Saturday night humor at the click of a mouse
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A POPULAR online video site is bringing the irreverent, topical humor of “Saturday Night Live” to China.
The late-night US comedy sketch show that regularly mocks politicians, popular culture and celebrities is being shown on the website of Sohu Video, a unit of Chinese online media group and Nasdaq-listed Sohu.com Inc.
Ten episodes from the current 39th season of “SNL” are available now. Future episodes will be available online without subtitles the Monday after airing in the United States, and a version with Chinese subtitles and explanations of cultural references will be available at 10pm the following Saturday, Sohu said yesterday.
The NBC network show has been a comedy proving ground since its inception with Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell among its cast over the years. Many of its original sketches and musical performances have been made into movies — including the 1992 hit “Wayne’s World” — or gone viral online.
Topics have featured China, including a sketch of a press conference with then Chinese President Hu Jintao berating US President Barack Obama over the national debt.
But Sohu CEO Charles Zhang said he didn’t expect the show to get them into trouble in China.
“Things that are controversial in America are probably not controversial in China,” he said. “And this talk show is in the spirit of fun and humor. I don’t think there will be any problem.”
Zhang said the show, if popular in China, could inspire Chinese companies to produce shows with similar formats — although content was another matter. “It’s a different political setting,” he said at a news conference also attended by American stand-up comedian Joe Wong and Beijing-born TV host and musician Kelly Cha.
Sohu Video’s site, like many other Chinese online video sites, licenses many hit American TV shows alongside Japanese animation series, Chinese variety shows and in-house programs. Sohu’s early US programs were “Lost” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and last year it obtained the online rights for the second season of reality show “The Voice of China,” which the company said generated nearly 2 billion views.
Zhang didn’t say how much Sohu paid for the rights to “Saturday Night Live” in China, but said it was cheaper per episode than for a US drama series.
Most of the Western TV shows and movies found on Chinese websites today are licensed, although pirated content still exists.
Zhang welcomed an announcement earlier this week from a government agency labeling Chinese search engine Baidu and software company QVOD the top two copyright violators last year. The National Copyright Administration of China fined both companies 250,000 yuan (US$40,000).
Complaints by Sohu and other online video providers prompted its investigation.
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