Taiwanese television drama
Taiwanese drama (simplified Chinese: 台湾电视剧; traditional Chinese: 台灣電視劇; pinyin: Táiwān Diànshìjù; commonly called TDrama or TWDrama by fans) refers to televised dramas, similar to Western miniseries, of extended stories usually dramatizing relationships through the general range of ten to forty one-hour episodes. They are produced in Taiwan and have gained increasing popularity in the Chinese community internationally. The term "Taiwanese drama" is applied to Taiwanese miniseries in general, even including those with greater elements of comedy than of drama.
Range of popularity
Many of these dramas have become popular throughout East Asia. Most popular Taiwanese dramas are also popular in China, Japan,Philippines and South Korea. Taiwan dramas are often dubbed into Japanese, English-United States and Korean when imported into those markets.
Taiwanese dramas are also well known among expatriate overseas Chinese, especially Chinese-Americans, Chinese-Canadians, and Chinese-Australians and their second-generation and third-generation descendants. Fan clubs have appeared in other countries outside Taiwan dedicated to the appreciation of Taiwanese drama. Fan clubs also involved several countries in Asia and overseas.
Language
Taiwanese dramas are typically produced in Mandarin Chinese. Less commonly, they may be produced in the Taiwanese language. Quite commonly, characters will speak predominantly in Mandarin, but sometimes pepper their speech with occasional Taiwanese. However, dramas in Taiwanese language is broadcasted in primetime (8pm) so it received high viewership ratings compared to dramas in Mandarin language. An example would be the 2004 Formosa TV show Yi Nan Wang
Subject matter
Taiwanese dramas typically focus more on romance than Western television dramas. Crime dramas, police dramas, lawyer dramas, and doctor dramas are less common in Taiwan than romantic dramas. Taiwanese dramas tend to have less violence and sexual content than many American soap operas and primetime dramas.
Typical subjects can include first teenage experiences with dating. Characters often have some dark secret or painful past that makes it difficult for them to form lasting relationships, and the drama may show characters finding a way to work through their deep personal problems. Love triangles are a common feature.
Taiwanese dramas share many similarities in genre with both Japanese dramas and Korean dramas, although they differ considerably in subject matter with Chinese dramas. For example, dramas based on nationalist sentiment and politics are much less common.
Many popular Taiwanese dramas are based on Japanese manga, shoujo manga in particular although some seinen manga have been made into dramas as well. Some examples include Meteor Garden (based on Hana Yori Dango), It Started With a Kiss (based on Itazura na Kiss), Marmalade Boy, and Peach Girl. In these adaptations, the characters' names are read as Chinese or are changed to more Chinese-sounding names, and of course, the setting is moved to Taiwan.
Notable Taiwanese Dramas
Some of the most popular Taiwanese dramas include:
- Bullfighting
- The Prince Who Turns into a Frog 2nd Highest rating taiwanese drama
- My Lucky Star
- Corner with Love
- Why Why Love
- Devil Beside You
- Love Contract
- Love of the Aegean Sea
- Hanazakarino Kimitachihe (花样少年少女)
- Mars
- Meteor Garden 3rd Highest rating taiwanese drama
- Princess Pearl 《還珠格格》Pearl Princess/HZGG
- At The Dolphin Bay
- The Magicians of Love
- Smiling Pasta
- Tokyo Juliet
- Heaven's Wedding Gown
- 100% Senorita
- The Outsiders II
- The X-Family
- Romantic Princess
- It Started With a Kiss
- They Kiss Again
- Green Forest
- Ko-One
- Fated To Love You Highest rating taiwanese drama
List of prominent Taiwan Drama actors and actresses
It is common for Taiwan Drama actors and actresses to also be famous pop singers and rock stars, and not all of them originate from Taiwan. There are actors who have made a name for themselves in Taiwan that were originally from mainland China, Singapore, or Malaysia. Some Taiwan Drama stars (such as Leon Jay Williams, Nicholas Teo, and Stella) were actually not born in Taiwan, though as adults, they mostly work and live in Taiwan. Some of the most well-known Taiwanese drama celebrities include:
- Members of 183 Club: Ming Dao, Sam Wang
- Members of S.H.E: Ella, Hebe, and Selina
- Members of Fahrenheit: Wu Chun, Jiro Wang, Aaron Yan, Calvin Chen
- Joe Cheng
- Chen Qiao En
- Ariel Lin
- Mike He
- Alec Su
- Ruby Lin
- Angela Chang
- Barbie Hsu
- Rainie Yang
- Alan Luo
- Cyndi Wang
- the members of F4: Vanness Wu, Vic Zhou, Jerry Yan, and Ken Chu
- Nicholas Teo
- the duo of Sweety: Esther Liu and Joanne Tseng
- Danson Tang
Famous Loveteams in Taiwan and Asia
- Chen Qiao En and Ming Dao dream team (Ying Ye 3 Jia 1) and (The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog)
- Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng (It Started With a Kiss) and (They Kiss Again)
- Nicholas Teo and Cyndi Wang (Smiling Pasta)
- Alan kuo and Barbie Hsu (corner with love)
- Wallace Huo and Penny Lin (100%seniorita)
- Jimmy lin and Yoo ha na (my lucky star)
- Rainie yang and Mike he (why why love and devil beside me)
- Wu chun and Ella chen (Hanazakarino Kimitachihe)
See also
- Culture of Taiwan
- List of Taiwan-related topics
- Japanese television drama
- TV series (China)
- Chinese Idol Dramas and Soapies PodCast
- KDrama
- Media in Taiwan