Being insanely busy, I haven't updated the blog lately. To warm it up a little bit, I'm gonna post this article I wrote for "Global Times". It was published on 9th Oct. The version on paper is slightly different from this original one, for reasons known to everybody.

Don’t like Chinese TV? It’s not meant for you

As proud as I am of my job, I’m always a little bit reluctant to tell people that I’m a scriptwriter. One of the two reasons (I’d rather keep the other one secret) is that a lot of them (not just expats) would say, “Oh, Chinese TV series suck.” This is right after they express their admiration for me being a financially independent freelancer.

Do Chinese TV series suck? People seem to have plenty of arguments to prove they do. Compared with American TV series, Chinese shows obviously lack creativity and variety. Japanese TV series tend to explore the beauty of details, of which their Chinese counterparts are significantly devoid. Even Korean TV series, widely considered cheesy and predictable, are at least better with respect to costume design and makeup.

Do you think Chinese TV series suck? Some of those holding a low opinion of Chinese TV series, insist upon asking me this question. Trying to get some support from an insider, these people expect me to say, “Yes.” Most of the time, I nod and remain silent, not willing to debate the subject any further.

In an effort to help, some warm-hearted people even suggest stories for me to work on, but, unfortunately, I have to veto most of their ideas. Not because they are without merit, but because there is simply no chance to make them into TV series in China. According to the current regulations (most of which are unwritten but known to every scriptwriter), TV series cannot talk about murder, premarital sex, homosexuality, etc. Forget politics and human rights. In this country, there has never been any film or TV series rating system, but the state administration has deliberately kept films and TV series that exceed PG 13 out of people’s reach. Chinese scriptwriters are dancing with fetters. Alvin Ailey would have a hard time choreographing if a requirement was that all dancers must keep both feet on the ground at all times.

Looking for guidance, one day I asked a more experienced scriptwriter how he dealt with the inevitable “Chinese TV series suck” conversation. He shrugged and replied, ”TV series are not for those people.” What about us scriptwriters? As far as I know, most scriptwriters only watch TV series for work. Some do not even have a TV set in their house. As for me, when I have to watch TV, I always hold the remote, and rarely spend more than 3 minutes on any one program. TV series are not for scriptwriters either, my friend proclaimed, because scriptwriters do not have  time to waste.

This is the key point! TV series are for those with plenty of time to kill. Unable to find a better option for killing time, these people turn to watching TV. According to some market surveys, 35-50 year old women are the target audience of TV series. Most of those women go back home at 6PM, finish dinner at 7, and by 7:30 are sitting on their couches, having just finished the dishes. They have neither parties to attend, nor friends to visit. For them, books are too complicated, and the theater is prohibitively expensive. Undoubtedly, watching TV series is the most convenient and cheapest form of relaxing (some may say numbing) entertainment.

What matters here, is that these women do not think Chinese TV series suck. How could they? These series are tailor-made for them. A case in point is the family ethics genre, the most popular type of Chinese series. These are designed to tackle the issues confronted by middle-aged women, who are exhausted by their husbands’ affairs, mother-in-laws that never get along, and other difficulties associated with family life. Women connect on an emotional level with protagonists whom they can identify. Once this emotional bond is solidified, the audience is captive and will never change the channel. Kung fu and detective series, the other two popular genres in China, also rely on creating connections with their target demographic. The plotlines are fairly Chinese and, therefore, irreplaceable. For instance, heroes on TV are able to kill corrupt officials with their pinkies, fulfilling the desires of the common people, who hate these officials but are powerless to confront them.

In 2005, CCTV aired the first season of “Desperate Housewives.” The average viewer rating of the series was 0.4%, much lower than that of many Chinese TV series aired during the same time slot. Part of reason was that many scenes of the series were cut out, rendering the storyline cryptic and almost meaningless. But I argue that even with these scenes included, the differences between Chinese and Western audiences’ viewing habits would preclude a better showing.

(Special thanks to Justin for editing this article for me.)