|
|
【中文标题】真实还是下流 － 中国的电视真人秀
【原文标题】China TV Grows Racy, and Gets a Chaperon
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【原文作者】EDWARD WONG
【原文链接】http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/world/asia/censors-pull-reins-as-china-tv-chasing-profit-gets-racy.html?_r=2&ref=china
中国最受欢迎的真人秀节目《非诚勿扰》让青年男女在舞台上，面对着流行音乐和观众的掌声相互追求。
这个节目糟糕的名声源起于一个参赛者马诺，她拒绝了一个男人邀请她坐在自行车后座上，说：“我宁愿坐在宝马里哭。”马女士的这番言论招致了一样多的支持和批评，支持者说她是唯一一个敢于公开袒露很多女人真实想法的人。23岁的马在一次接受采访时说，节目的制作人告诉女嘉宾不要顾及男性参赛者的尊严。
助理制作人在后台向女参赛者提供指导意见。这个节目引起了海外华人的极大兴趣，美国校园中的一些学生甚至拍摄了自己版本的《非诚勿扰》。它彰显了这个国家的文化影响力，这恰恰是领导人希望看到的。
两名男选手等待登台“受刑”。旁边放着几瓶酒，是节目组用来让他们克服后台恐惧心理的。
参赛者们在节目中登台。对监控者来说，真人秀节目过于真实了，他们觉得这些节目揭露了中国年轻人的真实面貌，因此曾威胁要禁止举办这类节目。制作人因此赶忙做出调整。
节目支持人孟非是前新闻播报员。官方在星期天推出了一系列严格的限制政策，取消了几十个在黄金时间播出的娱乐节目。
节目中增加了年龄稍大的参赛者和第三位主持人——黄菡，一位地方党校的心理学教师。
一个男性参赛者试图用舞蹈征服一名女性。
一个婚恋交友节目竟然引发了多年来最严厉的对电视节目的打压行动，暴露出共产党内部控制娱乐产业的紧张情绪。
几十年来，党一直试图在让电视网络迎合市场需求，但是保守的党内干部越来越担心，这类过分迎合观众、吸引广告的节目所塑造出来的中国形象，并不是他们想看到的。
一个参赛者走下舞台，他没能说服任何一个女性和他约会。收紧对电视行业的约束仅仅是胡锦涛主席所倡导的严格管控行动的第一步，同样的现象也出现在影视业、出版业、互联网和演艺界中。
王培杰脑海里中国最受欢迎的电视节目并不复杂：让这个国家年轻、亮丽的一代人在舞台上，伴随着流行音乐和观众的掌声互相追求。
男人吹嘘他们的银行存款、房子和名车；漂亮而又刻薄的女人用尖酸的语言奚落这些追求者。但是，隐藏在笑声之后的是一些显而易见的社会问题——中国城市中20岁到40岁的人所执着追求的事物（即使通常不那么公开）：未婚同居、毫不掩饰地媚富，以及政府的独生子女政策。
经验丰富的电视制作人王先生说：“通过这个节目，你可以看到中国在想什么，在追求什么。”
真人秀《非诚勿扰》打破了2010年上半年的收视纪录，观众人数达5000万人。引起轰动的是那些极为粗俗的参赛选手，一个有报复的女演员拒绝了一个男人邀请她坐在自行车后座上，说：“我宁愿坐在宝马里哭。” 这个节目引起了海外华人的极大兴趣，美国校园中的一些学生甚至拍摄了自己版本的《非诚勿扰》。它彰显了这个国家的文化影响力，这恰恰是领导人希望看到的。
但是对监控者来说，真人秀节目过于真实了，他们觉得这些节目揭露了中国年轻人的真实面貌，因此曾威胁要禁止举办这类节目。制作人因此赶忙做出调整，他们在节目中增加了年龄稍大的参赛者和第三位主持人——黄菡，一位地方党校的心理学教师。45岁的王先生身材消瘦，他坐在江苏省电视台控制室里，一排电视屏幕在他身后闪烁着。他说：“现在节目中的限制越来越多了，我们删除了一些有可能引起负面社会影响的语言。”
官方在星期天推出了一系列严格的限制政策，取消了几十个在黄金时间播出的娱乐节目。当局明显察觉到了《非诚勿扰》和歌唱类真人秀节目《超级女声》所引导的一股潮流越过了底线，他们的回应是一项遏制所谓“过度娱乐”的政策。
一个婚恋交友节目竟然引发了多年来最严厉的对电视节目的打压行动，暴露出共产党内部控制娱乐产业的紧张情绪。几十年来，党一直试图在让电视网络迎合市场需求，但是保守的党内干部越来越担心，这类过分迎合观众、吸引广告的节目所塑造出来的中国形象，并不是他们想看到的。电视，毕竟还在政府媒体武器库中处于一个突出的地位——12亿观众、3000多个频道。它是党进行宣传的最重要的工具，宣传的方式通常是利用晚间新闻和一本正经的历史剧。
清华大学研究电视传媒的尹鸿教授说：“矛盾越来越突出：一方面，他们急于让电视产业商业化；另一方面，他们又担心商业化趋势会彻底摧毁文化和道德建设。”
