China's "The Apprentice" (Reality)
Reality shows are very popular in China. Ying Zai Zhongguo (“Win in China”) is a reality show inspired by Donald Trump’s The Apprentice which features fledgling entrepreneurs presenting ideas to a panels of judges that has included some of the best known names in Chinese business such as Jack Ma of Alibaba.com.. The winner at the end of th run of the show is awarded $1.3 million in seed money from a venture capitalist to start the business and he presented it.
The judges on Ying Zai Zhongguo grill the entrepreneurs on their ideas and evaluate them as they compete in teams and perform tasks such as rasing money for a charity or coming up with a solution to a business problem. Contestants on winning teams come back for the next show. Those on the losing team go through various other trials to decide who comes back and who goes home. In the “PK,” or “Player Kill”, segment two contestants face off against one another issuing questions, challenges and taunts under a timing and buzzer system with the audience at the end determining which player gets “killed.”
Dating Shows:
One of the most popular television shows in China is a matchmaking program called We Meet Tonight, which is sort of a cross between the Dating Gameand a talent show. "We receive very few applications from young women who are willing to appear as contestants," the host of the show told the New York Times. "The men are much more bold about agreeing to appear. And they are bold because they have to be."
Viewers are encouraged to write in for a date with contestant. "Maybe a man who appears on the show will get 30 letters," Ms. Yang said. "But a woman will get over 50, sometimes 60. Sometime many more. Our record holder is a 24-year-old woman who got more than 500 letters." The show’s host claims he has set up several hundred marriages.
China's "American Idol"
The Chinese version of American Idol--Supergirl Idol--has been enormously popular, attracting up to 400 million viewers, nearly a third of the population of China, with many of them voting for their favorites with text messages. The winner of the contest, Li Yuchan, who received 3.5 million text message votes ahead of 3.2 million for her nearest rival, became so popular she took the No. 6 spot on the Forbes list of China’s hottest and richest celebrities.
The sponsor of Supergirl Idol, the milk company Mengniu, saw it sales increase fivefold while the show was aired. Supergirl Idol, which originated on a Hunan satellite channel, was so successful that in August 2007 the Chinese government labeled the show “coarse” and shut it down. The crack down, Beijing said, was part its campaign against the declining quality of television programming but many think that it was really shut down over worries by the government that viewers being allowed to vote for favorites on a television show could lead to demands for democracy
Showing posts with label Entertainment - T.V.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertainment - T.V.. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Miniseries
Miniseries in China are arguably one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Actors and singers on a successful miniseries can easily be sprung into stardom. Even the less popular shows can draw well over a million viewers.
A Dream of Red Mansions, based on a classic Chinese novel set in 16th century, was a hugely popular television series in mid 2000s. The first popular miniseries was Plainclothes Police, a 12-part series that appeared in the mid 1980s. River Elegy, a 1988 miniseries is said to have been as influential as Roots was in America.
Chinese miniseries tend to be long. Yangzheng Dynasty, a popular docu-drama shown in the late 1990s about a cruel but reform-minded Qing dynasty emperor, had 44 parts. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, shown on the weekends in the early 2000s, had 46 parts. Other popular miniseries have included the 28-part Kelan P.I., the 35-party X-Files-like Strange Man, Strange Case and 20-part medical drama Loving Care. Advertisers like long miniseries because they often pay per miniseries rather than per episode. If a ministries runs a long time, more people see their ads.
The popular Communist-party-endorsed miniseries Awaken From a Dream in Five Willow Village was about a beautiful peasant girl who married a rich man but doesn't know that he is having an affair with her best friend. As the story develops the best friend gets pregnant, the husband goes bankrupt and the peasant girl finds happiness raising geese, falling in love with a good peasant man who has adored her secretly for years.
One of the most popular miniseries writers is Hai Yan, a former police officer who draws on his experience to produce police dramas such as Jade Goddess of Mercy, a police story that centers around a policewoman who finds out her lover is a drug dealer.
