Abstract:
In the spring of 2008 A Thousand Apologies, New Zealand's first prime time 'Asian' show aired nationally. Following in the footsteps of ethnic comedy produced locally (Skitz) and overseas (In Living Color and Goodness Gracious Me), the series deployed a sketch format parodying popular stereotype through broad exaggeration. The show's pan Asian content and address (primarily Chinese and South Asian) reflected broadcast imperatives to deliver as large a minority audience as possible. However, as is the case in most New Zealand popular culture, the show's creators not only operated under constraints to prove that Asians could be commercially viable but they were also under considerable pressure to represent locally inflected comedy (in ways that would appeal internationally). A Thousand Apologies achieved this dual objective by closing each of the series six shows with a musical parody of an iconic New Zealand single. Rather than enact a 'straight' parody of the song by lampooning musicians such as In Living Color sketches in the 1990s where MC Hammer is shown lost in his voluminous pants, or Michael Jackson is seen ruminating on his indecision to be 'black or white', A Thousand Apologies parodies 'rewrote' lyrics, in effect mimicking and transforming the source material to articulate an 'Asian¹ New Zealand perspective. The show appropriated songs from a wide range of musical genres including Crowded House¹s ŒBetter Be Home Soon¹, ŒRoadie¹ by Fat Freddy¹s Drop, ŒI¹ll say Goodbye Even Tho I¹m Blue¹ by the Dance Exponents, Scribe¹s hugely popular hip hop anthem ŒNot Many¹, ŒTrippin¹ by Push Push and Supergroove¹s ŒSitting Inside my Head¹. This chapter explores the cultural logics underlying these re-citations and how the songs were re-written and visualized. Furthermore, it discusses how cultural nationalism in popular music provided the strategic cultural resource through which marginal communities enact Œbelonging¹.