党对“娱乐节目”的定义包括了游戏节目、婚恋交友节目和明星访谈节目。在西方，这些节目成本低廉，但收视率和广告收益率高，是各地电视台在无法得到政府补贴情况下重要的收入来源。现在，这条在10月底发布的新政让全国34家电视台的高管不得不撤下这些节目，以限制官方所谓的“低俗趋势”。
收紧对电视行业的约束仅仅是胡锦涛主席所倡导的严格管控行动的第一步，同样的现象也出现在影视业、出版业、互联网和演艺界中。
政府监管人员在10月份党中央委员会议之后发布了电视节目的指导文件，这次会议的核心议题是对文化和意识形态的关注。尹先生曾经在会议前与部分官员有过讨论，他说，干部们本来的想法是发布一份文件，推进文化产业与市场更加紧密地结合。但是自从半年之前，高层官员越来越担心所谓的“社会道德”，于是他们转而加紧对文化的控制。至于电视节目，他说，“很多老同志”经常抱怨娱乐节目把“明星偶像化”。
根据新的规定，每家电视台在每周黄金时间仅可以播放两次“娱乐节目”。每天晚上只有9个节目可以在全国范围转播，而现在的官方数字是每周有126个节目播出。如果电视台不能自律，监察机构组建的小组将决定哪些节目可以留下。节目的主旨必须得到监察人员的审批，卫星电视台还要增加新闻节目的数量，以及至少一个弘扬中国传统价值观和“社会主义核心价值体系”的节目。
电视行业的监控机构国家广电总局毫不留情地给电视剧也设置了一些限制。去年，它要求不许播放间谍剧和时空旅行剧。11月底，它出人意料地宣布，从1月份开始，所有电视剧播放过程中不可以插播广告。一位曾经参加过《非诚勿扰》节目并要求匿名的人士说：“广电总局的目的就是要让所有电视台回归根本。究竟什么是根本？电视就应该是党在国家中的喉舌，你必须要播放宣传节目，而不是追求轰动效应。”
金钱的角色
对电视节目的管控并非仅仅是意识形态领域的问题，业内人士说，这也与广告收入有关。广电总局的官员与中国最大的政府电视网络CCTV的关系非同一般。CCTV依然是行业中的老大，但它的市场份额在被那些播放受欢迎的娱乐节目的省级卫视所蚕食。CCTV和广电总局的领导经常互换：11月份，广电总局前副局长胡占凡接任了CCTV台长的职务。这家电视台通常会把其收入的一部分贡献给广电总局。据CCTV统计的数据，从2001年到2005年，它划拨的金额共达6.75亿美元。与此相比，省级电视台只会把部分收入贡献给地方政府，而地方政府显然对那些受欢迎的节目没有遏制的欲望。
因此，业内观察人士认为，广电总局对娱乐节目的打压部分目的在于养肥CCTV。新政的发布在10月份已经体现出强大的威力：11月7日，CCTV在2012年广告招标中共收入22亿美元，比去年增长12.5％。广电总局和CCTV对于我们多次的采访要求都没有给予回应。
收紧铁拳有可能会产生反效果。有些分析人士说，电视节目受到的约束越多，就有越多的观众到互联网上收看节目。而在那里，广电总局的作用弱化了许多。
《非诚勿扰》自从去年被迫改换门庭之后，在收视率上下降了不少。但是王先生和他的团队找到了另外一些方法，依然让节目稳居娱乐类收视榜首。它的上级电视台江苏卫视在11月份进行2012年广告招标，《非诚勿扰》令人震惊地吸纳了全部3.45亿美元的总广告金额中的82％。
江苏迫切希望监察机构能够允许这个90分钟的节目可以继续在星期六和星期日的黄金时间播出，王先生说，这家电视台拿掉了若干个其它娱乐节目，并新制作了一些推崇“社会责任感”的节目。但是大部分人都怀疑监察人员是否能发这个善心。党的喉舌《人民日报》在10月份的一篇评论员文章中哀叹两档娱乐节目所带来的负面影响。其中一个是《快乐女声》，自从2004年它在湖南卫视首映以来，这个极具影响力的才艺展示节目就不断遭到“低俗”的批评和惩罚。它最终在9月份停办。另一个节目就是《非诚勿扰》。
文章说：“一些电视节目以追求新奇为目的，通过窥探别人的隐私来达到这个目的，它们宣扬崇拜金钱和享乐的生活方式，在广大观众中引起了强烈的反感。”
观念的碰撞
最近一次在北京录制《非诚勿扰》的过程中，23岁的男性参赛者王岩对台上的女嘉宾说，他喜欢穿丝袜的女性。为了引起观众的兴趣，女人们继续盘问他，话题后来演变成女人腿部的尺寸。
一位单身母亲女嘉宾佐藤爱问他：“你喜欢小号（S）还是中号（M）的女人？”
王先生说：“抱歉，我不大理解两者的区别。”主持人孟非插嘴进来：“她是不是在问你喜欢不喜欢SM？”
左女士说：“我没问他SM的事情！”观众大笑鼓掌。但是这一段在11月12日播出的节目中被剪掉了。
尖锐的话题曾经是这个节目的标志，其原始出发点是探寻中国电视节目中话题的界限在哪里。王先生说：“我们希望不同的观念间产生一些碰撞。”
