ABSTRACT
This chapter examines television talk shows produced in the People's Republic of China (PRC), involving both 'ordinary' and celebrity Chinese-foreign marriages. It explores in four stages the ways in which personal stories and intimate information about Chinese-foreign marriages are narrated and transformed into public entertainment. It introduces the development of the genre of television talk shows in the PRC. The chapter examines the content of television talk shows that involve couples in a Chinese-foreign marriage as guests, showing how some foreign spouses are Sinicized as 'Chinese'. It shows how foreign spouses are also often portrayed as 'foreign-country bumpkins' and objects of humour. It examines how marital conflicts in intercultural marriages are dramatized and made 'fun' of in television talk shows. The chapter concludes that these televisual framings of foreign spouses, which involve discussions of their marital/family relations and perceived degree of familiarity with aspects of Chinese culture.
