Under One Roof (Singapore TV series)
Under One Roof was an English-language sitcom in Singapore. First aired in 1995 (with studio recordings for the pilot episode starting in 1994), Under One Roof was the first locally produced English-language sitcom in Singapore. A critical and popular success, the show won the Best Comedy Programme or Series Award at the Asian Television Awards in both 1996 and 1997, a Best comedy actor award (Moses Lim in 1996), three best comedy actress awards (Koh Chieng Mun in 1996, Norleena Salim in 1997 and Vernetta Lopez in 1999) and was a finalist in the "Best Sitcom" category at the International Emmy Awards as well as the New York Festivals Awards. It paved the way for future sitcoms like Happy Belly, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, Mr. Kiasu, and Living with Lydia.
| Under One Roof | |
|---|---|
 Singapore's Funniest Family | |
| Created by | Andrea Teo Wee Thye Seah Simmon Tan Seah Chang Un Angelena Loh |
| Starring | Moses Lim Koh Chieng Mun Vernetta Lopez Nicholas Lee Andrew Lim Selena Tan Zaibo Norleena Salim Daisy Irani |
| Country of origin | Singapore |
| No. of episodes | 125 (137, including the episodes aired during Channel 5's 40th anniversary in 2003) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Seah Chang Un Esan Sivalingam |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | MediaCorp TV Channel 5 |
| Original release | 21 February 1995 – 15 July 2003 |
It starred a multicultural cast reflecting the ethnic makeup of Singapore: Moses Lim (Tan Ah Teck), Koh Chieng Mun (Dolly), Vernetta Lopez (Denise), Nicholas Lee (Ronnie), Andrew Lim (Paul), Selena Tan (Paul’s wife, Anita), Zaibo (Yusof), Norleena Salim (Rosnah) and Daisy Irani (Daisy). In Season 5, Selena Tan's character Anita made an appearance, and Chinese-Hong Kong actor Richard Ng was cast to play Bobby, Anita's father.
Under One Roof has been exported to Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, France and Canada. It was the first local series to be aired in Canada and Australia on SBS.
Due to its use of Singlish, a pidgin English spoken in Singapore, the show came under pressure by the Singaporean government to use only "proper" English. This was mainly because of the worry that the younger school going viewers would start speaking Singlish more and bring down the standard of spoken English in Singapore. Another popular show that also received similar pressure was Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd where the lead character was criticised for speaking Singlish.
Under One Roof was brought back shortly during Channel 5's 40th anniversary in 2003 for its 7th season, only to run for a short period. The sitcom then rebroadcast in May 2011 and aired on weekdays around 12pm before being dubbed into French.
Plot Summary, Cast and Seasons
Under One Roof stars a multiracial cast of characters. The plot tells the story of a Chinese family, living in Bishan North, Singapore, headed by Tan Ah Teck-the owner of a mini-mart and his family-housewife Dolly and children Paul, Ronnie and Denise along with their neighbours, namely Daisy, a lady of Indian descent and her brother, Michael (played by Rajiv Dhawn) and the married Malay couple Rosnah and Yusof, all living in an apartment building.
Tan Ah Teck- Patriarch of the Tan family and a mini-mart owner. He is prompted by any situations that occur to tell his unappreciated and seemingly irrelevant stories with the intent of teaching the other characters some moral lessons. Frequently begins his stories with "This reminds me of a story! Long before your time, in the Southern province of China..."
Dolly- A stoic peacemaker and faithful housewife of Tan Ah Teck, she is one of the few characters who are willing to sit through and even appreciate his stories. She is best friends with neighbour Rosnah.
Paul- Son of Ah Teck and Dolly, and a hypochondriac accountant who enjoys classical music and adores veteran Hong Kong star Sally Yeh. On the final episode of Season 5, he and Anita got married.
Ronnie- Son of Ah Teck and Dolly, he is frequently skirt-chasing and is full of schemes and ridiculous ideas which irk his family, especially Paul, Denise and father Ah Teck.
Denise- The University-educated daughter of Ah Teck and Dolly, and the only sensible one in the family who tries to keep the household sane.
Yusof- Mee-Rebus seller, husband of Rosnah and friend of the Tan family.
Rosnah - Yusof's large and sharp-tongued wife who often dominates her husband. In the first episode of season 6, it was mentioned that she had passed away from over eating that choked her to death in a buffet.
Daisy- A single advertising executive, she is excitable, outspoken and constantly bickers with her brother Michael.
Seasons
Season 1 - 1995
Season 2 - 1995-1996
Season 3 - 1997
Season 4 - 1998
Season 5 - 1999
Season 6 - 2001
Season 7 - 2003
French dubbing
In September 2011, 30 episodes season 1 was dubbed into French and aired in other countries worldwide. It became Singapore's first ever English sitcom to be dubbed into a foreign language. Some episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 have been dubbed into French and aired in some other countries in 2011, becoming Singapore's first ever English-language sitcom to be dubbed into a foreign language. Season 3 was then dubbed into French in early 2012.
Trivia
- Tagline: Singapore's Funniest Family.
- Koh would later show up on Living with Lydia, where Koh played series regular Ronda Chieng.
- KL-based Zaibo commutes by cab when he is filming in Singapore. On four occasions he was offered free cab rides from cabbies who were fans of the show.
- It takes one hour to turn Chieng Mun's hair into her character Dolly's housewife beehive style hair.