BBC to launch first ever Chinese comedy sketch show

[kitty]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/med...p?story=464182

BBC to launch first ever Chinese comedy
New sketch show aims to tackle Oriental stereotypes and repeat success of 'Goodness Gracious Me

Forget the ancient stereotypes about stale prawn crackers, kung fu, Chinese laundries and 19th-century opium dens. The BBC is planning to emulate the success of the award-winning Asian sketch show Goodness Gracious Me with Britain's first ever all-Oriental comedy series.

Satay Night Live, a blend of stand-up and sketches, aims to introduce mainstream audiences to what its producers see as the UK's most misunderstood and neglected sense of humour: that of the British-Oriental community. They hope to do as much to challenge stereotypes about Chinese, Japanese and other Far Eastern minorities as stars such as Meera Syall and Sanjeev Bhaskar have for British-Asians with their series Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at Number 42.

News of the proposed BBC3 series has received a generally positive welcome from prominent performers, although some were sceptical about the claim that there is such a thing as a "British-Oriental sense of humour". The actor Burt Kwouk, 73, best known as Cato, Inspector Clouseau's sidekick in the Pink Panther films, said he approved of the idea in principle, but disputed the notion of a homogenous Oriental sense of humour.

"It would be dangerous to approach it that way," said Mr Kwouk, who was born in Manchester but raised in Shanghai. "I'm Chinese, and I don't really know much about Korean or Japanese culture. China is vast, a continent almost, and different parts of it are different.

"There's also a generational gap in the Chinese community. There's a generation that came over from foreign parts, which includes me, and then there's the generation that was brought up here, which has slightly different ideas about things."

Mr Kwouk said he hoped the new series would question the stereotypes used in the past to portray people of Oriental descent, adding: "I've faced all of them. When I started as an actor 50 years ago every Chinese character had to say 'flied lice'. Now, thankfully, that's finally changing and we are allowed to say 'fried rice' like in real life."

David Yip, who played the BBC's Chinese Detective in the 1980s, said he was convinced there was such a thing as an Oriental sense of humour. However, he added: "Unfortunately, the establishments in both TV and the media tend to generalise about Oriental people and be very stereotypical: it's always Triads and Chinese businessmen.

"I was born in Liverpool and I don't speak Chinese, but people sometimes just assume that I do."

Satay Night Live is a collaboration between Baby Cow, the TV production company owned by I'm Alan Partridge star Steve Coogan, and the UK's only British-Oriental theatre group, Mu-Lan. Paul Courtenay Hyu, Mu-Lan's artistic director, said: "I hope that the show will be a great success for our community in much the same way as Goodness Gracious Me has been for the Asian community."

Stereotyping has been tackled in other art forms. Most famously, the Hong Kong-born writer Timothy Mo broached the issue in Sour Sweet, his 1982 Booker Prize-nominated novel about a Chinese family living in London.

While some might cringe at the pun in Satay Night Live, it is at least an improvement on "Groping for Trout in the Yangtze River" - the original title of the series.

- found out about this through http://www.angryasianman.com

[thaite]

Satay Night Live, that's awesome.

I'll reserve judgement until I see the show.

[mr. x]

well you gots to remember that when banzai made the rounds in britain it wasnt considered racist, it was jolly good fun

[Made in China]

I remember in this other asian forum, we talked about Banzai show. Everyone thought it was racist.

Is the show around anymore?

[kitty]

Originally Posted by mr. x

well you gots to remember that when banzai made the rounds in britain it wasnt considered racist, it was jolly good fun

as i said over and over again during master&commander: "those crazy crazy brits".

:huh:

[ellsworth81]

books are marginally better, because you can count on ppl most likely not bothering to read.

[ModernLogic]

I really want to watch this show. But seeing how Asians are typically whiners (complaining about Banzai and all) this show will probably get canceled at the slightest hint of offending Asians.

[Kennyb]

Originally Posted by XiaoRongJi1202

I really want to watch this show. But seeing how Asians are typically whiners (complaining about Banzai and all) this show will probably get canceled at the slightest hint of offending Asians.

So there is someone on this board that didn't complain about Banzai.

Us Brits are nuts?? No, just a different perspective of what is funny per se. I've remember reading those threads about how everyone hated banzai and in honesty the idea of it was to watch celebrity people making them a fool out of themselves - similar lines to Jackass but not too stupid.

I too hope this show goes ahead and be a success. An equivalent comedy show that is successful was this Indian show called Goodness Gracious Me, which later on created another one called 'The Kumars at no.42'.

[Faithless]

Satay Night Live, huh?

Just gives the backwards Brits more excuse to use Chinaman to describe things.

[Faithless]

If they ever get around to discussing at BBC3, they'll discuss it here

[Kennyb]

Originally Posted by ChottoMatte

Satay Night Live, huh?

Just gives the backwards Brits more excuse to use Chinaman to describe things.

Have you ever seen British Indian comdey in general? That's what they are hoping to create with Chinese comedy, to do the same approach like Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at no.42.

Let me ask you this then, how would create a comedy of your own ethnic background by not being too racist of how people see's us? Afterall, the white people does it to themselves and so do the black people (need I say more ).

[ellsworth81]

Originally Posted by XiaoRongJi1202

I really want to watch this show. But seeing how Asians are typically whiners (complaining about Banzai and all) this show will probably get canceled at the slightest hint of offending Asians.

i thought asians whined the least

[Faithless]

Originally Posted by Kennyb

Have you ever seen British Indian comdey in general? That's what they are hoping to create with Chinese comedy, to do the same approach like Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at no.42.

Let me ask you this then, how would create a comedy of your own ethnic background by not being too racist of how people see's us? Afterall, the white people does it to themselves and so do the black people (need I say more ).

Thanks for the comments.

I think it's been said before that the Brits love to make fun of themselves. And I guess I'm guilty of laughing at them, too, like "The Young Ones".

I guess we'll just have to see how over the board it gets. Always wary of the difference of doing comedy and making oneself or group look down right idiotic.

[hooligan]

i'm going to watch the show before i say anything, as for banzai, it was pretty bad. the way that banzai was marketed on so-cal tv was pretty awful. i guess i find it offensive that they dub over japanese voices with really assinine caucasian ones, as well as present the show in a way that commified japanese culture.

[Faithless]

Originally Posted by hooligan

i'm going to watch the show before i say anything, as for banzai, it was pretty bad. the way that banzai was marketed on so-cal tv was pretty awful. i guess i find it offensive that they dub over japanese voices with really assinine caucasian ones, as well as present the show in a way that commified japanese culture.

We'll get to see this BBC3 program in the states?