[Text: Observer Network Columnist Ling Yuzi].
Recently, the new drama "News Queen" produced by TVB has been rising in popularity, from ratings to topicality. Many netizens even directly used it as a sample, and stepped on similar mainland dramas with poor perception: "Workplace dramas that don't fall in love", "At least they look like they're here to work", "We are still cursing women with 'can't get married', and the way people scold has evolved to: 'Find a man to marry'"...
Interestingly, almost at the same time, another piece of news also attracted widespread attention: because of consecutive losses, in order to save expenses, TVB set off a new round of layoffs, merging its two channels into one and reorganizing, laying off 300 employees.
Here is the triumphant performance of the new drama, and there is the business contraction and lack of revenue, and the helpless truth is released in the huge **: the recession has actually been around for a long time, so that the current accidental success can't tell if it is bottoming out**Was it a flash in the pan?Or is it a return to the light?
And TVB, which has always been familiar to everyone and can almost act as the "spokesperson of Hong Kong dramas" to some extent (endorsed the glory of the past and also endorsed the subsequent decline), what is the current situation?What kind of cultural, economic, and even political message does everything it is forced to face and decide?
Group memory: TVB's beginnings and glory days.
Back on February 6, 1965, Hong Kong British ** first sale of terrestrial television licenses, bidders included 6 huge consortiums, and finally, by the Ricciian, Yu, and the famous Shaw Brothers (Shaw) family formed by the Hong Kong Television Group, successfully won the bid - this is the birth of TVB.
TVB is the abbreviation of English Television Broadcasts Limited, the full name is "Hong Kong Television Broadcasting*** It is the second TV station in Hong Kong, previously, as early as 1957, the first TV station "Li's", has monopolized Hong Kong Island for ten years. As a rising star, TVB is determined to break the membership system implemented by "Li's", and all the programs are free, opening up a broad market in one fell swoop.
TVB's main content is actually quite rich, and in the field of variety shows, its production of "Happy Tonight" lasted 30 years and broadcast a total of 6,613 episodes, making it the longest-lived program in Hong Kong. But the magic weapon that really makes TVB widely known is to push TV dramas.
Happy Tonight (data map: Hong Kong Po Leung Kuk official website).
In 1967, TVB launched its first self-made drama "Dream of Love", which was popular in the ratings, and in response to the market's demand, it expanded from the original plan of more than 20 episodes to more than 100 episodes. In the 70s, TVB found two tracks that it was very good at later: one is a family drama and the other is a martial arts drama, the former represents the 129-episode "Crazy Tide" starring Chow Yun-fat, and the latter represents "Book of Swords and Enmity" and "Peerless Double Pride" starring Zheng Shaoqiu, which go hand in hand, and since then, the status of "drama king" has not wavered.
In 1984, TVB became a listed company, and in 1988, its headquarters was moved from Kowloon Tong to the New Territories, and the "Clear Water Bay Television City" was built.
The rise of TVB is inseparable from its widely praised institutionalized, process-oriented, and detailed industrial system, especially the "star-making" as an example: the wireless artist training class it hosts has become the existence of the entire Hong Kong film and television industry "Whampoa Military Academy", Wang Mingquan, Chen Yulian, Weng Meiling, Zhou Haimei and other diva celebrities, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung, Leung Jiahui, Andy Lau and other kings, and even big directors such as To Qifeng, all graduated from here, and they all worked for TVB;It holds the "Sister Hong Kong" beauty pageant and the "Rookie Singing Contest" and other drafts every year, and excavates Zhao Yazhi, Li Jiaxin, Cai Shaofen, Guo Keying, Myolie Wu and other flowers.
Some of Stephen Chow's early roles.
Cultivating with one hand and selecting with the other hand, we have established an inexhaustible talent pool.
Then came the 1990s, when the official "march into the mainland" began.
For the mainland, the emergence of TVB is particularly timely and appropriate: the comprehensive deepening of reform and opening up, the beginning of the entertainment industry and consumer society, and the public's strong demand for pop culture products cannot match the relatively lagging local production capacity.
