China to get its own version of "Saturday Night Live"
"Schwing!"
China may soon have its own version of "Saturday Night Live."
Online video site Sohu.com is working with Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video Entertainment to create an "SNL" version specifically for China, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Over the next few months, they're expected to recruit comedians from across China for the project.
"'SNL,' which combines the best elements of live music and sketch comedy, will be a refreshing new option for Chinese viewers," Sohu said in a statement.
The long-running NBC show has been known to tackle current events and politics, and some are wondering how much political content will make its way into the proposed China version.
"China's Communist Party has been looking for new ways to engage with an audience because past forms of preaching are no longer suitable for today," Wang Sixin, a Beijing-based professor at the Communication University of China, told Bloomberg. "What Sohu needs to be careful about, though, is finding the right balance when doing satire about social and political issues."
The "SNL" move comes as China's online usage rises.
"Satuday Night Live" came under fire over the weekend with its sketch about ISIS, starring "Fifty Shades of Grey" star Dakota Johnson.
The hit sketch-comedy show celebrated its 40th anniversary last month with a three-and-a-half-hour special highlighting past "SNL" stars and bits.
