One of the breakout acts from this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala, or chunwan, Beijing-based comedy troupe Happy Mahua has now shot to online fame as well. Capitalizing on their New Year success, the troupe launched a Web TV show, Happy Mahua Theater, a collaboration with video sharing website Letv.com.

Happy Mahua Theater is a program that promises plenty of laughs to young audiences, with skits led by comedians Shen Tang and Huang Yang. The first episode came out on January 19, with the second now also available for viewing. The program is slated to run for 100 weekly "Webisodes" in total, each 15 minutes long. Guest cameos will be made by other CCTV Spring Festival Gala comedians, including Chang Yuan, Ai Lun and Wang Ning.

Ai said the Internet has allowed Happy Mahua to reach a more diverse fan base. "The younger generation spends more time surfing the Internet than watching TV, which means our episodes will hopefully reach them," Ai said.

In 2003, they first introduced their concept of a New Year drama by staging their first production of the Happy Mahua Series, which later became hugely popular. Each Spring Festival, the troupe writes a new comic production, taking Internet buzz words and trending topics from the year as their cue. The production would continue to play throughout the year, but as the year progressed, Happy Mahua would update the jokes and issues they targeted. Using small theaters, such as Beijing's Haidian Theater, the troupe also found a model for business success.

The storylines and plots varied, but the issues they tackled, including urban problems like house prices and traffic jams, had particular appeal for their young audience.

"They know what their audience wants, and act it out. Their dramas helped to release young people's pressure, as they burst out laughing, and regain their feelings of happiness. That's why they are so successful," said scholar Zhang Yiwu, a professor of Chinese at Peking University, at a conference held by Haidian district cultural committee.