In fact, TVB has almost completed the important task of enlightening and popularizing various classic popular drama genres in the mainland:
Jin Yong's dramas in the 80s and 90s, crime dramas in the 90s ("Forensic Records" and "Criminal Investigation Files"), palace fighting dramas ("Golden Branches") and house fighting dramas ("Heart Storm") in the 00s, and police and bandit dramas ("Apostle Walker") that briefly revived in the 10s, are all the same.
Not only that, but it also provides many unique genres that are not easy to appear in the mainland soil - such as legal dramas ("Huangting No. 1"), such as deconstructing famous dramas (Zhang Weijian's version of "Journey to the West", Chen Haomin's version of "Fengshen Bang"), and also took the lead in completing some unprecedented genre mix-and-match and grafting - such as "Clearing Grievances", which is stitched together by professional dramas (forensics) and costume dramas.
This is why there are so many collective memories of it: "Shanghai Tang" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in 10,000 empty alleys, "Bao Qingtian" in 93, "Heaven and Earth Boy" in 96, "Dragon Babu" in 97, "Song Shijie" and "Four Talents in Golden Suits" in 99, "Xun Qin" in 2000, "Rushing to the Clouds" in 03, and "Jewels" in 08 ......
It also has its inspiration for many mainland dramas, and the obvious inheritance relationship: Hong Kong version of Jin Yong drama and Zhang Jizhong's version of Jin Yong drama, "Golden Branch Desire" and "The Legend of Zhen Huan", "Clearing Grievances" and "Da Song Ti Criminal Officer" ......
Many mainland audiences have gained the initial understanding of international metropolises, modern large companies, and fashion life from TVB dramas. Some people joke that it was in the footage of TVB that "countless wavy and curly Rebecca, and countless Jessica with delicate short hair, inspired the initial aesthetic sense".
Stills from "Sister Tuogun".
The honeymoon period also overflowed and sublimated from the dimension of entertainment, which somewhat promoted the connection between the mainland and Hong Kong that was thicker than water: you must know that in 1980, Hong Kong and Britain were forced to repeal the decree of "compulsory import of programs", which gave TVB a place to play. Therefore, even if it seems that it is always chasing cars and shootouts, talking about love, in fact, at this stage, TVB has a fairly clear narrative of the family and the country, just like the big drama "The Great Era", which gathers all its elites, is about to "welcome the return of Hong Kong" as the background of the launch, and in the first episode, it borrowed the actor's mouth to issue a loud roar of "Hong Kong is Chinese".
Systemic landslide: the decline and decline of TVB.
TVB empire began to loosen after the millennium, and what can't be escaped is still the cycle rate of loss when the moon is full, seeing that 95% of the market share of Hong Kong entertainment is classified into TVB's Yiyantang, one is dominant, so he doesn't want to forge ahead and has no fear, in the comfort zone of less external pressure, Run Run Shaw is old, the power is **, and the high-level infighting is endless, which affects the quality of dramas, but instead of keeping up with the pace of the times, it has been plummeting and declining.
Behind this, there is Hong Kong's own economic downturn, as well as the disenchantment and de-sacralization psychology produced by the further development of the mainland, Hong Kong dramas are no longer so unattainable, and the modernization and fashion sense mentioned above are no longer Hong Kong's private taboos. It's like, unconsciously, there aren't many mainland shopping groups going to Hong Kong to buy jewelry, clothes, and milk powder – these things are not unique to Hong Kong.
"Internal entertainment" has rapidly grown into an independent concept from capital to technology, and it has such a large market bonanza, and the ability to obtain funds, manpower, environment and even policies is by no means beyond TVB's reach.
After coming and going, TVB not only lost the halo of DreamWorks, but also began to outflow its own reserves: a large number of Hong Kong stars went north to develop, looking for higher returns and greater potential for traffic fans.
At this time, the structural shortcomings that it can hide with a series of victories in the first few years have begun to be exposed: its resource shortage, its audience limitations, its location disadvantages, ......Eventually, it will have to face its own inherent limitations, which once contrasted with the glory of its high-rise buildings, but the nature of miracles is that it is difficult to sustain them, or rather, miracles can easily become relics.