这个节目的创意，是王先生和赫斯特公司的媒体企业家邢文宁在一次烟雾缭绕的谈话中形成的。邢先生在2009年秋天毕业于哈佛大学和哥伦比亚大学，就职于贝塔斯曼旗下的FremantleMedia，他的主要工作是把外国电视节目的版权推销给中国电视台。FremantleMedia其中一个重要的节目是《我们约会吧》，这是一个英国家喻户晓的婚恋交友节目。邢先生联系了两家最富冒险精神的电视台，湖南卫视和江苏卫视。
江苏卫视的王先生愿意接受新事物。他从80年代末开始就在电视台工作，见证了这个产业的转型。1997年，江苏成立了卫星电视台，让省级电视节目可以在全国范围转播，与CCTV竞争广告收入。大约在同一时间，CCTV和各省级卫视纷纷增加了娱乐性节目。王先生说：“几个排名前列的电视台竞争异常激烈。”
王先生说他想推出一个崭新的约会节目，专门针对“剩男”、“剩女”——一心工作而找不到伴侣的大龄人士，这是中国最热门的话题。这个节目还要成为展示“富二代”生活的窗口。
湖南卫视击败了江苏卫视，获得了《我们约会吧》的版权。但是王先生走出了自己的一条道路，并且得到了联合利华的赞助。
《非诚勿扰》的节目现场就像一个法庭，24位单身女性站在漂亮的台子后面，对男性应征者轮番提问。节目的主持人是孟先生，一位秃头、诙谐的前新闻播报员。他的搭档是乐嘉，一位年轻、消瘦（也是秃头）的节目“心理专家”
2010年1月15日首集播出就定下了节目的基调。23岁的男性参赛者张咏翔说：“跟我走的女人不用担心生活问题。”他的家族有一家工厂，员工1000多人。他现场展示了一个视频，其中有宽敞的公寓、白色小汽车和一排排的衣服。其它男性参赛者也在视频中用图形描述了自己的收入状况。
后来，一个女性参赛者穿着紧身黑裙和一双及膝长靴表演了一个椅子舞蹈，这种舞蹈在脱衣舞夜总会之外似乎并不常见。
但是在交谈过程中，严肃的问题被摆上桌面。女人们质问张先生为什么对至少一个男性后代这种传统观念如此执着。
王先生说：“今天的年轻人都敢于表现自己。如果你不敢袒露自身，你就不可信。”
毫不留情
这个节目糟糕的名声源起于一个参赛者马诺，她拒绝了一个男人邀请她坐在自行车后座上，说：“我宁愿坐在宝马里哭。”马女士的这番言论招致了一样多的支持和批评，支持者说她是唯一一个敢于公开袒露很多女人真实想法的人。
23岁的马在一次接受采访时说，节目的制作人告诉女嘉宾不要顾及男性参赛者的尊严。在宝马言论之后，她又说：“他们看到我是个心直口快的人，所以就引诱我说更能引起争议的话。”
在另一期节目中，朱真芳奚落一名追求者，说牵她的手必须支付20万元人民币（约合32000美元），因为“我的男朋友月薪要至少达到20万元人民币”。另一个女人闫凤娇的裸照出现在网络上，让她成为各大媒体的头条新闻。
观众们蜂拥而至，截至到2010年5月，节目的收视率仅次于CCTV的新闻联播——所有卫视频道都必须转播的节目。《中国日报》撰文称其“道德意义含混，社会效应轰动”。类似的婚恋交友节目如雨后春笋般出现，内容更加露骨。
监察机构并不以此为乐。6月份，江苏卫视和湖南卫视的领导被召往北京，参加广电总局官员召开的会议。会议传达的指示很简单：低调行事，否则节目就被取消。广电总局发布了两项指令，其中一个是：“不可以借婚恋交友之名羞辱、攻击参加者；不可以谈论涉及性的低俗话题；不可以散播物欲等不健康的婚姻错误观点；不可以在未经审查和编辑的情况下播出节目。”
浙江卫视停止了一个婚恋交友节目，有那么一段时间，似乎所有的电视台都将会规规矩矩地行事。湖南卫视《我们约会吧》节目的一位成员回忆到，一个制作人曾经对所有节目组成员说：“我随时有可能接到上边的电话，到时候你们都要打包回家。”
《非诚勿扰》的拥趸们在6月26日的节目中立即察觉到了一些变化。最明显的是第三位主持人——黄菡，一位地方党校的心理学教师。所有女性参赛者都被替换掉，新人没那么出彩。男性参赛者也是一样，没有人提及收入问题。王先生说：“我们开始选择一些年龄比较大的参与者，他们对婚姻有更强烈的愿望。”
有人说，每集节目播出之前要进行6次内部审查。制作人依然要求主持人驾驭讨论社会话题，但是更加轻描淡写。34岁的郭威是节目的忠实观众，他说：“节目参赛者的语言不像以前那么尖锐了。”
王先生说，他希望监察人员在控制娱乐节目的同时，应当看到《非诚勿扰》已经按要求做出了改变。它现在已经不是靠火爆的对话来赢得收视率了，而是通过网络和海外参赛者来发展自身。在这个节目的网站上，开播前6个月的节目都被删除。他说：“我们的节目是符合要求的。”
原文：
“If You Are the One,” China’s most talked-about show, brings young men and women together to court each other on stage to pop music and audience applause.
