Taiwanese drama

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Taiwanese drama (traditional Chinese: 臺灣電視劇 or 台灣電視劇; simplified Chinese: 台湾电视剧; 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.

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Many of these dramas have become popular throughout East Asia. Most popular Taiwanese dramas are also popular in China, Japan, and South Korea. Taiwan dramas are often dubbed into Japanese 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.

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.

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 off of 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.

Some of the most popular Taiwanese dramas include:

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:


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