By Muhammad Cohen
HONG KONG – For years, American expatriate Jon Niermann wanted to get into television in the worst way. Last year, he did with Asia Uncut, a one-hour weekly talk show on StarWorld that had a rocky first season. While realizing his dream, Niermann also realized that the show needed an upgrade and he hopes progress will be evident when Asia Uncut begins its second season on Sunday night.
“I am at the bottom rung of the ladder and I’m the first to admit it. We’re not Oprah [Winfrey] or [David] Letterman or CNN, we’re a local show. We’re trying our best, but we’re self-aware,” Niermann said. “We want to keep improving and entertaining.”
Born in Illinois farm country in the 1960s, Niermann was the self-described family comedian among four siblings. His pursuit of a show business dream began professionally at Disneyland, where he wore a Tigger costume. Niermann hung up his stripes for a career in advertising. But wound up back with Disney on the corporate side, initially with its Disney Network, moving up the ladder to a senior marketing position in Hong Kong in 1998.
Niermann currently serves as Asia-Pacific president for leading computer game firm, Electronic Arts, said. EA, as the company is widely known, has been very supportive of Asia Uncut, according to Niermann. In return, Asia Uncut has featured EA personalities, including Maggie Q and Datarock, a band on EA’s Artwork recording label.
Expat magic
The move to Asia kindled Niermann’s passion for the region and gave him a window to begin his move to get in front of the camera. The audacity and freedom from boundaries of expatriate life surely helped. “In the US, I can’t imagine going to LA [Los Angeles] to a network and saying, ‘I’ve got a talk show’,” Niermann said in an interview with Asia Times Online.
After all, he had no experience as a talk show creator, producer or host, just a vision for a talk show that was brewing in his head for a decade before he put a pilot together. Star Networks picked up the show. From March 2009, StarWorld broadcast the show Niermann had been dreaming of for 10 years as a showcase for Asian and international talent.
Another side of expatriate life is getting away with a lot more than you would at home, and the first season of Asia Uncut often illustrated that principle. “We fulfilled the vision I had right up until they yelled, ‘Action’ to begin taping,” Niermann admitted. “Last year there were a lot of things we didn’t do as well as we should have.”
One viewer summed up Asia Uncut’s first season this way: “The show seems to embrace every cliche about expatriates in Asia, apparently completely oblivious to what cliches they were and how unfunny and even insulting the show is. I couldn’t tell whether the show is the product of expatriates who are creativity- and humor-challenged, or of Asians making fun of expats who don’t realize the joke is on them.”
“I think it’s totally fair,” Niermann said of the critique. “The show was meant to be in poor taste – you either get that or you don’t. It was supposed to be this wacky atmosphere.” The set included stone lions and a gong which Niermann rang to begin the show. “I wanted to be that fish out of water,” Niermann, who often appeared in Asian costumes and performed the standard martial arts and cooking demonstrations, explained.
“I tried too hard last year,” Niermann conceded. “I was in guests’ faces too much. I need to be a better listener. I need to pull it out of other people than get the punch line myself. This year, I’ve toned it down a bit.”
Shelf-esteem
Despite the self-criticism, Niermann won Asian Television Awards honors as the top entertainment presenter for his first season performance. “Ninety percent of the judges were Asian and you don’t know how many spoke English,” Niermann joked. “Maybe they just liked seeing the white guy get hit.”
The show, produced by Niermann’s West Meets East Productions, has gone through a number of changes for season two, on both sides of the camera. “This year we beefed-up on writers,” Niermann said, as part of a production team that’s almost doubled in size to 25, about evenly split between Asians and expatriates. “Even the expats are good Asia hands.”
When the team made the pilot for show, Niermann was based in Singapore, but before the first season got underway, Electronics Arts moved him to Shanghai. Niermann wound up flying down to Singapore to tape shows twice weekly. This year, the production is in Shanghai. “I’m able to spend time with the writers and be more involved overall,” Niermann said.
Shooting at the studios of Shanghai Media Group, China’s second-largest broadcast organization behind China Central Television, Asia Uncut is the first international English-language entertainment program to be produced in mainland China. After taping the first three shows last month, Niermann reports no problems and has nothing but praise for the setting. “Shanghai has a cool vibe right now. With the World Expo coming, it’s a good time to be here.”
Full house
The studio can accommodate an audience of 150, compared with 40 in Singapore, and Niermann said the larger crowd brings more energy to the show. There’s also a new set that does away with a lot of last year’s kitschy touches and “looks more like a traditional talk show set,” according to Niermann.
Season two will feature more comedy skits, weekly musical segments and big name guests. The opening show features Edison Chen, the Hong Kong heartthrob, in only his second television interview since his 2008 sex tapes scandal. But don’t expect any bombshells, Niermann warned: “We’re not a news show, we’re trying to create a comfortable atmosphere for guests.”
Actor Jackie Chan is booked for a special full-length stint. Other guests, showing sides viewers might know, include actor Edward Norton, who talks about spending time with his father doing development work in China, and Tom Arnold, who stopped in while honeymooning in China. “We figured out that we’ve both been married for 19 years,” Niermann said. “But I’ve done it with one woman and he’s done it with several.”
Niermann also is developing “a cast of characters” around Asia, inspired by US talk show personalities such as Letterman’s Larry “Bud” Melman and Jimmy Kimmel’s Uncle Frank. “It’s a chance to showcase talent in the region,” Niermann explained. “There have been times I couldn’t do interviews I wanted to do, which further underscores the importance of having a cast.
“As an executive, I understand how to take credit for what other people do – but it has to be good,” he added. “Otherwise people vote with their remote.” Polls open this Sunday night, 10pm Shanghai time.
Former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen told America’s story to the world as a US diplomat and is author of Hong Kong On Air
Mohammed Abbasi 