The show’s notoriety surged after one contestant, Ma Nuo, rejected a man offering a bicycle ride by saying, “I’d rather cry in a BMW.” Ms. Ma got thousands of messages from fans and critics alike. Supporters said she was only publicly voicing what many women thought. Ms. Ma, 23, said in an interview that producers had told the women not to spare the dignity of the male contestants.
Backstage, female contestants were given advice by a production assistant. The show attracted huge interest from Chinese overseas; some students on American campuses even filmed their own versions. It projected the nation’s cultural influence, which China’s leaders crave.
Two male participants waited before going on stage to be grilled by the female contestants. Next to them are bottles of liquor, provided by the show to help them cope with backstage anxiety.
Participants walked onstage on the set of the show. Reality television proved too real for the censors. Disturbed by the program’s revealing portrait of Chinese youth and the spread of copycat shows, they threatened to cancel it. Producers raced to overhaul the show.
The main host of the show, Meng Fei, a former news anchor. Regulators formulated a sweeping policy that takes effect on Sunday and effectively wipes out scores of entertainment shows on prime-time television.
The show brought on older contestants and added a third host, Huang Han, a mother who taught psychology at the local Communist Party school.
A male contestant tried to win over the female contestants with a dance.
That a dating show could help set off the toughest crackdown on television in years exposes the growing tension at the heart of the Communist Party’s control of the entertainment industry.
For decades, the party has pushed television networks here to embrace the market, but conservative cadres have grown increasingly fearful of the kinds of programs that court audiences, draw advertising and project a global image not shaped by the state.
