Zhejiang Television's Glee Rip Off Busted, Comedy Club China's Hot Tub Wine Machine
A new blatant rip off on the Fox television series Glee, called My Youth High Eight Degrees, has appeared on Zhejiang Satellite Television. This musical drama is set in a university and focuses on your standard group of misfits brought together by a super energetic music instructor. He eventually discovers that his rag tag group of students possess the necessary amount of musical talent to make them championship contenders.
Many netizens are upset that this series follows the plot of Glee exactly, and doesn't display anything original or realistic. Many of the happenings in the classrooms here would never occur in a real Chinese university. If it makes you feel any better, many Americans couldn't imagine much from this elaborate musical sitcom happening at their high school either. Much like the Chinese academic system, the American system is also intolerant to spontaneous sing song [Ed's note: Not so in the university where I taught circa '08, where students would break out in unison singing the Olympic theme song at any given moment]. Many were complaining that the network should have been more creative in producing a sitcom for teens, that is different and accurate in its portrayal of teenage life in China.
The Shanghai Canxing Culture & Broadcast Co. defended the series and responded to plagiarism allegations by stating that they worked with the producers of Glee when developing the scripts and that the show accurately represents the pursuits of music by China's youth. We are of the opinion that Glee, or any show of the like, will never accurately reflect the pursuit of music in any society.
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