A Dream of Red Mansions, based on a classic Chinese novel set in 16th century, was a hugely popular television series in mid 2000s. The first popular miniseries was Plainclothes Police, a 12-part series that appeared in the mid 1980s. River Elegy, a 1988 miniseries is said to have been as influential as Roots was in America.
Chinese miniseries tend to be long. Yangzheng Dynasty, a popular docu-drama shown in the late 1990s about a cruel but reform-minded Qing dynasty emperor, had 44 parts. Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, shown on the weekends in the early 2000s, had 46 parts. Other popular miniseries have included the 28-part Kelan P.I., the 35-party X-Files-like Strange Man, Strange Case and 20-part medical drama Loving Care. Advertisers like long miniseries because they often pay per miniseries rather than per episode. If a ministries runs a long time, more people see their ads.
The popular Communist-party-endorsed miniseries Awaken From a Dream in Five Willow Village was about a beautiful peasant girl who married a rich man but doesn't know that he is having an affair with her best friend. As the story develops the best friend gets pregnant, the husband goes bankrupt and the peasant girl finds happiness raising geese, falling in love with a good peasant man who has adored her secretly for years.
One of the most popular miniseries writers is Hai Yan, a former police officer who draws on his experience to produce police dramas such as Jade Goddess of Mercy, a police story that centers around a policewoman who finds out her lover is a drug dealer.
In Focus
In Focus is a popular 60-Minutes style muckraking show that is on every evening for 15 minutes at 7:38pm. Watched by 300 million viewers and launched in 1994, it features reporters sticking microphones into the faces of corrupt officials and investigates controversial topics such as domestic violence and the flouting of pollution laws by factories. Although many controversial topic are addressed some topics such as forced abortion and the status of dissidents are still off limits. I'm not sure if it Is still on.
Former Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongi said he watched In Focus every night and sometimes showed taped segments from it during his meetings. The show gained such a reputation that many people said, "If you have a problem, don’t go to the police or the Communist party, go to In Focus."
In Focus and other news magazine shows like Oriental Horizon, Probe and Beijing Express use hidden cameras and in-your-face interview tactics. They walk a dangerous line of investigating corruption and scandals, often involving Communist party members, but not digging up anything that might offend Communist party leaders.
Former Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongi said he watched In Focus every night and sometimes showed taped segments from it during his meetings. The show gained such a reputation that many people said, "If you have a problem, don’t go to the police or the Communist party, go to In Focus."
In Focus and other news magazine shows like Oriental Horizon, Probe and Beijing Express use hidden cameras and in-your-face interview tactics. They walk a dangerous line of investigating corruption and scandals, often involving Communist party members, but not digging up anything that might offend Communist party leaders.
News Programs
The CCTV evening news is the world's most watched news program. Watched by around 200 million viewers every night, its a boring affair featuring scenes of Chinese leaders shown in descending rank and seniority meeting foreign dignitaries and visiting factories and party meeting around the country. There is very little international news or anything that could be described as interesting.
- When U.S. President Bill Clinton visited China a news conference and friendly debate between him and Jiang Zemin was shown live and uncensored on CCTV. Chinese audiences had never seen anything like that before and liked what they saw.
- The anchors on Chinese television news programs have traditionally been grim-faced, and stoic and lacking in style. But this is less the case today. In the mid 2000s, CCTV began featuring half-smiling pretty women and slick-looking men as anchors. An informal poll taken by Sina.com found that many Chinese favored the change, with many agreeing with the statement that the new anchors are “fresh, lively and not lecturing.”
- When U.S. President Bill Clinton visited China a news conference and friendly debate between him and Jiang Zemin was shown live and uncensored on CCTV. Chinese audiences had never seen anything like that before and liked what they saw.
- The anchors on Chinese television news programs have traditionally been grim-faced, and stoic and lacking in style. But this is less the case today. In the mid 2000s, CCTV began featuring half-smiling pretty women and slick-looking men as anchors. An informal poll taken by Sina.com found that many Chinese favored the change, with many agreeing with the statement that the new anchors are “fresh, lively and not lecturing.”
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