In the Mood for Laughs
As A Toast of Love exits the perennial Saturday night primetime comedy slot on Channel 8, enters Family Combo, another sitcom that stars newcomers Michelle Liow, Ng Hui and our favourite former Tan Ah Teck, Moses Lim.
Executive producer Michael Woo explains in Mandarin the premise for theshow, "This is a situation comedy about the differences between 2 different families. One is a traditional and conservative kind and the other is a liberal family."
Moses Lim is Edmund, the head of the liberal Zhu family, his young wife Elizabeth (Cassandra See) and son, Youyou (Dasmond Koh), who is married to Elaine (Ng Hui), the daughter of the Mei family next door. The patriarch of the Mei family is Old Mei (Huang Jiaqiang), who is extremely conservative - check out the auspicious red bed sheets and pillow cases he has gotten for the newly weds.
The animosity begins with the 2 families dumping rubbish at each other's doorsteps and subsequent Big Brother video surveillance. And to heighten the drama and lend a Shakespearean/Chicken Rice War twist, the children of both families fall for each other and tie the knot.
Ng, who plays the bubbly Elaine, talks about co-star Dasmond who wasn't present at the press conference, "I develop some chemistry with Dasmond during the show." To Michelle's quick question about the genesis of their chemistry and Ng replies, to laughter, "We had a bedroom scene…"
Judging by their lively banter at the press conference, it seems the cast can dispense some loving advice to those crass neighbours living at Everitt Road.
Family Combo airs every Sat, 9 pm on Channel 8.