iPartment
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| iPartment | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom Comedy Comedy drama |
| Created by | Wei Zheng Wang Yuan |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by |
|
| Opening theme | "My Future Styles" by Amber Kuo(Guo Caijie) |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original languages | Chinese Japanese English Korean |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 124 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company | Shanghai Media Distribution |
| Original release | |
| Network | Season 1: Jiangxi TV Season 2: Guangdong TV Dragon TV Shandong Education TV Ningxia TV Season 3: Anhui TV Hubei TV Shaanxi TV Dragon TV Season 4: Anhui TV Dragon TV Heilongjiang TV Hubei TV Season 5: iQiyi |
| Release | August 23, 2009 – February 18, 2020 |
iPartment[1] (Chinese: 爱情公寓; pinyin: Àiqíng Gōngyù), is a sitcom from Mainland China. It was produced by the Shanghai Film Group and Shanghai Film Studio, and aired by Jiangxi TV in August 2009, with twenty 45-minute episodes.
The second season aired episodes online due to its online fan base and polls for upcoming episodes. The second season featured four of the same characters from the first season with three new characters. The third season followed with the same cast.
A film adaptation, Love Apartment, was filmed and released in 2018, and featured most of the cast reprising their roles.
The show is generally regarded as one of the most successful Chinese sitcoms of all time, mainly among the Post-80's generation and Generation Z due to the advent of streaming services and TV reruns. It is one of the first Chinese shows to depict modern young urban society and references wider Western pop culture phenomenon.
Premise
The show details the lives of seven young adults in their mid-to-late 20s who are neighbors in an apartment complex in Shanghai, "iPartment," which was opened to young couples in love for heavily discounted prices by a wealthy philanthropist who was moved by a wedding.
Cast
- Jin Shijia (Kim Jin) as Lu Zhanbo
- Zhao Ji (Evonne Zhao) as Lin Wanyu
- Chen He (Michael Chen) as Zeng Xiaoxian
- Lou Yixiao (Loura Lou) as Hu Yifei
- Sun Yizhou (Sean Sun) as Lü Ziqiao
- Li Jinming (Kimi Li) as Chen Meijia
- Wang Chuanjun (Eric Wang) as Sekiya Kamiki (Chinese: Guangu Shenqi)
- Deng Jiajia as Tang Youyou
- Li Jiahang (Jean Li) as Zhang Wei/Snake
- Zhao Wenqi (Vanessa Zhao) as Qin Yumo
- Rong Rong as Lisa Rong
- Kenichi Miura as Sekiya Kenjiro
- Cheng Guo (Loyce Cheng) as Zhuge Dali
- Wan Zilin (Catharine Wan) as Curry sauce
- Zhang Yiduo (Zac Zhang) as Zhao Haitang
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 20 | August 5, 2009 | August 14, 2009 | |
| 2 | 20 | January 24, 2011 | February 2, 2011 | |
| 3 | 24 | July 31, 2012 | August 11, 2012 | |
| 4 | 24 | January 17, 2014 | January 28, 2014 | |
| 5 | 36 | January 12, 2020 | February 18, 2020 | |
Season 1 (2009)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Wedding Battle" | August 5, 2009 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Super "Big" Scandal" | August 5, 2009 |
| 3 | 3 | "March of Depression" | August 6, 2009 |
| 4 | 4 | "The Revenge of Romance" | August 6, 2009 |
| 5 | 5 | "Love Antidote" | August 7, 2009 |
| 6 | 6 | "Fame In A Snap" | August 7, 2009 |
| 7 | 7 | "Watching Porn" | August 8, 2009 |
| 8 | 8 | "Mysterious Present" | August 8, 2009 |
| 9 | 9 | "The Traffic Jam" | August 9, 2009 |
| 10 | 10 | "Wa" | August 9, 2009 |
| 11 | 11 | "It's A Small World" | August 10, 2009 |
| 12 | 12 | "Life and Death" | August 10, 2009 |
| 13 | 13 | "Memory Fragments" | August 11, 2009 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Boring Weekend" | August 11, 2009 |
