5 Channel 8 Dramas We Grew Up Watching: Little Nyonya to 118

Little Nyonya was peak Channel 8, and it is not close

The Little Nyonya (小娘惹) started on 25 November 2008 and ran 34 episodes at 9pm on weekdays. The finale pulled about 1.67 million viewers. That is the whole country's grandma, your parents, and you pretending to do homework in the same room.

Jeanette Aw carried it, Xiang Yun made everyone cry, and for six weeks the kebaya was the main topic at every dinner table. Our slide just says GOATED SHOW FR, and we stand by the research. For the kids' version of this ache, we did the after-school shows on Kids Central and okto.

Holland V and 118: the comfort food ones

Holland V (荷兰村) ran in 2003, about a family running a nasi lemak restaurant in Holland Village. It went 125 episodes because people would not stop watching. Every episode, a violent craving for nasi lemak. Every single one.

118 started in October 2014 in the 7.30pm weekday slot, set in a Tiong Bahru kopitiam. 255 episodes. If you were home at 7.30pm after school, you were watching it, no discussion. The comments say most of these were written by the same people, and honestly it shows in the best way.

The Unbeatables and The Golden Path: the ones with stakes

The Unbeatables (双天至尊) was the gambling saga, three seasons in 1993, 1996 and 2002. Li Nanxing and Zoe Tay at a casino table is about as Channel 8 as it gets. Our slide calls it the peak of Channel 8 TV drama, and nobody in the comments argued.

The Golden Path (黄金路) aired from December 2007, 30 episodes of one family across 25 years of greed and revenge. One commenter said the setup was great and the story went haywire later. That is also very Channel 8.

The comments added more we should have included: 同心圆, 志在四方, 警卫天职, 福满人间. Fair. Channel 5 shows are next.