| Happy Belly | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Andrea Teo |
| Written by | Simmon Tan |
| Starring | Lim Kay Siu Anna Lin Ruping Lee Weng Kee Benedict Goh Melody Chen Darryl David Jamie Lee Craig Teo Adrian Jay Lim |
| Theme music composer | Nicholas Lim |
| Country of origin | Singapore |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Andrea Teo |
| Original release | |
| Network | TCS Channel 5 |
| Release | May 7 – August 27, 1996 |
Happy Belly was the second Singaporean English sitcom after Under One Roof , which paved the way for the third, fourth, fifth and sixth English sitcoms known as My Grandson, the Doctor , Can I Help You?, Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and Living with Lydia . The series stars Lim Kay Siu, Anna Lin Ruping, Lee Weng Kee, Benedict Goh, Melody Chen, Darryl David, Jamie Lee, Craig Teo and Adrian Jay Lim. [1] [2] It was also one of the least popular sitcoms in the 1990s besides My Grandson, the Doctor and Can I Help You?. It also features the creators, producers, directors and scriptwriters from the popular and award-winning Singaporean local sitcom Under One Roof , and also almost all of the cast members with the exception of Lim Kay Siu in this sitcom also had minor roles in certain episodes in that sitcom as well, as he would appear in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd as the main protagonist Phua Chu Kang's (Gurmit Singh)'s main rival named Frankie Foo instead, whom is a general contractor and Chu Kang's former best friend in Sang Nila Utama Primary School and currently archenemies and business rivals.
Kevin Sullivan of The Business Times praised the characters, the performances, the production standards, the theme music and the set design, but criticsed the script, which he described as the series' "weakest thing". [3]
In a review of the first episode, Carol Leong of The New Paper wrote that the series is "too cluttered, with too many distractions going on". She also criticised the performances of Lim Kay Siu, Teo and Adrian Jay Lim, while praising the performance of Goh. [4]