by Nyonya KwayIn a bid to make amends with the Gahmen over the Today newspaper debacle, MediaCock has decided to sponsor a new sitcom as part of the ongoing Remaking BG Lee Campaign.
Said MediaCock spokesman Mr. Boh Ho Quah, “’Living with Lee, Dear’ is a family sitcom which aims to endear Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to Singaporeans by portraying him as a warm, all-rounded, almost motherly figure.”
The main characters of “Living with Lee,Dear” are as follows:
LOONG-LOONG: Our hero. People think he’s a dim son, but this “Lee-dear” dearly wants to show he’s a leader.
MADAM: Loong-LoongÂ’s wife and personal assistant, who wears the pants in the house.
PAPA: If Madam wears the pants, then Loong-LoongÂ’s father wears the blue windcheater. Grumpy and vengeful, but in an endearing sort of way, Papa is full of nuggets of wisdom which he cheerfully dispenses to everybody in the neighbourhood.
YANG-YANG: Loong-LoongÂ’s energetic younger brother whoÂ’s always on the phone and full of pick-up lines.
UNCLE TONG-TONG: the faithful old retainer and also the butt of the familyÂ’s seat-warming jokes.
GIRL-GIRL: in keeping with the MediaCock tradition of importing faded Hong Kong stars to populate their programmes, Loong-LoongÂ’s daughter Xiuqi will be played by former Cat-3 actress Shuqi.
BOY-BOY: Loong-LoongÂ’s famously fair-complexioned son, who will be played by former Hollywood child star Macaulay Culkin.
“We want to show Singaporeans that the Lee family are just like you and I, real people with real, everyday problems,” said Mr. Boh, adding: “Of course, scripts will be vetted by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, otherwise we will have real, everyday problems ourselves.”
Here are synopses of the first four episodes:
DEAR LEE BELOVED
ItÂ’s Loong-Loong and MadamÂ’s wedding anniversary, and they decide to spend it with the people who brought them together: the Social Development UnitÂ’s Cabinet Romance Search Committee and the staff of Singapore Matchmaking Industries, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings.
GREAT WAY TO FLY
Papa suddenly takes ill overseas and Loong-Loong orders Singapore Airlines to fly him home first-class for free. However, a petty reporter writes a story about how Papa subsequently tried to claim frequent flyer miles for the trip. The story ends happily with the reporter being permanently assigned to the New PaperÂ’s SMS and ringtone ads department.
HARRY PAYS LESS
Special cross-over episode: Gurmit Singh guest-stars as Phua Chu Kang, who is forced to give a discount to the Lee family after bungling the renovations of their Nassim Jade apartment.
BGÂ’S GREATEST HITS
Uncle Tong-Tong may have seen Loong-Loong slap Dhana the security guard, but canÂ’t remember a thing.
According to MediaCock, the first episode is slated for broadcast sometime just before the next General Elections.