"Housewives" Flops in Ratings

The debut airings of the first season of "Desperate Housewives" in China failed to attract many viewers. In fact, the show was soundly pounded in the ratings by South Korean soap operas shown at the same time. Some blame the unfavorable time slot, the difficult translation of English to Chinese, and government censorship of racy content, but there are other, more fundamental, reasons.

From ChinaDaily.com:

For one thing, American serials like "Desperate Housewives", with their witty innuendoes and multiple twists, are too fast-paced for Chinese taste. Some viewers complained they would get lost with the plot after a bathroom break. But with South Korean soaps, even if you skip three episodes, you can still follow the story lines.

On a deeper level, life on Wisteria Lane, the fictional California community in Housewives, is too far removed from ordinary Chinese, even the burgeoning middle class. A Chinese teenager would never, in her right mind, advise her single mother on the etiquette of dating. When Chinese housewives get into an adulterous mood, they would not turn to teenaged gardeners, who are usually migrant workers in rags, but to people with deeper pockets and higher ranks. A Chinese woman may act as fastidious as Bree Van De Kamp, but she would not take on the arch-conservative stance of an American Republican. A Chinese super-mom, in a country with family planning policy encouraging for one child, faces challenges very different from tending four unruly kids.

About that last point, I doubt the Chinese culture would tolerate merely one unruly child. Obedience from Chinese children is demanded. Nonetheless, there are wide differences between American and Chinese cultures and the program is, therefore, quite difficult to follow for the average Chinese television viewer.

Even so, if the producers of "Housewives" wanted to attract more East Asian viewers, they could consider introducing some Asian characters to the plot. Say, for example, a buff Chinese pool boy starts working on Wisteria Lane. Or, maybe a ravishing Asian widow moves in to distract all the men.

Tipped by the Marmot.