A still from the American TV series
"Desperate Housewives".
The American smash hit TV series "Desperate Housewives" has been
re-translated and dubbed into Chinese by the Shanghai Film Dubbing
Studio for a second round of screening in Shanghai, starting from
October, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reports.
The 2004 comedy drama was first bought and dubbed by China
Central Television (CCTV). But when aired in 2005, it registered as
the lowest audience-rated overseas TV series.
In addition to cutting off sex-related scenes, critics blamed
the low rating for bad translation and elocutionary dubbing, which
obviously failed to express the "desperation of the
housewives".
An official with the East Movie Channel, the purchaser of the
drama's second-round screening rights, declines to comment on
CCTV's dubbing, saying it is re-dubbed only for the taste of the
Shanghai audience, and that the cut will remain the same as the
CCTV version.
She also reveals that the purchase price for such dramas is
relatively low, but that the dubbing cost is high.
Liu Feng, dubbing actor and vice director of the Shanghai Film
Dubbing Studio, said he felt great pressure in re-making the drama,
due to the large amount of American slang unfamiliar to Chinese
audiences.
It took five translators three months to re-translate the lines,
and the dubbing cast spent another three months on their work, Liu
added.
(CRI.cn September 12, 2007)
