F*R*I*E*N*D*S - the American TV series

[anon6969]

Has the American TV series “Friends" ever been dubbed into Chinese?

If so, where can I buy it in Shanghai? or on the Internet?

[ABCinChina]

Sure, just go to any video store which sells 5￥ movies. Just ask them if they have "老友記/六人行" which is the Chinese term for Friends.

[roddy]

But dubbed? The only stuff which seems to get dubbed is the shows that appear on Chinese broadcast TV, and I don't think Friends ever did, at least on the mainland. If it was shown in Taiwan or Hong Kong there might be a dubbed version.

[ABCinChina]

Yes, in the video shops around my area, ALL American films/sitcoms are captioned in Chinese. But to be safe, he should ask if they have “中文字幕”.

Edit: Oh, I forgot the meaning of dubbed...

[gougou]

Dubbing means that the sound gets replaced and they actually speak in Chinese.

I can't remember ever seeing any soap that had been dubbed.

[roddy]

There's plenty of stuff that does get dubbed - 韩剧, for a start, cartoons shows (I still remember the joy of being able to understand some complex sentences like "Dogtanian, over here!" for the first time), cheapo imported soaps. But it only gets dubbed if it's going on telly, and Friends has never gone on telly on the mainland.

[gougou]

韩剧, for a start, cartoons shows

Yeah. Not on my watching list...

[ABCinChina]

Why is 韓劇 not on your watching list? Did you know that there are many valuable life lessons to be learned by watching 韓劇?

Regarding Friends or any other series shown on Mainland TV, it's hard to get a dubbed version when going to these video stores even if it was shown on TV. Only some will be dubbed but you have to specifically ask for it. You can use the phrase, "這個片子有普通話配音嗎?" which means, "Is this movie dubbed in Mandarin?"

Edited December 22, 2008 at 02:54 AM by ABCinChina
I must have forgot the meaning of "dubbed"

[peterlkj]

I gave up trying to find Friends - I did manage to find ER dubbed in Chinese - it came from Taiwan. I like the idea of know the story and building up the listening comprehension. I spent ages trying to find the Simpsons too but no luck.

I've tried watching Doramon a few times but I really can't stand the high pitched voices - any other suggestions please?!

[roddy]

If you search on sites like verycd.com for '配音' you can find some - eg Tom and Jerry.

Edit: Hang on, is there any dialogue in Tom and Jerry to dub!? Anyway, there's other stuff on there.

[gougou]

Actually Tom and Jerry is quite special in that they have versions in all kind of regional dialects. On a city tour of Xi'an, they were playing us the Shaanxi dialect version, and there seem to be an abundance of other dialects available too.