A contestant left the stage without a date, having failed to convince the female participants that he would be the right mate. The tightening of television is at the forefront of a major new effort to control culture overseen by President Hu Jintao that is also permeating film, publishing, the Internet and the performing arts.
NANJING, China — Wang Peijie’s idea for what would become the most-talked-about show in China was simple: Throw a spotlight on this country’s bright young things as they court each other on stage to pop music and audience applause.
The men boasted of their bank accounts, houses and fancy cars. The women were svelte and sassy, dousing suitors with acid putdowns. But mixed into the banter were trenchant social issues that urban Chinese from their 20s to 40s grapple with, if not always so publicly: living together before marriage, the unabashed pursuit of wealth or the government’s one-child policy.
“Through this show, you can tell what China is thinking about and chasing after,” said Mr. Wang, a veteran television producer.
The show, “If You Are the One,” broke ratings records in the first half of 2010. More than 50 million people tuned in. The sauciest contestants became sensations — one aspiring actress famously rejected a man offering a bicycle ride by saying, “I’d rather cry in a BMW.” The show attracted huge interest from Chinese overseas; some students on American campuses even filmed their own versions. It increased the nation’s cultural influence, which China’s leaders crave.
But reality television proved too real for the censors. Disturbed by the program’s revealing portrait of Chinese youth and the spread of copycat shows, they threatened to cancel it. Producers raced to overhaul the show. They brought on older contestants and added a third host, a matronly professor from the provincial Communist Party school. “We’ve had more restrictions on expressions on the show, to eliminate remarks that could have negative social impact,” the wiry Mr. Wang, 45, said one morning as dozens of screens flickered behind him in a control room here in Jiangsu Province.
Then regulators formulated a sweeping policy that takes effect on Sunday and effectively wipes out scores of entertainment shows on prime-time television. The authorities evidently determined that trends inspired by “If You Are the One” and a popular talent show, “Super Girl,” had gone too far, and they responded with a policy to curb what they call “excessive entertainment.”
That a dating show could help set off the toughest crackdown on television in years exposes the growing tension at the heart of the Communist Party’s control of the entertainment industry. For decades, the party has pushed television networks here to embrace the market, but conservative cadres have grown increasingly fearful of the kinds of programs that court audiences, draw advertising and project a global image not shaped by the state. Television, after all, occupies a singular position in the state’s media arsenal: with its 1.2 billion viewers and more than 3,000 channels, it is the party’s greatest vehicle for transmitting propaganda, whether through the evening news or staid historical dramas.
“A conflict has arisen: On the one hand, they’re pushing for the building of a commercial industry, but on the other hand they wonder if this commercialization has led to an overall decline in cultural quality and moral cultivation,” said Yin Hong, a professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing who studies television.
The party’s definition of “entertainment shows” encompasses game shows, dating shows and celebrity talk shows. As in the West, they are cheap to produce but earn high ratings and advertising revenue, which is critical since stations get little or no government subsidies. Now, the new rules, which were announced in late October, are forcing television executives and producers at 34 satellite stations across China to cut many entertainment shows from their lineups to limit what regulators describe as “vulgar tendencies.”
The tightening of television is at the fore of a major new effort to control culture overseen by President Hu Jintao that is also permeating film, publishing, the Internet and the performing arts.
Government regulators issued the television guidelines right after the party’s Central Committee made culture and ideology the focus of a meeting in October. Mr. Yin, who advised officials in the prelude to the meeting, said cadres had originally intended to issue a paper that would push cultural industries closer to the market. But starting half a year ago, he said, senior officials began growing more worried about “social morality,” so they steered the policy toward the control of culture. Regarding television specifically, he said, “many old comrades” frequently complained about entertainment shows and “the idolizing of celebrities.”
Under the new rules, each television station can broadcast only two “entertainment shows” during prime time each week. Only nine can be shown nationally per night, down from an official estimate this fall of 126 per week. A panel convened by regulators will decide which ones will remain if the stations do not trim. Ideas for new shows must be approved by censors. Satellite stations are also expected to increase their news programming and broadcast at least one show that promotes traditional Chinese virtues and the “socialist core value system.”