| 15 | 15 | "The Halloween Fright" | August 12, 2009 |
| 16 | 16 | "Gossip King" | August 12, 2009 |
| 17 | 17 | "The Teller" | August 13, 2009 |
| 18 | 18 | "You are Evil" | August 13, 2009 |
| 19 | 19 | "Valentine : The Valentine Prelude" | August 14, 2009 |
| 20 | 20 | "Valentine : The Last Valentine" | August 14, 2009 |
Season 2 (2011)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "I can Predict the Beginning, but I can't Predict the Ending" | January 24, 2011 |
| 22 | 2 | "Drama Queen" | January 24, 2011 |
| 23 | 3 | "I Am Legend" | January 25, 2011 |
| 24 | 4 | "The Da Vina Code" | January 25, 2011 |
| 25 | 5 | "Family" | January 26, 2011 |
| 26 | 6 | "Raining With A Chance of Diamonds" | February 26, 2011 |
| 27 | 7 | "In the Name of Love" | February 27, 2011 |
| 28 | 8 | "The Drunk Angel" | February 27, 2011 |
| 29 | 9 | "Dinner Party" | February 28, 2011 |
| 30 | 10 | "The Festive Resurrection" | January 28, 2011 |
| 31 | 11 | "The Conversion Fascination" | January 29, 2011 |
| 32 | 12 | "The Best Actress" | January 29, 2011 |
| 33 | 13 | "It's Not Father's Day" | January 30, 2011 |
| 34 | 14 | "Hill of Hope: Cataclysm" | January 30, 2011 |
| 35 | 15 | "The Secret Secret" | January 31, 2011 |
| 36 | 16 | "The Story of the Single Woman" | January 31, 2011 |
| 37 | 17 | "The Lady" | February 1, 2011 |
| 38 | 18 | "The Boss" | February 1, 2011 |
| 39 | 19 | "I'm Millionaire : The Beginning" | February 2, 2011 |
| 40 | 20 | "I'm Millionaire : The End" | February 2, 2011 |
Season 3 (2012)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | 1 | "I'm Millionaire : The New Beginning" | July 30, 2012 |
| 42 | 2 | "Fusion of Sekiya and Ziqiao" | July 30, 2012 |
| 43 | 3 | "Silent Night" | July 31, 2012 |
| 44 | 4 | "This Is A Miracle : The Return" | July 31, 2012 |
| 45 | 5 | "This Is A Miracle : Stay" | August 1, 2012 |
| 46 | 6 | "Nice to Meet You" | August 1, 2012 |
| 47 | 7 | "War of Proposals" | August 2, 2012 |
| 48 | 8 | "2:30 A.M." | August 2, 2012 |
| 49 | 9 | "The King's Scar : The Best Ending" | August 3, 2012 |
| 50 | 10 | "The King's Scar : Life Is A Circle" | August 3, 2012 |
| 51 | 11 | "Counter Strike" | August 4, 2012 |
| 52 | 12 | "The Twist of Fate : Watching the Meteor Shower" | August 4, 2012 |
| 53 | 13 | "The Twist of Fate: Moments We Share" | August 5, 2012 |
| 54 | 14 | "The Scriptures from the Forbidden Summit" | August 5, 2012 |
| 55 | 15 | "Social Network" | August 6, 2012 |
| 56 | 16 | "No Ifs : The Break-Up and the Make-Up" | August 6, 2012 |
| 57 | 17 | "No Ifs : The Truth and the Lie" | August 7, 2012 |
| 58 | 18 | "No Ifs : The Prankster and the Pranked" | August 7, 2012 |
| 59 | 19 | "My Girl" | August 8, 2012 |
| 60 | 20 | "The True Lie" | August 8, 2012 |
| 61 | 21 | "Flying Across the Mists of Mt. Creation : It's Night-Time, Close Your Eyes" | August 9, 2012 |
| 62 | 22 | "Flying Across the Mists of Mt. Creation : It's the Morning, Open Your Eyes" | August 9, 2012 |
| 63 | 23 | "The Matrix" | August 10, 2012 |
| 64 | 24 | "Final Fantasy" | August 11, 2012 |
Season 4 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 1 | "There's Only One Truth" | January 17, 2014 |
| 66 | 2 | "Who Said I'm Sick?" | January 17, 2014 |
| 67 | 3 | "In the Name of Father" | January 18, 2014 |
| 68 | 4 | "Roll, Zhanbo!" | January 18, 2014 |
| 69 | 5 | "Inception" | January 19, 2014 |
| 70 | 6 | "Flight 19" | January 19, 2014 |
| 71 | 7 | "A Long River" | January 20, 2014 |
| 72 | 8 | "Love Life" | January 20, 2014 |
| 73 | 9 | "Cold War" | January 21, 2014 |
| 74 | 10 | "Let Me Inspire You" | January 21, 2014 |
| 75 | 11 | "Let's Be Friends, Richass" | January 22, 2014 |
