Chances are if you grew up watching local Chinese television, this character would be a familiar sight:

Liang Ximei, played by Jack Neo in a drag, used to grace our television screens in the widely popular "Comedy Night" (搞笑行动) variety show where actors like Jack Neo, Henry Thia, Mark Lee, and Patricia Mok honed their skills as slapstick comedians.

As its name suggests, "Comedy Night" showcased skits which aimed to get its audience to laugh.

Aside from Liang Ximei, one of Neo's most memorable characters was Granny Liang (梁婆婆) - the naive, old lady with shaky voice and knees.

If these characters were part of your family's entertainment diet, get ready for a blast from the past as Mediacorp brings back Liang Ximei in an all new dialect variety show, "Happy Can Already" (欢喜就好) on 2 December.

Judging from its trailer, it still boasts Neo's trademark slapstick humour as well as other entertainment targeted towards the elderly.

"Happy Can Already" joins "Eat Already?" another Hokkien drama on Channel 8. Both are programmes supported by the Ministry of Communications and Information and are used as vehicles that educate elderly viewers on various policies that can support them in their old age.

Having dialect programming on free-to-air television is especially significant seeing as there have been no other free-to-air dialect entertainment programmes since the 1980s. Perhaps soon we might be seeing more dialect entertainment programmes for viewers other than the elderly.

Can't get enough of Hokkien on your TV?

Will we be getting more Hokkien shows in the future?

Top screengrab from Channel 8 Facebook

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