The agency regulating the industry, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, or Sarft, is not shy about imposing limits on dramas, either. Last year, it expressed disapproval of spy dramas and time-travel shows. In late November, it surprised the industry by mandating that as of January, commercials cannot be shown in the middle of television dramas. “The whole point here is that Sarft is trying to get TV station presidents back to the roots,” said a person once involved with “If You Are the One,” who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “What are the roots? TV is supposed to be the mouthpiece of the party in the country. You’re supposed to broadcast propaganda instead of sensationalistic content.”
The Role of Money
Reining in television is not just ideological, but is also tied to advertising money, people in the industry contend. Officials at Sarft are close to those at China Central Television, or CCTV, the state-run television network that is the largest in the country. CCTV still dominates the industry, but it has ceded market share to provincial satellite stations because they are producing the most popular entertainment shows. CCTV and Sarft have a revolving-door relationship: In November, a former vice minister of Sarft, Hu Zhanfan, took over as president of CCTV. The network also remits a fraction of its annual revenue to Sarft. From 2001 to 2005, it gave the agency $675 million, according to statistics from CCTV. By contrast, provincial stations remit revenue to local authorities, who have little incentive to censor successful shows.
So Sarft’s crackdown on entertainment shows is partly aimed at enriching CCTV, industry observers argue. The announcement of the new order in October may already have yielded benefits for the network. On Nov. 7, at its annual auction for advertising spots in 2012, CCTV earned $2.2 billion, a 12.5 percent increase over the previous year. Sarft and CCTV officials did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
Tightening the vise could backfire. Some analysts say that the more television is regulated, the more viewers will watch shows on the Internet, over which Sarft wields much less power.
“If You Are the One” dropped in ratings after censors forced it to change its format last year. But Mr. Wang and his crew have found ways to keep it the top-rated variety show. When the parent station, Jiangsu Satellite Television, held its 2012 advertising auction in November, “If You Are the One” earned an astounding 82 percent of the station’s total haul of $345 million.
Jiangsu wants desperately for censors to allow the 90-minute show to remain in its Saturday and Sunday prime-time slots. The station is cutting a half-dozen other entertainment programs, Mr. Wang said, and is developing shows that promote “social responsibility.” But some wonder whether censors will show leniency. People’s Daily, the party’s mouthpiece, ran a commentary in October that lamented the negative influence of two shows. One was “Super Girl,” an influential talent show that had been repeatedly punished for being “vulgar” since its 2004 debut on Hunan Satellite Television. It was suspended in September. The second was “If You Are the One.”
“Some programs seek novelty as their objective,” the article said. “They rely on peering into the privacy of others to achieve that, and they hype money worship and pleasure-seeking, which have aroused the antipathy of the audience.”
Clashes Between Ideas
At a recent taping of “If You Are the One” in a Beijing studio, a male contestant, Wang Yan, 23, told the women on stage that he appreciated women who wore silk stockings. The women grilled him, to the delight of the audience. That turned into a discussion of the sizes of women’s legs.
“Do you prefer S- or M-sized women?” asked one of the female contestants, Zuo Teng’ai, a single mother.
“I’m sorry, I really have no idea about the difference between the two,” Mr. Wang said. The main host, Meng Fei, chimed in: “Is she asking whether you like S-and-M?”
“I didn’t ask him about S-and-M!” Ms. Zuo said. The audience laughed and applauded. But the exchange was excised from the episode that aired Nov. 12.
Sharp dialogue was once the show’s hallmark. One of its original goals was to push the limits of what could be discussed on Chinese television. “We hoped there would be some clashes between different ideas,” Mr. Wang said.
The show was conceived in cigarette-fueled talks between Mr. Wang and Xing Wenning, a media entrepreneur now with the Hearst Corporation. In the fall of 2009, Mr. Xing, a graduate of Harvard and Columbia, was working for FremantleMedia, owned by Bertelsmann, and his task was getting Chinese stations or production companies to buy the rights to adapt foreign television shows. One of FremantleMedia’s properties was “Take Me Out,” a dating show popular in Britain. Mr. Xing approached the two most adventurous stations, Hunan and Jiangsu.
Mr. Wang at Jiangsu was receptive. He had worked at the station since the late 1980s and had witnessed the industry’s transformation. In 1997, satellite television was established, allowing some provincial stations to broadcast nationally and compete with CCTV for advertising money. CCTV and provincial stations had increased production of entertainment shows around that time. “Competition is fierce among the top few stations,” Mr. Wang said.