Everyone finally realized that TVB also has a lot of problems.
For example, roughness: TVB has a high density of dramas, the filming process is rushed, and the principle of saving first in a hurry has appeared, and there are many standard operations branded by TVB, and a large number of studio shots with interior scenes and scenery have been used, which has solved the problem of weather restrictions (no need to wait for sunrise, you can work at any time), and the problem of site restrictions (Hong Kong's projectile soil, there are not even a few ancient buildings, not to mention special landforms such as deserts, grasslands, and snow-capped mountains), but it also gives it a "plastic smell" that cannot be washed away , the color and light of many TVB dramas are obviously different from other dramas, and in some categories with higher requirements for "texture" - such as historical dramas and social problem dramas, the gap is even more abrupt.
The picture is from the 1995 version of "The Condor Heroes".
For example, repeat: The newcomer's ** chain is broken, the well-trained team gritted its teeth and held on, Chen Hao, Lin Baoyi, Li Zi, Charmaine She, Ouyang Zhenhua, Wu Qihua, Deng Cuiwen, Xu Zishan, who come to the audience in turn are always a group of old faces, and finally they and the characters are completed one by one in this drama, and when the next new drama starts, they have to adapt again.
What's more, over time, according to the characteristics of each person, they also spontaneously formed inertial distribution thinking - Qin Pei always plays the big guy, Xu Shaoxiong always plays the rich businessman, Chen Honglie always plays the villain, Wang Juntang always plays the horse boy, and Yuan Qiongdan always plays the ugly girl ......Gold medal supporting actor Luo Lelin once said that one day he turned on the TV and found that in all the episodes of TVB that day, he "died" 5 times in different scenes.
Not only actors, but also screenwriters and directors, which makes it even more difficult to avoid the repeated use of many bridge designs. Even the dubbing team when it was introduced to the mainland was like this, as evidenced by the phrase "The most important thing is to be happy" that always uses the same tone.
For example, exploitation: has been criticized and questioned, the artist ecology with high output and low returns, the harsh and unconditional work intensity, the long road of progression from training classes to apprentices to special contracts to green leaves to supporting roles, unequal overlord treaties and unfair remuneration commissions, poor shooting environment, insecure old age, undignified grassroots personnel, more and more negative news, more than one actor and even actor has been exposed (or actively exposed), life is poor, and it is far from the scenery that everyone imagines.
For example, cliché: along with "visibility", there is also a gradual regression and staleness in concepts. Director Edward Lam once mentioned that one of the major features of TVB's early years was that a large number of female high-level executives intervened in decision-making, and took the lead in injecting the new consciousness of women's equal rights into the popular dramas that should theoretically rely on the "old routines" most - in the competition between female white-collar workers and female police officers, "yes, madam" has become a popular line. Even the "snatching men" scene like "The Desire of the Golden Branch" is full of compassion for the situation of women in the shadow of imperial power and husband's power, and takes the two "new personality" girls who once indulged in it and finally took the initiative to flee from it. But what about now?Take a look at the big drama "Family Glory" a year ago, the big house and the second room, the concubine, the patriarchy, the screen has become a shocking "feudal remnant".
In a kind of systemic impatience and vacillation, it is like a crisis middle-aged man who admits defeat to fate, ready to spend the rest of his life by recalling the past.
The old party after the innovation: what does "News Queen" deliver.
