversation between two dizi friends.

Some things we discuss during the episode:

-Why we are not happy with love stories now -Writers being over-confident and ruining storylines -Why weekly dizis could learn from daily dramas -Karadut and the problem with instant love -Kızıl Goncalar - problem with Cüneyd and Mira -Bahar - concept of second season losing plot -Gizli Bahçe - the return of harquelin romance -Bir Gece Masalı - too many villains -Siyah Kalp - same instant love problem -Yabani- instant love with main leads and slow burn with supporting characters -Finance - ratings system in dizis- problem with online platform shows (Netflix, Amazon) not knowing if it will be renewed -Machine of storytelling- you have to build up to perfection -Difference between dizis of 90s and 2000s and the dizis of now

We hope you enjoy the episode! Find us on our social media as Dizi Friends! https://linktr.ee/dizifriendspodcast

Find out more at https://dizi-friends-podcast.pinecast.co

Eda S and Maha J