Mr. Wang said he wanted a new dating show to capitalize on the concept of “leftover girls” and “leftover boys,” career-oriented people without a partner, a hot topic in China. The show, too, would be a window into the lives of the “rich second generation,” the children of China’s new money.
Hunan beat Jiangsu in the bidding for “Take Me Out.” But Mr. Wang pushed ahead with his version, which Unilever had wanted to sponsor.
“If You Are the One,” called “Fei Cheng Wu Rao” in Chinese, is set up like a tribunal. Twenty-four single women stand behind brightly lighted podiums and pepper a potential male partner with questions. Directing the talk is Mr. Meng, a bald, witty former news anchor. His sidekick is Le Jia, a younger, slimmer (but also bald) man dubbed the show’s “psychological analyst.”
The first episode aired Jan. 15, 2010, and set the tone. “Any woman who comes with me won’t have to worry about her livelihood,” said the first male contestant, Zhang Yongxiang, 23. His family ran a factory with more than 1,000 workers. A video showed off his large apartment, white sedan and endless rows of clothing. Other male contestants had their incomes advertised in graphics on their videos.
Later in the episode, a female contestant in red, knee-high vinyl boots and a tight black dress performed a chair dance that would not have looked out of place in a strip club.
But serious issues wormed their way into the talk. Women interrogated Mr. Zhang on why he clung to a traditional mentality of wanting to sire at least one son.
“Today’s youngsters dare to express themselves,” Mr. Wang said. “You can’t be authentic if you don’t dare to express yourself.”
Spare No Dignity
The show’s notoriety surged after one contestant, Ma Nuo, rejected a man with her “cry in a BMW” remark. Ms. Ma got thousands of messages from fans and critics alike. Supporters said she was only publicly voicing what many women think.
Ms. Ma, 23, said in an interview that producers had told the women not to spare the dignity of the male contestants. After the BMW comment, “Because they saw that I was outspoken, they wanted me to say more controversial things,” she said.
On another episode, Zhu Zhenfang brushed off a suitor by saying that any man who wanted to shake her hand had to pay 200,000 renminbi, almost $32,000, because “my boyfriend must have a monthly salary of 200,000” renminbi. Another woman, Yan Fengjiao, made the headlines when nude photographs of her appeared online.
Viewers swarmed to the show. By May 2010, its ratings were second only to those of the CCTV evening news, which all satellite stations are forced to carry. China Daily called it “morally ambiguous and visually electrifying.” Copycat dating shows sprang up, ones that were even more explicit.
Censors were not amused. In June, the heads of the Jiangsu and Hunan satellite stations were both called to Beijing for a meeting with Sarft officials. “They were quite harsh,” said one person briefed on the meeting. The message was simple: Tone down the shows or face cancellation. The agency issued two edicts. One said: “Do not humiliate and assault participants in the name of dating; do not discuss vulgar topics involving sex; do not hype materialism and other unhealthy, incorrect viewpoints on marriage; and do not air the show without censorship and editing.”
Zhejiang Satellite Television canceled a dating show. For a time, it looked as if all stations might have to do the same. One person on the set of “Take Me Out,” the Hunan show, recalled a producer telling the entire cast and crew: “I might get a phone call at any minute, and all of you will have to pack up and go home.”
Fans of “If You Are the One” immediately noticed the changes when the June 26 episode aired. Most obvious was the addition of a third host — Huang Han was a mother who taught psychology at the local party school. All the female contestants had been replaced. The new ones were more subdued. So were the male contestants. And there was no mention of their incomes. “We started to choose older participants who have a stronger desire for marriage,” Mr. Wang said.
Each episode now had to be reviewed at least six times in-house before broadcast, one person said. The producers still asked the hosts to steer talk toward social topics, but more subtly. “The comments made by contestants weren’t as incisive as before,” said Guo Wei, 34, a longtime fan.
Mr. Wang said he hoped the censors, when they whittle down the entertainment shows, keep in mind that “If You Are the One” made changes when asked. The show now tries to win ratings not through fiery dialogue, but by promoting itself online and bringing on overseas Chinese contestants. On the show’s Web site, all the episodes from the show’s first half-year have been deleted. “Our show,” he said, “is one that obeys the rules.”
|
评分
-
1
查看全部评分
-
|
狗仔卡
楼主
提升卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
发表于 2012-1-9 16:21
兄弟，口味太重了吧。
