Brace yourself for Saturday Night Live China

Yang Weidong, head of Youku. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Something new

Some other upcoming Youku programs offer even newer formats for Chinese viewers.

According to Song Binghua, a content manager from Youku, they will release a reality show on robot fighting next year, similar to the American TV series BattleBots.

In the program called This Is Bots, 48 competing teams from across the nation will design and operate remote-controlled armed machines to fight in a combat arena for the title of ultimate champion.

"Robot fighting is a new thing in China," Song explains. "Geeks usually don't know how to act in front of camera, so the reality show will truly reflect young Chinese people's aspirations, talent and positive energy."

Founded in 2003, Youku is China's earliest online video platform. Since becoming an arm of the Alibaba Group in 2015, Youku has nurtured a big ambition to localize the world's most popular television genres for online viewing.

Also on the long list of Youku's upcoming online offerings are dramas, many of which also borrow ideas from overseas, but tell their stories with Chinese characteristics.

For example, The Longest Day in Chang'an, a historical adventure and thriller set in Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi province), the Chinese capital during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), claims to be China's 24 by depicting the events of a single day in one season.

Novoland: Eagle Flag, an epic fantasy drama set in a fictional time in ancient China, aims to be a Chinese version of Game of Thrones.

"The seasonal Chinese dramas will not just copy the models of American or Korean TV series, though," Yang Weidong, head of Youku, said in a keynote speech in Shanghai.

"We need to respect the tastes of Chinese audiences."