Woopz Productionz.

Most people would know that I follow the hallyu (Korean), Taiwanese and Hong Kong dramas rather closely.

'Korean dramas are so cliche!'
'Those people who like Korean dramas are bimbos with childish expectations of life.'
'Taiwanese actors can't act.'

Blablabla.
I hear some of you professional critics' criticisms.

Will those who would prefer watching cute/pretty people with lousy acting THAN watching ugly not-so-cute-and-not-so-pretty-either people with lousy acting hands up please?

I wouldn't speak for others but I would personally prefer to watch a HOT (rich) Korean actor chasing after a beautiful korean babe than watch an old man trying to convince his (fat) first wife to allow him to take another (young) second wife. [Oh, wait a minute, YOU watched that drama too?]

BAH! How do I articulate this properly?

What I'm saying is, films with HOT people and decent storyline can SELL everywhere while films with old men with weird storylines CANNOT be sold for a decent price anywhere. Imagine selling a Malaysian movie (with the second wife cliche storyline) to, say, Japan. Funny, can? They can never relate to it. Heck, even locals are tired of these stories. Save, maybe, for the makciks who once faced the same problems (husband getting second wife).

Before I irk overly-patriotic Malaysians who will stand up to Malaysian productions (but in reality watches only foreign entertainment), allow me to bring up a very popular Malaysian comedy.

Senario.

Each and every episode that I've watch is ridiculous to the point of unbelievability (got such word ah?). Adult males acting as babies (with full costume i.e. nappy, pacifiers etc), adult males cross-dressing and the list goes on.

It totally does not reflect good on Malaysia. If we were to sell this type of show to foreign markets what would the foreigners think of us?

That we are stupid.

Some thing is serious WRONG with that show. I know it sometimes involves an educational message or two... but to have adult wearing kids clothing and acting so silly is erm, wrong?

Oops. I think I've irked the extreme patriots.

Ok, I recognise that there have been few rather intellectually stimulating programs, some of them targeted at teenagers, of which educational themes are inculcated into the storylines. I say kudos to them for trying to bring up the standards of Malaysian TV. But these shows are few are far between.

I vividly remember one rather successful Chinese drama produced by Astro. Does the name Homecoming ring a bell? Yep. That is one of the few good Malaysian dramas. In fact, it is the first local Chinese drama to be shown in a HK TVB channel. Proud-nya…

But, like I said, these dramas are few and far between. Check out the spcnet.tv. This is a portal which viewers/readers submit reviews on dramas they have watched.

Taiwan, checked. Korea, checked. TVB and ATV, checked. SINGAPORE, checked.

Malaysia, NADA, ZERO, ZILCH.

Sighz.

Some comparisons.

Hottest singer in Korea (subjective)

Rain/Bi/Jung Ji Hoon - Hot! Hot! Hot! *drools drools*

Hottest singer in Malaysia (Indisputable)

Mawi - Erm, Hot? World...

(One of the) Hottest actor in Korea

Hyun Bin - Need I say more?

(One of the) Hottest actor in Malaysia

Rosyam Nor - Need I Say More? Best pic I could find.

Sniff Sniff. Can you blame me for watching foreign entertainment?

The Korean Wave has provided a tremendous boost to tourist influx into Korea. Tourism is also one of the key areas of economy in Malaysia. So why can't we film beautiful people prancing around in beautiful clothes on beautiful beaches (REDANG! PERHENTIAN! SIPADAN!)?

Thus,

Things I Would Like To See on Malaysian TV.
1. Cute actors
2. Pretty actresses
3. Malaysian culture (Malay, Chinese, Indian, Baba Nyonya, Kadazan etc etc) and not second wives/third wives/fourth wives that kinda farce.
4. Higher quality of filming
5. Superb soundtracks
6. Impressive storylines (Nevermind if its cliche)
7. Beautiful sets. Does not necessarily have to be ridiculously big bungalows with roman pillars.

Please-lah. And don't say that we are not comparable to Korea, HK, TW etc. Compare our beaches/islands to Korea and HK. We also have hot actors/actresses. And can produce classic movie epics like Puteri Gunung Ledang. So there is definitely potential to improve the local entertainment.



Disclaimer: I'm a biotechnology student. So in no way am I the most qualified person to judge the Malaysian entertainment industry. Thus, this is just purely my point of view, basically a couple of random observations thrown together to form an opinion. And this is not personal. So, don't blast me with negative comments, ya? :)