A Chinese-dubbed version of the show - famous for its plunging necklines and
sharp punchlines - debuted Monday on CCTV8. The entire first season was to air
in seven days, with three shows playing every night.
Qin Mingxin, deputy director of the international department of CCTV's
Entertainment Program Center, said some of the language had been cleaned up in
translation.
The episode that aired Monday night was about three minutes shorter than the
original, with some lingering shots of a crime scene snipped out and a dining
room table sex scene cut altogether. But the show was still too racy for some.
"It made me laugh, but it was also embarrassing to watch," 49-year-old Liu
Zhichao, an administrator at a power supply station in China's northern Inner
Mongolia region, said by telephone. "There was too much sex."
In their apartment in the regional capital Hohhot, Liu and her husband watched
the first episode of Housewives but said they probably wouldn't stay up to
watch anymore because they had to work the next day.
The darkly comic serial follows the exploits of five suburban American women
and features arson, suicide, murder and extramarital affairs.
At least one direct reference to male genitalia was softened to a vague
euphemism while some of the show's numerous examples of double entendre were
simply lost in translation. The show's title, for example, was changed to Crazy
Housewives instead of Desperate Housewives.
Carolyn So, a Hong Kong-based marketing coordinator for the show's distributor
Buena Vista International Television, said Chinese broadcasters were allowed to
make final edits to the show in line with their regulations.
Regulators in China often cite foreign culture in broadcasting as a source of
unwholesome influences.
In August, the Culture Ministry announced a sweeping effort to tighten the
communist government's control over popular culture, including increased
censorship of imported programming.
Last year, the government barred the use of foreign programs that promote
"Western ideology and politics" and also banned prime-time programs about crime
or violence to promote, it said, a "healthy environment" for children.
Pirated DVDs of the original English-language version of Housewives are widely
available in China's bigger cities.
Beijing resident Meng Juan, 23, said she liked the show a lot. "I think a lot
of young Chinese people will like this show," said Meng, who helps arrange
local housing for foreign exchange students. "I can't guess what's going to
happen like I can with Chinese television serials. I want to keep watching this
to see what's next."
Not everybody was such an instant fan. "I really didn't like it at all," said
Sun Songjie, a 24-year-old communications major at China's prestigious Peking
University. Sun and his two roommates watched the first episode in their dorm
room.
"It was really boring," Sun said. "I don't know, maybe it was the translation.
Given the choice, there are a lot of other programs I'd much rather watch."
Associated Press
