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)