CCTV Begins Filming Bruce Lee Series
Who ever said Chinese state television sucked? I mean besides me. Well, besides me or anyone who has ever watched Chinese state television. I actually do watch my y CCTVs. There’s CCTV 9, or as I like to call “The Niner,” which is the only English station in China. This one has some news, travel shows and a weatherman with some sort of substance abuse problem and a really odd sense of fashion. Then there’s CCTV 5, the state sports channel, that should be named “The Chinese Women’s Volleyball Network.” And then the rest is all dry Chinese-language programming that is neither provocative nor evocative nor, worst of all, funny. But there may be some hope yet for some original and interesting programming on state television. Xinhua reported Tuesday that last weekend, CCTV began filming a 40-part series on the life of Chinese martial arts legend Bruce Lee. “The Legend of Bruce Lee” began shooting in Shunde, the south China town where Lee’s Chinese father and grandfather were born. Producers plan on filming parts of the biopic in Hong Kong and in the US as well. The series, which will cost 50 million yuan (USD$6.4 million) to produce, is set to air before the Olympics so that “the drama will spread Bruce Lee’s ‘never give up’ spirit during the Olympic 2008,” said Danny Chen, the actor playing Lee in the series. China wanted the Olympic committee to add kung fu as an event in the 2008 Beijing games, but the request was denied. I guess you’ll just have to do the unthinkable and actually tune in to CCTV if you want to watch some kung fu in 2008.
•Xinhua: China Shoots TV Plays on Kung Fu Master Bruce Lee