| 76 | 12 | "Escape Plan" | January 22, 2014 |
| 77 | 13 | "The Bro Code" | January 23, 2014 |
| 78 | 14 | "The Play (Part One)" | January 23, 2014 |
| 79 | 15 | "The Play (Part Two)" | January 24, 2014 |
| 80 | 16 | "Superhero" | January 24, 2014 |
| 81 | 17 | "Bachelor's Weekend (Part One)" | January 25, 2014 |
| 82 | 18 | "Bachelor's Weekend (Part Two)" | January 25, 2014 |
| 83 | 19 | "Paladin of The Goddess" | January 26, 2014 |
| 84 | 20 | "When Love Breaks In: Part One" | January 26, 2014 |
| 85 | 21 | "When Love Breaks In: Part Two" | January 27, 2014 |
| 86 | 22 | "The Forgiveness of the Goddess" | January 27, 2014 |
| 87 | 23 | "If I Saw Them Again: Part One" | January 28, 2014 |
| 88 | 24 | "If I Saw Them Again: Part Two" | January 28, 2014 |
Summary
Season 1
There are seven young adults who have different backgrounds, ideals, and identities, that live in an unlike apartment. Hu Yifei is a PhD graduate who lectures at a university and lives with her stepbrother Lu Zhanbo and late-night talk show host Zeng Xiaoxian. After Zhanbo graduates from MIT, he meets a girl, Lin Wanyu, who is the daughter of a billionaire banker. Wanyu ran away from home to avoid her engagement, so she moves into iPartment. The apartment owner sets a rule: if a couple moves in, they only pay half rent and do not need to pay for utilities. Lu Ziqiao and Chen Meijia try to save money by pretending to be a couple and move into iPartment. The rent is still expensive for them, so they find a Japanese cartoonist, Sekiya Kamiki, to move in with them.[4][5]
Season 2
Three new residents move into the apartment: Zhang Wei, Tang Youyou, and Qin Yumo.[3]
Season 3
After the grand prize, Xiaoxian continues to live with in iPartment. He buys the bar and becomes the owner. Meijia returns with a man when the residents celebrate the opening of Xiaoxian's bar. Kamiki and Youyou fall in love. After Zhanbo and Wanyu traveled around the world, Zhanbo formally proposes to Wanyu, who refuses. Wanyu leaves iPartment to go to Italy to chase her dream.[1]
Season 4
Xiaoxian and Yifei's careers become successful on their work place. Although Ziqiao and Meijia get back together again, Ziqiao continues hitting on other girls. Kamiki's business is getting better, but it does not fix his relationship with Youyou.[1]
Season 5
The iPartment residents have achieved their goals. [1]
Reception
Much criticism has been directed towards the reuse of jokes and settings from American sitcoms such as Friends,[6] How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory[7] and The War at Home.[8]
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5th China TV Drama Awards | Most Popular Television Series | Won | |
| 2014 | 6th China TV Drama Awards | Top Ten Television Series | Won | |
| Most Appealing Young Actor | Michael Chen | Won |
References
- ^ a b c d zh:%E7%88%B1%E6%83%85%E5%85%AC%E5%AF%93_(%E7%94%B5%E8%A7%86%E5%89%A7), oldid 53742342[circular reference]
- ^ "上海市2008年7月电视剧拍摄制作备案公示表". 2013-01-08. Archived from the original on 2013-01-08. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
- ^ a b "::电视剧拍摄制作备案公示表::". dsj.sarft.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
- ^ "爱情公寓1剧情介绍 (1-20全集) 剧情百度攻略". gl.baidu.com. 百度攻略. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
- ^ Ashiya Yuji (2015-07-28), 爱情公寓 第一季 第1集, retrieved 2019-04-26[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Newcomb, Tim (August 8, 2012). "Is This Chinese Sitcom Stealing Its Jokes from 'Friends'?". Time – via newsfeed.time.com.
- ^ "Chinese sitcom accused of scene stealing from cult American TV series". www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ The War at Home