''Huan Xi Popo Qiao Xifu'', also known by its literal English title ''Happy Mother-in-Law, Pretty Daughter-in-Law'', is a Chinese television

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

serial created by Yu Zheng. The drama is a produced by Yu Zheng Workshop and Zijun Brilliance, directed by Yeung Chi-kin and Zhou Jiawen, and features cast members from both

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. The drama originally broadcast in 33 episodes (though 35 episodes were produced) on Shenzhen TV from October 10 to 20, 2010, airing three consecutive episodes a night.

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

China Television China Television Company, Ltd. (CTV; ) (Formerly called Taiwan Daytime TV (TDT) in 1969-1975) is a television broadcasting company based in Taipei, Taiwan. It was established on September 3, 1968, by the then-ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) of ...

(CTV) aired the drama one episode per night, starting from December 8, 2010. Southern China's

Guangdong Television Guangdong Television (GDTV; ) is a television station in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in China. Guangdong TV is the oldest television station in the province, which covers Guangdong and surrounding provinces. At present, Guangdong TV has a staff ...

debuted the drama on January 26, 2011, airing in double episodes per night.

Shanxi Television Shanxi Television (SXTV, ), is a television network in the Taiyuan and Shanxi province. It was founded and started to broadcast in November 2004. SXTV currently broadcasts in Jin Chinese. External linksOfficial Site
Television networks in ...

debuted the drama on January 29, 2011, and the drama began airing on

Jiangsu Television Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation (JSBC) () is China's third biggest television network after China Central Television (CCTV) and Hunan Broadcasting System (HBS). The television network is owned by the Jiangsu provincial government. The network is ...

(JSTV) starting February 3, 2011.

i-Cable Entertainment Channel i-Cable Communications Limited () is Hong Kong telecommunications company owned by Forever Top (Asia) Limited, which acquired the company from The Wharf Group in 2017. Founded in 1999, the company provides broadband internet and pay-TV servic ...

aired the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

dubbed version starting January 31, 2011, renaming the title to ''8 Stars'' (八星報喜賜良緣) due to its Lunar New Year time slot. The story takes place in an unnamed Chinese city during the early 1900s, a few years after the establishment of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. Ma Linglong (

Kingdom Yuen Kingdom Yuen King-dan (苑瓊丹; born 11 September 1963) is a Hong Kong actress with a long history working with TVB. Life and career Kingdom was born in Hong Kong, her father was an ivory carver. She started her acting career with HK ATV during ...

), an ex-princess of the fallen

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, is forced to take up a

matchmaking Matchmaking is the process of matching two or more people together, usually for the purpose of marriage, in which case the matchmaker is also known as a marriage broker. The word is also used in the context of sporting events such as boxing, in ...

profession to raise her three sons (

Hawick Lau Hawick Lau Hoi-wai (; born 13 October 1974) is a Chinese actor and singer from Hong Kong. He was named as one of the "Five Fresh Tigers of TVB" and is best known for his performances in the series ''A Kindred Spirit'' (1995), ''Virtues of Harmony' ...

Mickey He He Shengming (born He Min on July 9, 1976) is a Chinese people, Chinese actor and singer. Born in Xiantao, Hubei, He moved to Guangzhou, Guangdong in the early 1990s to pursue a music career. Along with Peng Liang and Yang Guang, they formed the ...

Gao Hao Christina Gao (born March 7, 1994) is an American former figure skater. She is the 2012 Skate America silver medalist, the 2009 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2009 U.S. Junior bronze medalist. Personal life Christina Gao was ...

) after her husband left her for another woman. As her three sons grow older, she prepares to find wives with them through matchmaking, but none of them worked through.

Plot

Ma Linglong, a professional matchmaker and an ex-princess of the fallen

, is choosy when picking wives for her three sons. She wants her first son, Changsheng, to marry an intelligent and hardworking wife, but he falls in love with the money-lover Manguan. Linglong's second son, Changhuan, is bright and witty, and she has hopes for him to marry an elegant and clever wife, but Changhuan is attracted to the naïve ex-convict Jinyu. The youngest son, Changjun, is educated in the west. Linglong hopes Changjun's educated background will bring honor to the family, but Changjun wants to marry the family's matchmaking apprentice Bajie, who is three years his senior. Although her three daughters-in-law are not what she expected, she nonetheless tries her best to correct their flaws, winning the respect of her children.

Characters

(voice by Doris Wang) as Ma Linglong *

Myolie Wu Myolie Wu Hang-yee (born 6 November 1979) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She is previously managed by Hong Kong TVB television station and Neway Star. In 2011, she won Best Actress for her role in ''Curse of the Royal Harem'', Most Favouri ...

(voice by Su Boli) as Qian Manguan * Shirley Dai (voice by Gui Guanlin) as Tong Jinyu *

(voice by Jiang Guangtao) as Tie Changsheng *

(voice by Chen Hao) as Tie Changhuan * Yang Rong (voice by Zhang Kai) as Zhu Bajie *

(voice by Zhang Jie) as Tie Changjun * Li Sha as Yumi *

Cheung Tat-ming Cheung Tat-ming () (born 2 July 1964) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, director and writer. Personal life Cheung married Ho Nim-chi, a psychiatrist, in September 2001, subsequently announcing their divorce in 2016. They had one son and one daught ...

as Qian Yingjun *

Li Qingqing Li, li, or LI may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Landscape Institute, a British professional body for landscape architects * Leadership Institute, a non-profit organization located in Arlington, Virginia, US, that teaches "political t ...

as Jia Miaotiao * Nie Xin as Teng Xiulian *

Chen Xiao Chen Xiao (, born 5 July 1987) is a Chinese actor and model. He is best known for his roles in ''Swordsman'' (2013), ''Legend of Lu Zhen'' (2013), ''The Romance of the Condor Heroes'' (2014), ''Who Sleeps My Bro'' (2015), '' Nothing Gold Can St ...

as Guo Xiaotian *

Mei Lina Mei may refer to: Names * Mei (surname), a Chinese, Italian, Russian or Estonian family name * Mei (given name), a given name Places * Mei County, Guangdong, China, a county * Mei Pass, Guangdong, a strategic mountain pass * Mei River, Guangdon ...

as Hong *

Liu Jiayuan / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic tex ...

as Bai *

Tang Jing Tang Jing may refer to: * Tang Ching Tang Ching or Tang Jing (; 1 January 1924 - 2019) was a Chinese film actor and businessman from Zhengzhou, Henan, working in the Cinema of Taiwan and the Cinema of Hong Kong. He starred in at least 70 films ...

as Lan *

Tong Liya Tong Liya ( zh, 佟丽娅, born 8 August 1983) is a Chinese actress of Xibe ethnicity. Background Tong was born in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang province. Her father Tong Jisheng () was of Xibe ethni ...

(voice by Ma Haiyan) as Xilan *

Richard Ng Richard Ng Yiu-hon (born 17 December 1939), also known as Richard Woo, is a Hong Kong actor known for playing comedic roles, particularly in Hong Kong films of the 1980s and 1990s. Film and television career Ng has appeared in 80 films to da ...

(voice by Han Tongsheng) as Tie Mu'er

External links

Official Taiwan CTV website

References

{{reflist 2010 Chinese television series debuts 2011 Chinese television series debuts Television shows set in China Television shows written by Yu Zheng Chinese comedy-drama television series Shenzhen Television original programming Television series by Huanyu Film