Let's talk about the "warming" led by "News Queen": This drama uses the ecology of the media industry as an incision, and sets up a banner of news ideals on the one hand - "It can ask for the lives of the people, it can also expose people's scars, and it can also help people build bridges and pave the way, punish evil and promote good", and on the other hand, it popularizes the cruel law of the jungle - "You can't even imagine a dog biting people, and the world of people biting dogs is not suitable for you". It can be said that in terms of professional cognition and emotional cognition, it does break many stereotypes and prejudices, whether it is at the level of vulgar success or sexistness
The hero and heroine are not lovers or potential lovers, but sworn enemies. The heroine is soaring all the way and does not rely on the boost and blue eyes of the male characters. Those who are unscrupulous can also stick to the bottom line of their careers. Those who have a conscience are not necessarily stupid and sweet. The supporting characters have their own characteristics and temperaments, and they are no longer collectively mentally retarded and humanized, to unconditionally highlight the aura of the protagonist......
is analogous to the kind that everyone is used to, the perennial chicken bits and pieces like playing house, and the sugar water flavor of all professional situations are filmed as love blind dates, these are indeed not lacking in novelty, and they are also very poking at the pain points that mainland audiences have been entangled in these years.
But in fact, it has not yet gotten out of TVB's most familiar routine core: strong plot, exciting cool drama. All the villains, breaking through the level and fighting monsters, the cool text route, reversed and reversed again and again, turned evil into good again and again, happy and revenge again and again, carefully scrutinized, it doesn't seem to have much practical relevance to "professional ability" - although it will be quite deliberately hung up with a journalism quote at the beginning of each episode.
There are even commentators with eyes like torches or brains, pointing this intrigue directly at TVB's "true colors": using the story to refer to itself, self-irony, and self-preaching, and to play its mountain-lined family ugliness to the audience in a different form.
From the standard of a professional drama, it is even unprofessional in details: several senior reporters and anchors in reality are picking on social media - the live broadcast has entered the countdown and is still threatening the leader, temporarily touching up makeup in the studio, and deliberately turning off the teleprompter, all of which are not situations that can be found on the real work site, "reporters can always find the truth faster than the police", which is also an exaggeration of self-whitewashing.
In essence, it is still a workplace drama rather than a professional drama. The two are different and different, the latter is talking about work, and the former is talking about scheming. Scheming is certainly more exciting than a profession, but scheming is originally a kind of "unprofessional".
It's still just a "TV version of "Palace Scheming".
Many old viewers entered the pit and turned hot, not because they found any bright surprises, but more because of its fast-paced and high-frequency struggle mode, which reminded everyone of the ** era that belonged to TVB, citing enough nostalgic bonuses.
Therefore, if you want to take this lonely evidence and a small sample to rush to the hasty conclusion that "TVB is revival", it is too optimistic and light: not to mention anything else, before "News Queen" broke out of the circle, TVB's first three Taiwanese celebration dramas "Romeo and Zhu Yingtai", "Hong Kong People in Beijing" and "Shadow Sniper" were all unfazed.
If you have to find out a little more about the mystery of success, you have to mention its "comprehensive mainlandization" in promotion: the official accounts of major social media and the hot search entries that keep swiping the screen, the starring actors frequently interacting with the audience, plus another producer of Youku, which is ignored by many people.
It can be seen that even though "Forensic Pioneer 5" and "Apostle Walker 2", which have been participated by the mainland in recent years, have performed mediocre, TVB still has not given up this broad road of "embracing the motherland": in August this year, it just signed a more in-depth cooperation framework agreement with Tencent**. The good performance of "News Queen" at this time is undoubtedly an opportune time to inject firm confidence in cooperation.
It is the only way for TVB to put down its body and go to a broader world through cooperation and co-production. Whether "The Queen of News" wins or loses, it is to strengthen this road, not reverse it.
Therefore, "News Queen" can be described as a condensed metaphor about TVB: the collective memory awakened by the advantages accumulated in the past still has something worth cherishing and playing, catalyzed by specific materials and issues, adding some innovations that have not broken the muscles and bones, and there is still the power of a fight, but it has not penetrated the long-standing trap, and it must not be logically replaced by blind complacency and another round of self-style.
The film and television processes of Hong Kong and the mainland are integrated and inseparable, and TVB is similar to the footnote of the witness of a specific historical stage, and has shouldered its own responsibility, and it should also hand over the burden that it can no longer bear after the times change.
If the road to revival exists, there is still a long way to go, and it still needs to be explored. Whether it is for Hong Kong dramas, mainland dramas, or the inevitable integration and complementarity of the two, it is worth thinking about for a long time.