Chinese Sitcom Can't Stop Copying, Well, Other Sitcoms  The IT
Crowd. Friends. How I Met Your Mother. Even in the West, these
popular sitcoms have influenced other shows. But in China, one
show isn't exactly "inspired" by these programs.  The Shanghai
television program in question is Ipartment (which loosely
translates as "Love Apartment" in Chinese). It features a couple
of guys, a couple of girls, and an apartment—and a whole bunch
of storylines and dialogue you've enjoyed before. (Ha, not that
Western sitcoms are a breeding ground for novel ideas!)
Ipartment's first season was apparently original, but its latest
season, season three, is raising eyebrows in China. People are
pointing out how brazenly it copies Western shows. The sitcom
does tweak the characters and their relationships, but side-by-
side comparisons confirm just how closely Ipartment seems to
regurgitate shows like How I Met Your Mother and Friends.
Legally, this brazen copy might exist in a gray zone as brand
new Chinese regulations state